BCB Group, Europe’s leading provider of business accounts and trading services for the digital asset economy, announced today that it has acquired LAB577, a software engineering venture studio at the nexus of financial services and emerging technology.
With a dedicated focus on institutional payment services, BCB Group provides business accounts, cryptocurrency and foreign exchange market liquidity for some of the world’s largest crypto-engaged financial institutions. BCB Group is the only multi-regulated institution of its kind to offer clients a complete end-to-end suite of payment processing, cryptocurrency trading and custody services accessible through a unified API-enabled platform, allowing clients to access a complete range of digital asset services in one place.
After 4 years of working together, the partnership between LAB577 and BCB Group has deepened, as the emerging technology software company becomes the latest business to join the group. Both parties share a common vision in making the financial system fair, inclusive and sustainable via innovation. Recognising the opportunities that digital assets offer to the financial services industry, they realise they can make this vision a reality by working together.
This is a reality that can already be seen in the connection of their two financial products, BLINC and DASL. BLINC is the European crypto industry’s first instant settlements network and one of the first real-time payment networks of its kind to allow free, real-time transactions across fiat and digital currencies. Together, BLINC and DASL have accelerated the client offerings BCB Group has brought to market. With seamless ledger and settlement services integrated into fiat banks and digital asset custodians, DASL provides high speed bi-lateral transactions with full privacy between parties.
BCB Group Founder and CEO Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie commented: “As one of LAB577’s first clients, we’ve always been in awe of their ability to deliver innovative blockchain tech in a way that plays well in both TradFi and DeFi. We are thrilled to bring Richard and team fully into the group where we can build stuff the industry needs much more closely and quickly together.”
Richard Crook, Founder of LAB577, who now becomes the COO of BCB Group said “We are delighted that LAB577 is joining BCB Group to accelerate our shared exciting next chapter of growth. DASL becoming part of BLINC will extend participants’ ability to settle instantly in any currency or digital asset, with no limits.”
The LAB577 team will be incorporated into BCB Group, adding strength to their engineering and commercial teams, including Richard Crook as COO and Farzad ‘Fuzz’ Pezeshkpour who becomes the CTO of BCB Group. Since 2001, Fuzz has served in multiple roles across major tier 1 investment banks, including the platform architect and technical lead for the FX Options platform at NatWest Markets, Head of Credit Risk IT at Deutsche Bank and Head of Engineering for Risk at NatWest. He has been working with DLTs since 2014 – including Ripple, Ethereum and Corda. Notably, he is a key contributor to the Corda open source project. For his contributions and achievements in his career, he was awarded the title of Distinguished Engineer at NatWest.
ENDS
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Sam Shrager
About BCB Group
BCB Group is Europe’s leading crypto-dedicated payment services provider, serving some of the industry’s largest clients including Bitstamp, Coinbase, Galaxy, Gemini, Huobi and Kraken. BCB Group provides payment services in 20+ currencies, FX, cryptocurrency liquidity and digital asset custody.
Responding to institutional demand for operational best practice in digital asset markets, BCB Group was created by established thought leaders in finance, regulation and technology. Founded in the UK and developed to encompass key relationships across global financial services communities, BCB Group is well positioned as one of the first multi-jurisdictional regulated cryptocurrency service firms. BCB Group’s executive team have worked for Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Investec, Lloyds Commercial Bank, Norton Rose Fulbright, FIS and Sun Life of Canada.
BCB’s mission is to connect and bank the global crypto industry.
Gemma Young
About LAB577
LAB577 is a venture studio at the nexus of financial services and emerging technology. We’re specialists in leading high energy teams to shape and deliver maximum business benefits through emerging technology solutions for financial service institutions – new and old. https://lab577.io/
About DASL
DASL is an adaptable evergreen technology solution to enable the future of financial services. It offers a production-ready, robust, finance grade application which can be used for tokenization of any type of underlying asset – a complete solution for issuance, portfolio management, trading and settlement of digital assets. https://dasl.io
Disclaimer
The information contained in this press release is intended for use and publication by journalists and should not be relied upon by private investors or any other persons to make financial decisions. Furthermore, the material contained herein is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as an offer, solicitation of an offer, or an inducement to buy or sell cryptocurrencies or any equivalents either generally or in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. All of the views expressed about the markets, cryptocurrencies and stakeholders in this press comment accurately reflect the personal views of BCB Group. While opinions stated are honestly held, they are not guarantees and should not be relied on. The information or opinions provided should not be taken as specific advice on the merits of any investment decision. This press release may contain statements about expected or anticipated future events and financial results that are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, such as general economic, market and business conditions, new legislation and regulatory actions, competitive and general economic factors and conditions and the occurrence of unexpected events. Past performance in other related cryptocurrencies is not a viable indication of future performance with actual results possibly differing materially from those stated herein. Investments in cryptocurrencies are not currently regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Your capital is at risk when investing in cryptocurrencies.
