Crypto exchange Coincheck to acquire French brokerage Aplo as part of its international expansion strategy, extending its operations beyond Japan.
Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck is making a move into Europe with its acquisition of French digital asset prime brokerage Aplo. This marks Coincheck's first acquisition in Europe and is part of the company's broader strategy to broaden its institutional and retail offerings abroad.
The deal, structured as a stock purchase agreement, is expected to close in October. Coincheck CEO Gary Simanson stated that the acquisition of Aplo will leave the firms "better positioned to meet the needs of institutional crypto investors."
Aplo, founded in 2019, has built a trading application and infrastructure serving over 60 institutional clients. The company is registered with France's financial regulator AMF and is pursuing a full license under the European Union's crypto framework, MiCA.
Coincheck Group, which was founded in 2014, has grown into Japan's most downloaded crypto trading app and is planning to provide a B2B2C offering to "banks looking to make crypto investing available to their customers." The company listed its shares on the Nasdaq in 2024.
The crypto industry is experiencing consolidation as regulatory clarity and institutional adoption continue to rise. This trend is evident in recent moves by other major players in the industry. For instance, Citi-backed Talos struck a $100 million deal for analytics firm Coin Metrics. Coinbase also acquired Liquifi in July and completed its $2.9 billion acquisition of derivatives exchange Deribit last month.
Meanwhile, Ripple bought Galaxy-backed stablecoin issuer Rail for $200 million. However, Bitcoin miner Core Scientific's biggest shareholder blocked a proposed $9 billion takeover by CoreWeave.
Interestingly, all four founders of Aplo will remain with the firm after the deal closes. Coincheck's founders will also remain with the firm and continue expansion under Coincheck's umbrella.
Coincheck suffered a significant setback in 2018 when it was hacked and lost $534 million. However, the company has since rebounded, reporting a 15% increase in customer assets and a 44% jump in trading volume in its most recent financial report.
As Coincheck continues to evaluate opportunities in Europe and globally, the acquisition of Aplo is seen as an initial step leading to additional transactions in the European Market in the near term. The acquisition marks Coincheck's latest effort to broaden its institutional and retail offerings and solidify its position as a leading player in the global crypto market.
