Wallet infrastructure provider and digital asset custodian BitGo has signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire fintech infrastructure provider Prime Trust, according to a announcement June 8.
Terms of the contract were not disclosed. If the deal goes through, BitGo will acquire Prime Trust’s payment rails and cryptocurrency IRA fund and increase its wealth management offerings.
Prime Trust’s Nevada Trust Company will also join BitGo’s network of regulated trust companies in South Dakota, New York, Germany and Switzerland. Prime Trust’s API infrastructure and exchange network will be “1:1 mapped” with BitGo services. According to the BitGo statement:
“This acquisition makes BitGo the first global digital asset company to provide a full suite of solutions for fintech institutions and platforms.”
The crypto custody market is changing rapidly, with Ripple acquiring Swiss digital asset custody provider Metaco in May for $250 million. In addition, technological advances are impacting the market.
BitGo has signed a term sheet to acquire the capital of Prime Core Technologies, Inc., the parent company of Prime Trust, bringing business continuity, long-term stability, and regulated and secure solutions to Prime Trust’s valued customers.
This acquisition makes BitGo the first… pic.twitter.com/CUcTUeCFKu
—BitGo (@BitGo) June 8, 2023
The acquisition comes as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed rule changes that would make it harder for crypto firms to act as custodians of their clients’ funds.
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Prime Trust reportedly laid off a third of its staff in January. It later stepped in to hold Binance.US customer funds through a network of partner banks after the March banking crisis. He was at the center of a scandal in the US state of Oregon last year when he was identified as the source of a $500,000 contribution to the state’s Democratic Party that ran later found to be from FTX executive Nishad Singh.
Bitgo itself was nearly acquired by Galaxy Digital for $1.2 billion last year and sued Galaxy after the deal was called off.
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