Bitpanda Acquires Crypto Custodian Trustology

Bitpanda, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Vienna, has acquired U.K.-based digital asset custodian Trustology. The financial terms were undisclosed, but a source close to the deal said the dollar amount was in the eight figures.

Trustology, which won full registration from the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in October, specializes in decentralized finance (DeFi) and will be rebranded to “Bitpanda Custody.”

Custody refers to the holding and safekeeping of digital assets, and the firms specializing in those technologies have been a target in crypto mergers and acquisitions. PayPal bought Curv last March and Galaxy Digital bought BitGo last May. Meanwhile, standalone custody firms like Fireblocks are reaching sky-high valuations.

Bitpanda became Austria’s first tech unicorn after it closed a Series B funding round at $170 million last March, followed by a $263 million Series C round in August at a $4.1 billion valuation. Trustology is the firm’s first acquisition.

Read more: Bitpanda Launches Expansion Drive to Add More Cryptos as Demand Increases

Bitpanda Custody will take custody of Bitpanda’s assets across its retail, institutional and "white-labeling" businesses, Bitpanda said in a press release.

“Bitpanda Custody is part of our strategy to offer a fully comprehensive set of services to our client base and we can now combine an FCA-registered, institutional-grade custody solution with a leading trade execution venue,” Joshua Barraclough, CEO of Bitpanda Pro, said in the release.

The crypto exchange recently announced plans to ramp up the number of digital assets made available to its roughly 3 million users. Since being founded in 2014, Bitpanda has expanded beyond crypto to offer trading in stocks, precious metals and exchange-traded funds (ETF) through a mobile app.