London-based digital asset firm Archax has finalized its acquisition of Deutsche Digital Assets (DDA), a BaFin-licensed German asset manager overseeing approximately $70 million in crypto ETPs and institutional-grade products. This strategic move grants Archax access to Germany's stringent regulatory framework, complementing its existing UK FCA approvals and expanding its institutional reach across Germany, France, and Switzerland through DDA's established banking distribution networks.
Archax CEO Graham Rodford emphasized that the acquisition advances their ambition to build Europe's most comprehensive regulated digital asset infrastructure, following their 2023 purchase of Spanish broker KSCM. DDA brings critical BaFin licenses covering advisory services, distribution, portfolio management, and contract brokerage—enabling Archax to offer both on-chain crypto trading and institutional crypto ETPs through a single platform.
The deal significantly bolsters Archax's partnership with Ripple, which began in 2022 and intensified after Ripple's $250 million acquisition of custody firm Metaco. In November 2024, the collaborators launched the UK's first tokenized money market fund on the XRP Ledger (XRPL)—a blockchain noted for 3-5 second settlements, near-zero fees, and over 2.8 billion secure transactions since 2012. XRPL's upcoming features like Decentralized Identifiers and a Lending Protocol position it to capitalize on the projected $16 trillion tokenized asset market by 2030.
DDA Managing Partner Maximilian Lautenschläger highlighted the synergy: "We bring deep access to institutional investors across Germany, France, and Switzerland actively seeking tokenized products." The expansion allows Archax to leverage XRPL's institutional-grade capabilities for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization across Europe's largest regulated markets.