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Journalist
Tanzeel Akhtar
Journalist
Tanzeel Akhtar
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Archax CEO Graham Rodford traces the company’s roots to decades of traditional finance. “I was COO of a hedge fund for 20 years,” he says. “My co-founders and I started looking at crypto around 2013, and from 2017 to 2018, we realized two things – many offers seemed like titles that needed regulation, and blockchain technology itself could bring real efficiency to financial markets.
Rodford saw an opportunity to bring those worlds together. “As an operations guy, I spent years reconciling between the first brokers and administrators. A shared ledger could remove so much friction,” he explains.
“We believed that every asset would eventually move up the chain, but there was no credible and regulated counterparty. So we decided to build one,” explains Rodford.
Archax applied to the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2019 and, in 2020, became the UK’s first regulated digital securities exchange, broker and custodian – a rare trifecta.
The company supports a wide spectrum of assets, from unregulated to regulated tokenized cryptocurrencies. real world assets (RWAs)– and covers the entire lifecycle of digital assets, including token issuance, fundraising, trading and custody.
With its strong regulatory foundation and international footprint, Archax is building the bridge between TradFi and DeFi, advancing its vision of a world where financial markets operate fully on-chain.
Working with the FCA and Building Trust
Securing FCA authorization was a complex process. “The path to traditional regulation was well defined,” says Rodford. “But we were proposing something new – the management of securities and digital assets. Education is needed on both sides.”
He describes taking the regulator “on the go”, engaging separate teams that oversee custody, exchanges and brokerage. “We had to demonstrate how the existing rules apply to this new technology. Where the framework is not suitable, we are working with the FCA to adjust it.”
That first regulatory dialogue, Rodford believes, gave Archax a head start as tokenization gained mainstream attention.
Tokenization and the rise of Onchain Cash
Asked where he sees the most immediate traction, Rodford points to tokenized money. “Money market funds are booming because they trade at a stable value and pay yield,” he says.
“Stablecoins have shown how powerful on-chain cash can be, but they don’t pay interest. Now we’re seeing the next wave of digital cash performance,” Rodford adds.
Archax has already tokenized equity and debt instruments with over half a billion dollars processed through its platform. “We have worked with banks, asset managers and market infrastructure providers on more than 30 projects,” he adds. “Everyone sees that in the future, if two axes are identical, the one on the chain will always be more useful.”
Expansion through Acquisitions
In July, Archax announced to acquire Deutsche Digital Assets (DDA), marking its third strategic acquisition in recent months as it accelerates global expansion. The move will strengthen Archax’s regulated footprint across Europe, extending its presence in Germany and France – two of the continent’s most active and influential digital asset markets.
DDA is a German-based issuer of crypto ETP. “Acquisition helps bring two worlds together,” says Rodford. “Archax brings traditional assets into the digital space, while DDA gives traditional investors regulated access to digital assets.”
He notes that global demand for regulated exposure is growing rapidly. “The BlackRock Bitcoin ETF was the fastest to reach $100 million. That shows mainstream appetite,” he says. “We will create both passive and active ETPs, expanding access for investors who want to enter digital markets safely.”
Looking ahead, Rodford expects tokenized capital markets to be fully integrated within five years. “Eventually, every major platform will use digital cash to buy and settle tokenized assets 24/7,” he says. “This is the world Archax is building for.”
