Deutsche Börse Group, an exchange operator and provider of transactions services, announced this Tuesday that it has made a sizeable investment in HQLAx, a provider of Liquidity solutions to institutional investors.
In their statement, Deutsche Börse did not reveal exactly how much money it will be pumping into HQLAx. The firm only noted that it was a “single-digit euro million amount” that will enable it to become a minority shareholder in the firm.
The investment also means that Deutsche Börse will have two of its own employees on the HQLAx board. Specifically, Philippe Seyll, who is in charge of the its 'Global Securities Financing' business, and Jens Hachmeister, who is responsible for the development of Blockchain initiatives.
Deutsche Boerse HQLAx - building the blockchain
The exchange operator’s investment in HQLAx is not entirely surprising as the two companies already had existing ties. In March of this year, Deutsche Börse announced that it would be partnering with HQLAx to create a securities lending solution, based on the R3 Corda blockchain.
R3 is a software firm that is developing open-source and enterprise-specific blockchain software. Deutsche Börse seems to be making good use of the technology via its partnership with HQLAx. In its statement, the firm noted that banks are already signing up to use the service and the firm is in talks with regulatory authorities to ensure that it can be operational.
It also appears that this will not be Deutsche Börse's last investment in HQLAx. Tuesday’s statement also noted that the firm “is likely to acquire further shareholdings in HQLAx around year-end.”
HQLAx is the second blockchain-based investment made by Deutsche Börse's investment arm, DB1 Ventures. In late 2017, the firm confirmed that it become a minority shareholder in New York-based Digital Asset Holdings, a blockchain software developer.
