Russia’s TCS Acquires Swiss Crypto Startup Aximetria

TCS Group Holding, the parent company of Russian bank Tinkoff, now owns a majority share in Swiss-based cryptocurrency startup Aximetria, according to a CoinDesk report Wednesday (Jan. 12), after it bought the shares from Aximetria’s first investor, venture capital fund Digital Horizon.

Aximetria spokesperson Dilyara Belyakova did not disclose the size of the TCS acquisition, but a filing with the Swiss regulator shows TCS owned 4,449 shares of Aximetria, each worth 100 Swiss francs ($108). Aximetria’s entire share capital is 534,700 francs ($582,000), meaning TCS owns about 82% of Aximetria, according to Russian online publication The Bell.

Aximetria provides crypto trading services and physical debit cards that let users pay for goods and services using their digital currency. The company got its license from the Swiss Financial Services Standards Association (VQF) in 2019. It was founded by Alex Axelrod, who began his career with the Russian telecom giant MTS.

Related: Digital Bank Tinkoff Hires Ex-Morgan Stanley Exec as co-CEO for Asia Expansion

In November, Tinkoff hired former Morgan Stanley investment banker and energy executive Pavel Fyodorov to lead its expansion into Southeast Asia and to work as co-CEO alongside the bank’s chief executive, Oliver Hughes, at TCS.

Tinkoff plans to spend about $200 million on its international growth in the next two years. It applied for a banking license in the Philippines and is exploring launches in India and Indonesia and expansion into African and South American markets.

Tinkoff has 17 million customers in Russia and a market capitalization of $22.5 billion.

Also read: Russia Lays Groundwork to Regulate Cryptos

Meanwhile, a Russian working group tasked with crafting legislation aimed at controlling digital currencies in the Russian Federation recently held its first meeting at Russia’s parliament.

Cryptocurrencies are partially regulated under the law “On Digital Financial Assets,” but some activities like crypto trading and taxation were excluded from the scope of the law.