Capitual, a Brazilian fintech company that offers cryptocurrency intermediation services, has partnered with Azimut, an asset management firm, to expand its service offer to Europe. The deal, which contemplates an investment of €15 million (about $16.2 million), would allow Capitual to start operating in Mexico, where Azimut has significant presence and operations.
Capitual Gets €15 Million Investment From Azimut
Fintech companies serving the cryptocurrency market have started grabbing the attention of more traditional asset management firms. Capitual, a fintech company that serves as a bridge to legacy finance for several crypto exchanges in Brazil, has completed a partnership deal with Azimut, an Italian asset management firm. The deal, which includes an investment of €15 million (about $16.2 million) will allow the company to extend its services to European countries.
The expansion would also contemplate Capitual establishing presence in Mexico and offering its services there. Customers of the firm include several exchanges like Kucoin, Huobi, and Bitget, that trust the company to route its payments and withdrawals using Brazil’s traditional banking system.
About the goal that the company wants to achieve with this expansion, Guilherme Nunes, executive director of Capitual, stated:
We want to replicate the product we have in Brazil in other countries, serving our partners in other jurisdictions as well. The idea is to become a center of blockchain technology in these markets.
Azimut’s Contribution
The two companies aim to complement each other’s activities, with Azimut taking advantage of the company’s expertise in dealing with cryptocurrency and blockchain, and Capitual gaining from Azimut’s know-how in traditional finance and regulatory compliance in these new markets.
Azimut interest in blockchain is not new, as the firm was one of the first to launch a blockchain-based security instrument back in 2021, with support from Sygnum bank. Now, the company wants to bring a series of blockchain instruments including asset tokenization and crypto investment management to Brazil, hand in hand with Capitual. On the issue, Giorgio Medda, Azimut’s CEO of the resource management and fintech area, told O’Globo:
We are convinced that blockchain technology is redrawing the frontier of the financial services industry as we know it.
With this capital injection, Capitual’s valuation reaches €302 million (approx. $327 million), putting it closer to its goal of becoming a Brazilian unicorn. The company was Binance’s partner in Brazil until the exchange announced it was taking legal action against it due to the suspension of withdrawals back in June 2022.
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