Beck (tradias): “MiCA changes the competitive dynamics in Europe. It creates opportunity, but it also accelerates consolidation and attracts international players into a now harmonized market. We are convinced that the institutional market will effectively be distributed over the next few years. If you want to increase market share, time-to-market is decisive. The question was whether we stay strong players alone or build a European champion together. We chose the latter.”

Voelkel (Boerse Stuttgart Group): “Both companies are very successful independently. This is not a necessity-driven merger. But when you combine two leading regulated European players with complementary strengths and proven track records, the fit is very clear. Together, we believe we will address virtually all of the requirements a regulated financial institution would look for in a European partner.”

Voelkel: “Boerse Stuttgart Digital brings the full infrastructure: regulated brokerage, exchange and custody, embedded in a traditional exchange group with established regulatory setups and client connectivity. That means reliability, licensing, operational resilience and direct access to a broad institutional network.

There is also another dimension: in conversations with clients, there is a clear desire for a European player. And it is paramount that this player is regulated. Digital infrastructure should not be another area where Europe loses out. European players must contribute to building the infrastructure of the future.”

Beck: “Tradias brings institutional-grade trading expertise. We built a deeply vertical trading offering and established ourselves as a go-to liquidity provider in the regulated institutional segment.

What we were missing was the horizontal line. With custody and exchange infrastructure as part of the future setup, and with a lending solution currently being developed at tradias, we are moving toward a full-stack institutional offering.

The key point is modularity. Every bank and asset manager is currently defining its own digital asset model. Some want custody in-house. Others want to outsource trading. Some may expand into lending or derivatives. Our setup will allow them to choose their model while we provide the rest of the infrastructure as a one-stop shop.”

Voelkel: “It is a merger under the roof of Boerse Stuttgart Group. With dual headquarters in Stuttgart and Frankfurt, we will operate as one fully integrated entity in the market, with a unified and coordinated client approach.

As for branding, no final decision has been made yet. The guiding principle is straightforward: the brand must clearly reflect what we stand for: trust, reliability, and a strong institutional focus.”

Voelkel: “Our digital business is growing at a very high pace, and the combined entity will accelerate that trajectory.

But at the same time, the classic capital markets business of our group is also growing and performing strongly. We recently had the best January in our history, and over the past six years we have doubled revenues in the traditional business. So this is not a story of substitution. It is a story of parallel growth.

What is more relevant than the percentage split is the increasing integration and the synergy potential between the two worlds. In many conversations, clients are not asking for ‘crypto only’ solutions. They are asking for integrated solutions that combine brokerage, crypto custody and, over time, tokenized and traditional instruments.

In that sense, digital assets are a structural pillar of our exchange group. Whether they account for 25% or 50% of revenues at a specific point in time is less important than the fact that our different businesses increasingly reinforce each other.”