Laser Digital Acquires Elysium Technology Group
Posted by Colin Lambert. Last updated: June 29, 2023
Nomura’s digital assets subsidiary, Laser Digital, has acquired OTC FX and digital assets post-trade technology provider Elysium Technology Group – financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close “imminently”, were not disclosed.
Elysium was founded in 2007 by former UBS FX executives Andy Siciliano and Ed Mount, along with tech pioneers Mark Rosenfeld and Lo Shih. The firms say the acquisition marks a significant milestone for both companies as they join forces to bring cross-asset post-trade capabilities to institutional digital asset investors.
The company will be renamed Elysium LD Technology, Inc., operating as an affiliate of Laser Digital and will continue to grow its FX and digital asset product lines and client base. RiskDB, Elysium’s longstanding enterprise platform, integrates business logic within a real-time database to streamline post-trade workflows and create scalable business efficiencies while minimising trade processing costs. In addition, MatchHub is a central clearing solution which offers a cost-effective software platform to match, reconcile, and settle transactions in real-time, minimising various risks by vastly improving business and counterparty transparency.
The Full FX View
This is an interesting acquisition, mainly because, for all its recent initiatives in digital assets, Elysium is an FX firm at heart. This indicates that institutions in the digital assets space are recognising the market structure expertise in FX and are willing to buy into it.
Perhaps more generally, this deal reinforces the view that the crypto market structure is likely to evolve towards an OTC environment at the expense of the exchange. If that is indeed the case then the expertise provided by Elysium could prove invaluable, and a differentiator, for Laser Digital.
“A group of us at Elysium had the good fortune to launch our careers at O’Connor and Associates in Chicago,” says Mount, who is CEO of Elysium. “We have continued to embed their core principles of using leading-edge technology, rigorous risk management, and the highest ethical standards throughout our services for over 20 years together. We are thrilled to join forces with Steve and the rest of the Laser Digital team, who share our values and ambitions of bringing our cross-asset platform to an expanded audience.”
Steve Ashley, executive chairman of Laser Digital, adds, “The acquisition of Elysium is a strategic move that aligns perfectly with our vision for the future of finance. Combining Laser Digital with Elysium’s RiskDB and MatchHub platforms will enable us to deliver the cross-asset post-trade system institutional digital asset investors require.”