The purchase agreement is subject to regulatory approval by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin)
BMX Operations AG, an affiliate established yesterday by the executives of BitMEX Group, announced its intention to acquire a 268-year-old active German bank, Bankhaus von der Heydt. Although financial details were not disclosed, the acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of this year.
BMX Operations, owned by BitMEX Group CEO Alexander Höptner and CFO Stephan Lutz, said it has signed a purchase agreement with the bank’s current owner, Dietrich von Boetticher. The transaction remains provisional pending approval from the German financial regulator BaFin.
“By combining Bankhaus von der Heydt’s regulated digital asset expertise with BitMEX’s crypto innovation and scale, I believe we can create a hub for regulated crypto products in the heart of Europe,” Höptner said following the agreement.
Stephan Lutz added that Germany is the best market for expanding BitMEX’s services due to its large economy.
Connecting crypto with traditional banks
The goal behind the acquisition is to establish a one-stop center for digital products in Germany that can also serve customers from Austria and Switzerland. BitMEX Group said this move is part of its plan to become a major company in Europe and pursue global success.
Bankhaus von der Heydt will continue normal operations while Höptner and Lutz are expected to join the supervisory board in oversight roles.
If completed, the deal would not be the first collaboration between cryptocurrency exchanges and traditional banks. Last November, Siam Commercial Bank, Thailand’s oldest bank, acquired a 51% stake in crypto exchange Bitkub.
It is also worth noting that this is not Bankhaus von der Heydt’s first move into the crypto market. The bank already hosts a crypto trading desk and, late last year, announced plans to custody digital assets using the Fireblocks platform.
BitMEX’s expansion strategy in Europe
BitMEX appears to be preparing to expand its digital asset presence across Europe. In October it launched BitMEX Link in Switzerland, a brokerage and trading service.
The exchange has also outlined plans to mint its native token, BMEX, with a maximum supply capped at 450 million tokens that will vest over five years. One-fifth of the pool was reserved for company employees and a quarter allocated to the exchange’s long-term commitment to the token and its ecosystem.
BitMEX said users should expect a whitepaper before the end of the month and that token distribution would begin in February.