United Fintech, an outfit dedicated to scooping up a stable of capital markets fintechs, has acquired Cobalt, a provider of risk and data services to the FX and digital asset markets. Terms were not disclosed.
Founded in 2015, Cobalt provides core shared ledger infrastructure for banks in foreign exchange trading and digital assets. The company's platform uses "blockchain-derived concepts" to create a single, shared view of every transaction and remove the need for reconciliation across siloes and multiple systems.
The firm has built up a client roster that includes top tier banks like Deutsche Bank, Citi Bank, Barclays, BNP, Natwest, ABN Amro and Standard Chartered Bank.
Under the deal, Cobalt will continue to operate as a standalone company under its current leadership, with United Fintech CEO Christian Frahm becoming chairman.
Launched in 2020, United Fintech, has set its sights on buying up a slate of capital markets fintechs and helping them sell their products and services to the world's big financial institutions. Cobalt is its fifth acquisition, following FairXchange, TTMZero, Athena Systems and NetDania.
Says Frahm: "Foreign Exchange is a core part of a bank’s infrastructure today. In the future I’m convinced digital assets will become a key asset class in the sophisticated money management space, while financial institutions and banks will need a high level of expertise and know-how to thrive in the coming digital banking era.
"Cobalt’s technology is a great addition to the United Fintech global range of products and services and I look forward to the new phase of our growth journey together."