Naga Group, a provider of financial services, financial technology, and innovation incubation, has entered into a new partnership with Deutsche Börse Group, launching a new joint venture Switex, according to a Deutsche Börse statement.
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Switex will combine elements of both Naga Group and Deutsche Börse, resulting in a jointly led operation that will oversee the management and development of a platform responsible for Exchange and trade of in-game items.
In particular, Naga Group will lend its Fintech prowess and technical leadership, managing Switex, while Deutsche Börse will be providing its market expertise and perspective given its position as one of the industry’s leaders.
The market for in-game items is estimated at north of $46 billion a year, having notched methodic annual growth of over 10% YoY in recent years. The primary challenge for the market has been a dearth of legal ventures or avenues for players to legally trade game items.
At its launch, Switex will effective be the first global exchange for virtual gaming products. Management of the group will include an all-star team from both companies, including the founders of the Naga Group, Yasin Qureshi and Benjamin Bilski, who are slated to serve as Managing Directors of Switex.
By extension, Christoph Brück from Naga Group, Victor Hugo Gomez from Deutsche Börse and Nikolay Kolev from Deloitte Digital Ventures will also be joining Switex’s advisory board – Deutsche Börse AG will also be holding a minority stake in Switex.
Yasin Qureshi
According to Yasin Qureshi, acting CEO of Naga Group and CEO of Switex, in a recent statement on the launch: “We believe that there is a great demand in the gaming community to trade in game items in a fair, secure and legal environment. We will give gamers the chance to monetize the values they have earned through their skills and efforts.”
“We are proud to announce this cooperation and strongly believe that, with the support of Deutsche Börse, we will create a new standard for trading virtual items,” explained Naga Group Executive Director Christoph Brück in an accompanying statement.
“The entrepreneurial team at the Naga Group has strong know-how and industry expertise. We look forward to helping them develop the platform and to providing our market infrastructure expertise,” reiterated Victor Hugo Gomez, Senior Vice President, DB1 Ventures, Deutsche Börse.
