Börse Stuttgart, Axel Springer to Jointly Launch Crypto Trading Venue

Germany’s second largest stock exchange Börse Stuttgart is partnering with European digital publishing titan Axel Springer and its subsidiary Finanzen.net to jointly launch a blockchain-powered trading venue.

The development was announced in an official press release from Börse Stuttgart on March 27.

The new initiative will aim to combine investment information services and a blockchain-powered trading venue under the canopy of one platform. To realize the project, Börse Stuttgart — which reported trading volumes of 71.2 billion euro in 2018 — is set to become the majority shareholder in a forthcoming joint venture company between the three partners.

Together, Axel Springer and Finanzen.net — the latter of which reportedly already has a long-standing cooperation with Börse Stuttgart — will control 30 percent of the new firm, which is to be based in Stuttgart and run an office in Berlin.

The media release cites Axel Springer’s years of experience in creating sustainable digital business models as a key asset the publisher can bring to the new venture.

The new trading venue — for which an official name has not yet been disclosed — is set to launch initially in Germany in summer 2019, and will reportedly serve both retail and institutional investors. The joint venture company is meanwhile pending approval from the responsible committees and antitrust authorities.

In a cited statement, Alexander Höptner, chairman of the exchange’s management board, has said the new platform will aim to provide investors with “comprehensive and integrated services for digital assets – from in-depth information to trading and custody.”

As reported, Börse Stuttgart announced its plans to launch a zero-fee crypto trading app in May of last year, dubbed “Bison,” which went live this January. A Börse subsidiary provides crypto custodial services for Bison using an escrow system, and a partnership with an external banking partner supports euro payments and provides fiat custodial services for the app.