Komainu taps former Italian stock exchange

Nicolas Bertrand will take over the digital asset custody company Komainu immediately
Howard appears to be on a crypto-investing spree
According to Bertrand, institutional clients are more interested in digital assets

Bloomberg first reported that the digital asset custodian Komainu, which is backed by Nomura, has appointed Nicolas Bertrand as its new CEO.

Bertrand, who was the head of derivatives markets and commodities at the Italian stock exchange Borsa Italia for more than a decade, will begin immediately and is based in London.

According to Bloomberg, Bertrand stated that he has no plans to raise additional funds, will attempt to cut costs, and will continue to concentrate on innovation. Bertrand added that Koimanu will try to obtain a similar license for the UK and that the company already has provisional approval to operate in Dubai.

Bertrand stated that he has no plans to raise additional funds

Komainu fills its C-suite with executives from the conventional finance exchange ecosystem.In April of last year, the company tried to hire Matthew Chamberlain, who was the CEO of the London Metal Exchange at the time.

However, Chamberlain ultimately decided to stay in charge of the metal market because of a nickel shortage. With funding from CoinShares, Nomura, a Japanese investment bank, and Ledger, a cryptocurrency cold storage wallet manufacturer, Komainu went live in 2020.

In a Series A financing led by hedge fund manager Alan Howard, Komainu received $25 million in funding in March 2021.

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Alan Howard leads $25 million Series A for crypto custodian Komainu

The institutional crypto custodian Komainu, which is backed by Nomura, has raised $25 million in Series A funding.

Alan Howard, a seasoned manager of hedge funds who also owns crypto-asset manager Elwood Asset Management, was in charge of the round.NOIA Capital, Nomura Research Institute, and Galaxy Digital were among the additional participants in the round.

Komainu is a joint venture between three businesses that were established in 2018:CoinShares, Ledger, and Nomura The Saint Helier, New Jersey-based Komainu intends to expand globally, support additional assets, and offer services to prime brokerages with the new capital. All three companies also made contributions to Series A.

Komainu began operations in June 2020 and currently manages more than $3 billion in assets on behalf of institutional investors, which include corporations, asset managers, and government agencies.

The Series A comes at a time when the price of bitcoin is rising because more and more businesses are investing in the largest and first cryptocurrency in the world.

Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing