INX Acquires Forex-Trader ILS Brokers for $4.75M

Cryptocurrency exchange INX has acquired over-the-counter forex-focused trader ILS Brokers for $4.75 million.

• ILS is an Israel-based broker with more than 50 relationships with major banks around the world, providing INX with global institutional reach, according to an emailed announcement Tuesday.
• The deal is "another building block and touch-point" linking crypto with traditional finance, INX President Shy Datika said.
• INX's acquisition of ILS follows soon after the purchase of alternative trading system Openfinance, which will allow INX to offer security tokens and crypto trading in tandem.
• "We believe that cryptocurrency non-deliverable-forward trading by global institutions will take the spotlight, especially given most institutions are looking for a way to trade cryptocurrency price volatility without the responsibility of actually holding the underlying assets," Datika said.
• INX last year became the first company to complete a security token offering registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Its initial public offering kicked off on the Ethereum blockchain in September 2020, ultimately raising around $85 million from more than 7,200 investors.