Markets
Zodia Markets Agrees to Purchase Elwood Technologies Trading Desk
Zodia Markets, a cryptocurrency-focused trading firm backed by Standard Chartered’s venture capital arm, has announced that it is acquiring the over-the-counter trading division of Elwood Technologies, confirming media reports. the unit was on the block And sale talks were underway.
After divesting the business, Elwood, which was championed by pro-crypto billionaire Alan Howard, will focus on its trading technology products and services as software as a service (SaaS), the company said Monday.
Confidence is high in the institutional crypto space, with regulated projects backed by banks and qualified custodians building a foundation of trading infrastructure to meet the demands of traditional capital markets.
Zodia Markets’ OTC business now handles trading volumes of up to $60 million per day, according to CEO Usman Ahmad. He did not provide details on the volume of clients Zodia is likely to reach through the deal, but said via email that the company expects to “significantly increase its daily volumes.” He also declined to disclose financial terms of the deal.
Standard Chartered, which was recently reported to enter the cryptocurrency spot trading space, is a backer (via the SC Ventures business) of Zodia Markets and its sister company, Zodia Custody.
Usman said the deal would not overlap with Standard Chartered’s cryptocurrency trading aspirations. “This transaction is a catalyst for the growth of Zodia Markets and does not overlap with what Standard Chartered can or cannot do directly in spot cryptocurrency trading,” he said.
Cryptocurrency markets, which are emerging from a long bear market, remain choppy. Elwood CEO Chris Lawn said the decision to sell the OTC business was not tied to a bull or bear market, but rather an illustration of how the digital asset sector is maturing, with new entrants demanding institutional-grade SaaS solutions.
“Increased competition and mergers and acquisitions will force companies to ask themselves tough questions about who they are and what they really are,” Lawn said in an email. “For us, the answer is that we are a technology company, hence the strategic decision to focus all of our efforts on that part of our business and sell the OTC business.”