Share this article
Digital Asset Holdings Acqui-Hires Smart Contract Startup
Digital Asset Holdings has acquired Swiss FinTech startup Elevence to build out a system of smart contracts designed to preserve privacy.
Updated Sep 11, 2021, 12:14 p.m. Published Apr 20, 2016, 6:34 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Digital Asset Holdings has announced that it has acquired the assets and senior leadership of a Zurich-based technology startup.
Elevence CEO Vincent Peikert will lead Digital Asset's Switzerland office, and serve as head of product for Europe. Further, James Litsios, Elevence's CTO, will serve as head of development in Switzerland. The terms of the acqui-hire were not disclosed.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
In the statement posted to Digital Asset’s website, CEO Blythe Masters described how she sees Elevence’s eight-person team fitting into the company.
Masters said:
"The resulting Digital Asset platform is specifically designed to address financial services applications requiring automation, privacy and immutability."
The acquisition represents the fourth blockchain startup purchased by the New York-based Digital Asset. In the past year, Digital Asset has moved to acquire startups Hyperledger, Bits of Proof, and Blockstack.io.
Privacy focus
Founded in 2015, Zürich-based Elevence has been working to write a coding language specifically designed to model and execute financial agreements using a distributed ledger, while at the same time giving parties involved more control over who can see the information provided.
According to the announcement, Elevence has developed a modeling language to express "any right or obligation", including cash, securities and derivatives. The company’s code defines the considerations between parties to determine how contractual relations might change over time.
"This provides relevant parties with a unified view of current and future rights and obligations on a need-to-know basis, rather than revealing confidential information as in smart contract systems," Digital Asset explained.
Blockchain or distributed ledger?
Today's announcement also provided more evidence of what increasingly looks like an industry-wide shift away from the term "blockchain" to the term "distributed ledger".
Earlier this month, banking consortium R3CEV announced its own distributed ledger platform, dubbed 'Corda', which the company described as being built from the ground up with user privacy in mind. At the time, R3 sought to distinguish its new platform from blockchain, the distributed database that underlies bitcoin and other digital currencies.
Similarly, today's formal announcement continued the company's tendency to make no mention of the word "blockchain," but described the technology as a "distributed ledger" on five separate occasions.
Image via Shutterstock
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Gold tops $5,000 as bitcoin stalls near $87,000 in widening macro-crypto split: Asia Morning Briefing
Bitcoin’s onchain data points to supply overhang and weak participation, while gold’s breakout is priced by markets as a durable macro regime shift.
What to know:
- Gold’s surge above $5,000 an ounce is increasingly seen as a durable regime shift, with investors treating the metal as a persistent hedge against geopolitical risk, central bank demand and a weaker dollar.
- Bitcoin is stuck near $87,000 in a low-conviction market, as on-chain data show older holders selling into rallies, newer buyers absorbing losses and a heavy supply overhang capping moves toward $100,000.
- Derivatives and prediction markets point to continued consolidation in bitcoin and sustained strength in gold, with thin futures volumes, subdued leverage and weak demand for higher-beta crypto assets like ether reinforcing the cautious tone.
Top Stories
