Private market exchange ADDX has confirmed that it sold its stake in CYBAVO to US-based Circle Internet Financial Limited, a global financial technology firm and parent company of the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), as part of Circle’s acquisition of CYBAVO earlier this year.

Taiwan-based CYBAVO is an infrastructure-as-a-service platform providing digital asset custody technology and security services to enterprise customers, such as cryptocurrency exchanges, NFT marketplaces, cryptocurrency wallet providers, and fintech service providers.

CYBAVO was founded in 2018 by Paul Fan and Tim Hsu, cybersecurity veterans in Taiwan with considerable experience consulting for and helping to build the industry’s biggest companies, including Trend Micro (TYO: 4704) and Qihoo 360. The firm’s core product, the CYBAVO VAULT, helps institutions secure and manage their digital assets by eliminating single points of failure through multi-party computation, by implementing a shared risk and responsibility model, and by building custom hardened security stacks, among other measures. To date, CYBAVO’s solution has been used to secure more than 4 million transactions worth over US$35 billion

ADDX was a pre-Series A investor in CYBAVO and held a significant stake. Circle’s agreement to acquire CYBAVO was signed in June and concluded in July.

Danny Toe, Group CEO of ADDX, said: “ADDX was an early CYBAVO shareholder and our belief in the company’s mission and its management team has deepened over time. CYBAVO and ADDX each bring significant value to the ecosystem for blockchain-based financial services, helping companies and market players access the benefits of digital assets in a secure, high-trust environment. This sale to Circle vindicates our assessment that CYBAVO was a valuable startup that had assembled a skilled and experienced team to solve a real problem for customers. With the integration of CYBAVO into Circle, the business that CYBAVO has built is now positioned to make a greater impact globally.”

Founded in 2017, ADDX is a private market exchange. The company is on a mission to democratise private market investing. Using blockchain and smart contract technology, ADDX tokenises private market investments such as private equity, hedge funds, venture capital and bonds. The resulting efficiency allows ADDX to reduce minimum investment sizes from USD 1 million to USD 10,000. The financial technology company has raised a total of US$120 million in funding since its inception in 2017. Its shareholders include Singapore Exchange (SGX), the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), Hamilton Lane, Temasek subsidiary Heliconia Capital, UOB and the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ).