FundBank Group is entering a new chapter as it rebrands to IRACE Digital and expands its presence in digital assets with the acquisition of Cayman Islands-based Tenet Bank.
The company said Monday the move is part of a broader strategy to build a single platform where institutions can manage both traditional banking and digital asset services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Tenet Bank has a client base that includes entrepreneurs, startups, Web3 builders and institutional investors. The bank is to be integrated into the IRACE group and will provide digital asset custody, liquidity management, and trade execution services in addition to traditional banking.
Deal reflects growing push to unite banking and digital asset services
The deal reflects a growing trend in financial services of banks looking to combine traditional finance and digital asset infrastructure rather than treating them as separate businesses.
Today, many institutional investors still rely on multiple providers for banking, payments, crypto custody, trading and settlement. IRACE believes that model is becoming more inefficient, creating more operational complexity and compliance challenges than necessary.
The goal is to make that process easier by offering those services through one regulated platform .
John Cronin, the former CEO of digital asset custodian Zodia Custody, has been appointed global CEO of IRACE Digital, leading the company through that transition.
With digital assets becoming more mainstream in finance, institutions are looking for a more unified approach, said Cronin.”Today institutional clients have been forced to stitch together banking, custody, payments, liquidity and execution across multiple providers,” he said.
“The aim of IRACE is to replace that fragmented setup with a single operating model that can support fiat currencies, stablecoins and both traditional and digital assets under one governance framework,” Cronin said.
The leadership team has also been bolstered by the addition of several former Zodia executives to the company, including Jo Lee, Niamh Byrne and Jennifer Fisher.
Demand for integrated financial infrastructure continues to grow
The expansion comes as demand for integrated financial infrastructure is increasing.
Banks, asset managers, hedge funds and fintechs are looking increasingly for providers who can offer both traditional banking and crypto-related services, without the need for clients to switch platforms.
IRACE is not the only one that is chasing that opportunity.
The company debuted Big Business Banking earlier this year, a platform that combines traditional banking with crypto-related services for corporate customers. The offer has been taken up by several big digital asset firms such as Bullish, BitGo, Cumberland and Wintermute, underlining the growing demand for integrated financial solutions.
IRACE is taking a similar approach, wagering that institutions want a more streamlined experience with fewer providers as digital assets go mainstream.
The company is already running regulated banking businesses in the Cayman Islands, Europe and across the United States. It also said it is in the process of obtaining other regulatory approvals to expand its digital asset features in several jurisdictions.
For IRACE, the acquisition of Tenet Bank is more than just picking up another banking business.
It signals a move towards building the infrastructure supporting the next generation of financial services where traditional banking and blockchain-based assets increasingly live together.
With institutional adoption of digital assets growing, companies providing banking and crypto services on a single regulated platform will likely become a more significant part of the evolving financial landscape.
