Monex Group to buy majority stake in 3iQ

Japanese brokerage firm Monex Group announced last week it will acquire a majority stake in Toronto-based crypto-asset investment firm 3iQ and all its subsidiaries.

The all-cash share purchase, which a Reuters report pegged at US$39.8 million, is expected to close in February.

Monex operates online brokerage, crypto exchange, and asset management services in Japan. Yuko Seimei, CEO of Monex Group, said in a release that acquiring 3iQ will help Monex grow its asset management business.

“We aim to achieve high growth by capturing the crypto asset management needs of institutional investors and crypto asset exchanges around the world,” Seimei said.

After the share purchase is complete, 3iQ will collaborate with Coincheck, Monex’s Tokyo-based crypto exchange with 1.8 million accounts, to create crypto-asset products for institutional investors, Frederick T. Pye, chairman and CEO of 3iQ, said in a release.

Apart from giving 3iQ distribution outside of Canada, the deal will also help the Canadian crypto-asset investment firm launch new business units to support institutional partners and invest in the education and research of digital assets, a 3iQ spokesperson told Investment Executive.

3iQ claims to have launched North America’s first regulated exchange-listed funds for Bitcoin and Ethereum, and was the first to introduce Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

In November, 3iQ’s U.S. subsidiary launched crypto hedge fund managed accounts through the 3iQ Managed Account Platform with US$50 million of capital from 3iQ and institutional investors.

Jonathan Got

Jonathan Got is a reporter with Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. Reach him at jonathan@newcom.ca.