INX to Acquire and Merge with OpenFinance, Creating Regulated Trading Platform for Digital Securities and Cryptocurrencies

Liquidity is the oft-noted promise and allure behind digital securities.  To facilitate this potential, secondary marketplaces are needed, allowing for a platform on which investors can easily buy/sell such assets.  One of the sector's most well-known platforms of this kind, OpenFinance, has just been acquired by INX Limited.

In doing so, INX will be able to immediately grow its user base, providing investors with a strong offering – and hopefully better liquidity among listed digital securities.

Commentary

While financial details of the acquisition have not been released, the deal will see each company consolidate platforms – meaning INX will inherit licensure currently held by OpenFinance.

Upon announcing this acquisition/merger, representatives from each company took the time to comment.

Shy Datika, President of INX, states,

“Digital securities represent a new evolution in traditional capital markets. There are massive benefits of listing and trading digital assets versus traditional equities…Openfinance has pioneered this space and earned the respect of Wall Street, the blockchain community, and U.S. regulators. We are proud to add those incredible achievements to the INX portfolio – offering investors more access to liquidity.”

Jim Stonebridge, CEO of OpenFinance, states,

“INX and Openfinance share the same vision of providing a safe and regulated ecosystem for listing and trading of digital assets. We believe that regulatory oversight, combined with liquidity, will make digital assets the financial instrument of choice for companies and investors seeking to access and raise capital. The consolidation of two leading platforms will be the catalyst needed to move this industry forward.”

Past Woes

An acquisition/merger of this kind may just be the best outcome for OpenFinance.  In recent months, the company had made a public cry, indicating that it was in need of financial help.  At the time, the platform indicated that it would begin de-listing digital securities hosted on its platform unless its issuers ‘stepped-up’, and paid listing fees.

Without the acquisition by INX, this article today could have very well been discussing the shuttering of certain services at OpenFinance.  Thankfully, this is not the case, and the future now looks brighter for each platform moving forward as the digital securities sector continues to mature.

Past Successes

2020 has been a bumpy road for most, including OpenFinance.  INX has bucked this trend, however, with the company experiencing various successes over the past few months; the primary of which is the company’s on-going tokenized IPO.

This capital generation event, which is ongoing, has so far been successful.  We recently covered an important marker in the event, as INX surpassed its minimum raise threshold – in the process opening up the capability for investors to begin utilizing cryptocurrencies as a funding method.

Part of the appeal behind this event is not only the ability to utilize crypto as a means of purchase but the structuring of the INX token, itself.  Known as the INX Security Token F-1, these digital securities utilize smart contracts as a built-in means of ensuring regulatory compliance of KYC/AML laws, and ownership.

Competitor Incoming?

INX and OpenFinance are not the only ones to have recognized a need for secondary marketplaces in the digital securities sector.  Industry pioneer, Securitize, recently made the news when it acquired a broker/dealer of its own – DTM and Velocity Platform.

Whether looking at the INX or Securitize deal, each will benefit from an expedited process towards the development of a secondary marketplace.  With such platforms requiring licensure which takes long periods to obtain, the acquisition of a company already licensed can save months of waiting.

INX

Founded in 2017, INX maintains headquarters in Gibraltar.  Above all, the team at INX is working to develop a comprehensive trading platform which supports, not only cryptocurrencies, but security tokens and derivatives, as well.

Company operations are overseen by the following individuals.

Shy Datika – Cofounder & President

Alan Silbert – Executive Managing Director

OpenFinance

Founded in 2017, OpenFinance Network maintains headquarters in Chicago, Illinois.  Above all, OFN acts as a registered trading platform for both, tokenized and non-tokenized, securities.

CEO, Jim Stonebridge, currently oversees company operations.