Digital asset custody provider Komainu has targeted Singapore’s Propine Holdings, the parent company of local custody provider Propine Technologies, for acquisition. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.
If the sale is approved it will be Komainu’s first acquisition, but probably not its last, its CEO said.
Propine has a Capital Markets Services License
The sale of Propine to Komainu requires approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Propine Technologies holds a Capital Markets Services License issued by MAS to provide institutional custodial services, which Komainu co-CEO Paul Frost-Smith called “an absolutely key factor in building” Komainu in an interview with Bloomberg.
Frost-Smith added that, once the acquisition is completed, Komainu will also apply for a Major Payment Institution license from the MAS. Komainu currently focuses on Japan but is seeking to expand its footprint in Asia. Frost-Smith said in a statement:
“Propine will enhance our capabilities in meeting the significant client demand we are experiencing, including for Komainu Connect, our collateral management service, which is already extensively utilised by our investor clients in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia.”
Propine will do business under the Komainu brand name after the acquisition, Propine CEO Tuhina Singh said in the same statement.
Related: OKX joins Komainu and CoinShares for institutional segregated asset trading
Komainu is slowly expanding
Propine graduated from the MAS regulatory sandbox in 2021 after slightly more than a year. Its custody service uses a blockchain-agnostic, dual-layer multisignatory mechanism that is not native to any single chain.
Source: Sidhartha Shukla
Komainu was founded in 2018 with backing from Japanese investment bank Nomura through its Laser Digital subsidiary, along with cryptocurrency companies CoinShares and Ledger. Its product launched in 2020.
Komainu has already been making headway outside of Japan. It has a full operating license from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority and registration as a custodian wallet provider from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. It had contracted with the City of London Police to hold confiscated cryptocurrency even before that registration.
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