Citi-backed Elwood gets UK regulatory approval for crypto trading platform – Ledger Insights
Yesterday digital assets firm Elwood Technologies announced it received approval as a service company from the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority. Elwood provides an institutional execution management system providing one-stop-shop access to numerous digital asset liquidity providers for crypto traders. It was founded by Alan Howard, the former CEO of Brevan Howard, who remains the controlling shareholder. Investors include Dawn Capital, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Citi, CommerzVentures, Flow Traders and others.
These investors were previously announced during Elwood’s $70 million Series A funding in 2022, except for Citi. Additional new investors since then include Hong Kong’s HashKey and hedge fund Two Sigma.
Like many similar platforms, Elwood positions its offerings as software as a service. In a statement, Elwood said FCA approval covers ‘security tokens and derivatives’. According to the FCA website, the approval was granted in November.
Last month, Elwood announced a new CEO, Chris Lawn, who joined from Breven Howard, where he was a strategic Crypto adviser.
“Institutional investors are increasingly looking for a digital asset SaaS platform that meets robust regulatory standards akin to those in traditional finance,” said Lawn. “Securing FCA approval supports this need and marks another step in Elwood’s mission to provide an end-to-end digital asset platform in a regulated and transparent manner from the U.K., one of the world’s leading financial services jurisdictions.”
Elwood Technologies LLP, the regulated entity, also recently filed accounts for the year to March 2023, showing $11.5 million in revenues, up from $2.1 million. However, it reported a loss of $16.9 million after paying partner remuneration of $23.3 million. The holding company Elwood Technology Services received $22.2 million of that figure.
Meanwhile, yesterday the U.S.-based institutional trading venue EDX Markets announced it closed a Series B funding round. It also plans to launch in Asia.
