The New York-based cryptocurrency trader and lender Genesis Global Trading has announced on Thursday the acquisition of cryptocurrency custodian Vo1t in a bid to become a prime brokerage firm. By purchasing Vo1t with an undisclosed sum, the crypto firm Genesis Trading is paving its way for becoming a prime brokerage. According to a report of Fortune, the company will offer a full suite of brokerage services to its clients including trading, lending, and custody.
Announcing the news, the CEO of Genesis Capital Michael Moro says, “We’re coming at this after having a successful business on the trading and lending side. The goal is for clients to be able to do any and all activities with Genesis.”
The Acquisition of Vo1t is a strategic step
The crypto custodian Vo1t has only six employees which do not make it a popular name in the industry. However, the CEO of Genesis is somehow impressed by the technology of Vo1t. Michael Moro says that the acquisition of the crypto custodian firm is a strategic step and considers its custodial service really useful for the crypto firm.
Expressing his point of view, Genesis CEO said that the new service known as Genesis Prime will utilize the capabilities of lending and trading of the firm:
“My view on the custody space is that it’s not a great standalone business. There’s a lot of competition, and it’s race to zero on fees. Genesis will treat custody as a complementary service to offer alongside its trading and lending products.”
Furthermore, he is of the view that no broker can call itself a prime broker if it is a non-custodial.
Growing competition between Genesis and Coinbase
The crypto firm Genesis and the major crypto exchange Coinbase are rivals to each other on the matter of custodial service. Genesis CEO says that their acquisition of Vo1t will boost up this rivalry and the competition between both of these firms will increase due to this acquisition.
Last year, the San-Francisco-based exchange Coinbase acquired Xapo for crypto custody for an amount of $55 million.
