DTCC, the financial markets infrastructure provider, has announced its agreement to acquire Securrency Inc., a developer of institutional-grade digital asset infrastructure. By merging industry best practices with cutting-edge digital technology, the move aims to further the institutional acceptance and integration of digital assets.
“Securrency is an important strategic acquisition that will give us the technology to drive market-wide transformation by enabling end-to-end digital lifecycle processing for tokenised assets, digital currencies and other financial instruments,” commented Frank La Salla, President, CEO and Director of DTCC.
He continued: “By bringing together DTCC’s commitment to providing market stability and our unparalleled network of financial market participants with the sophistication of the Securrency technology, we will be in a leading position to unlock the value of digital assets and help guide the industry through its digital transformation journey. We believe this next generation of financial market infrastructure will further reduce settlement times, facilitate market transparency and risk management, enhance regulatory oversight and controls, and unlock efficiency and innovation to create an improved investor experience.”The combination of DTCC’s digital expertise and Securrency’s technology will expedite the creation of DTCC’s enterprise digital asset platform, aiming to unlock the potential of institutional DeFi (decentralised finance). Over time, DTCC plans to incorporate digital assets into its product lineup, devise new blockchain-compliant offerings, and explore potential use cases in partnership with industry stakeholders, including asset managers, broker-dealers, and custodians.
DTCC’s plans also include licensing Securrency’s technology and offering specialised services in order to the industry’s development of a robust, global digital infrastructure. An example of this approach is WisdomTree’s use of Securrency’s software for its WisdomTree Prime offering, which delivers tokenised assets and funds to retail investors via digital wallets.
DTCC also intends to lead collaborative efforts across the industry to prevent fragmentation arising from multiple digital technologies and standards, by leveraging Securrency’s technology as a DLT-agnostic layer promoting interoperability, liquidity, transparency, and security.
Upon completion of the acquisition in the coming weeks, Securrency will rebrand as DTCC Digital Assets, operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of DTCC. Securrency’s CEO, Nadine Chakar, will join DTCC’s Management Committee and become Managing Director, Global Head of DTCC Digital Assets, reporting directly to Lynn Bishop, DTCC’s Managing Director and Chief Information Officer, and will. Securrency’s co-founders Dan Doney (CTO) and John Hensel (COO) will transition to DTCC, along with approximately 100 Securrency staff members and contractors.
Chakar commented: “As we join forces with DTCC, we are excited to bring together DTCC’s infrastructure capabilities with Securrency’s technology to embrace a future where the digitization of capital markets is at the forefront of innovation. These capabilities will allow DTCC to partner with the industry to build a resilient and scalable infrastructure critical to the mass adoption of digital assets. Together, we will unlock opportunities to reimagine compliance, liquidity, efficiency and interoperability in trading real-world assets on the blockchain.”
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