Fireblocks acquires BlockFold to boost blockchain capabilities

Fireblocks, a blockchain platform for digital assets, has acquired BlockFold, a smart contract development firm.

The acquisition will increase FireBlocks’ tokenisation capabilities to give clients token customisation, orchestration and distribution through its network.  

Headquartered in New York, Fireblocks collaborates with other tokenisation partners, such as Bitbond, Securitize and Tokeny.  

BlockFold’s client roster includes institutions like the Swiss National Bank, Singapore’s Ministry of Finance, Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and National Australia Bank. Some of its clients are also patrons of Fireblocks. 

Blockchain’s potential for financial assets tokenisation is gaining momentum. The Boston Consulting Group forecasts a $16t market by 2030, representing 10% of all financial assets. Fireblocks anticipates the value of tokenised bonds on the blockchain to soar to $400b within the next three years. 

With this growth, Fireblocks has seen a 350% increase in tokenisation projects between 2022 and 2023, with 75% of tier-1 financial institutions exploring tokenisation through its platform.  

Michael Shaulov, co-founder and chief executive officer at Fireblocks, expressed his enthusiasm, stating: “BlockFold’s expertise fills an important gap in the market, tailoring bespoke solutions for some of our most sophisticated customers. Bringing BlockFold’s expertise in-house means that we can better serve tier-1 financial institutions to quickly and seamlessly bring tokenisation projects into production and new assets onto the blockchain.  

Francois Schonken, senior director of tokenisation business lead at Fireblocks, emphasised the customisation of smart contracts, especially for large financial institutions.  

He said: “We have always appreciated the way in which the Fireblocks team understands this at a fundamental level when we have worked with them in the past.” 

As part of the integration process, BlockFold’s engineering team will join the Web3 staff, while the business consulting team will become part of the financial markets group. In addition to Francois Schonken, co-founder Terence Siganakis has been appointed senior director, head of tokenisation products. 

Recently, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange partnered with Fireblocks to offer a range of digital asset products and services. 

Orly Grinfeld, executive vice president and head of clearing at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, remarked: “Fireblocks’ acquisition of BlockFold stands to strengthen its tokenisation capabilities and bridge the gap between CeFi and DeFi by allowing financial institutions like TASE to build robust and scalable infrastructures and support well-governed digital asset ecosystems.” 

Image: © Lerbank-bbk22 via Canva

Josh Poyser Josh Poyser is an editor at FinTech Intel. He has written about fintech for several years and appeared at FinTech Connect 2023 on the 'Unlocking Success: The Art of Fintech PR' panel.