SBI Financial Services has acquired U.K.-based cryptocurrency trading platform B2C2 through its subsidiary, Reuters reports.
This comes after the company took a $30 million minority stake in the firm in early July, making its foray into prime brokerage space.
It is worth noting that Japanese behemoth SBI Holdings, the parent company of SBI Financial Services, is a long-term partner of San Francisco-headquartered Ripple. Its CEO, Yoshitaka Kitao, currently sits on the board of directors of the blockchain decacorn.
Speaking of B2C2, Kitao mentioned that the company's vision would help SBI to "expand" its footprint across markets around the globe:
Their (B2C2's) vision, expertise and offering complement SBI's, and we look forward to working in partnership as we expand our footprint across the global markets.
On top of the acquisition, SBI Financial Services will also launch a cryptocurrency dealing desk, which marks a potentially watershed moment for the nascent industry.
No longer dismissed
B2C2's founder, Max Boonen, claims that cryptocurrencies are no longer dismissed following Bitcoin's record run to a new all-time high earlier this month.
His company's headcount is expected to increase to 70 employees in the near future. Its Japanese team will work directly from the SBI offices.
As reported by U.Today, SBI VC Trade debuted cryptocurrency lending for Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP in late November.
The deal between the financial giant and B2C2 could significantly boost the adoption of cryptocurrencies. During a quarterly briefing in October, Kitao mentioned that crypto ecosystems had to be structured in a global manner.
Vladislav Sopov