Nuvei has announced a deal to acquire Simplex, a fintech startup providing fiat infrastructure to the cryptocurrency industry, for $250 million in an all-cash transaction.
The deal is an example of how the crypto industry is starting to consolidate, merging businesses with one another to generate efficiencies, expand markets, and be able to compete in a maturing market.
Simplex is a fiat-cryptocurrency gateway connecting market participants including exchanges, brokers, wallet, and liquidity providers. Founded in 2014, the firm’s infrastructure enables users to buy and sell crypto with credit and debit cards, while the firm’s proprietary fraud and risk management tools ensure a zero-chargeback guarantee to customers.
Buying Simplex is also a means to acquire an electronic money institution (EMI) license to offer IBAN accounts to end users and corporations, and offer future banking and card issuing capabilities.
Simplex is a principal member of the Visa network, which grants the firm permission to issue cards. In this case, cards that provide access to digital currencies daily. In 2020, the company processed approximately $500 million in volume and is expected to process more than $2 billion in 2021, according to the statement.
Philip Fayer, Chief Executive Officer at Nuvei, said: “We expect Simplex to enhance and expand Nuvei’s steadily growing portfolio of alternative payment methods, adding turnkey simplicity to the process of buying and selling cryptocurrency and converting it back to fiat within a user account – ultimately reducing complexity for merchants and consumers.”
Last week, Galaxy Digital has agreed to acquire BitGo in a $1.2 billion deal as the firm led by Mike Novogratz positions itself as a full-service platform for institutions seeking access to the crypto economy.
The regulated custodian for digital assets was founded in 2013 to pioneer custody and wallet infrastructure products, financial products including prime lending, trading, and portfolio management, as well as tax solutions that mitigate risk and optimize capital efficiency.
BitGo has now over $40 billion of assets under custody, serving over 150 exchanges and over 400 institutional clients, and processes over 30 billion monthly transactions, supports the custody of more than 400 coins and tokens.
The acquisition of BitGo will introduce multiple new business lines to Galaxy Digital, including a regulated client custody solution from BitGo Trust, companies in South Dakota, New York, Switzerland, and Germany. BitGo’s recurring revenue is significantly less correlated with digital asset prices.
