Crypto-focused financial services firm Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. finalized its acquisition of the digital asset custody platform GK8 Thursday for $44 million after winning an auction to buy the company from bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network.
GK8 provides managed self-custody services for crypto assets, which allows the holders of cryptocurrency to retain sole possession of the keys to their wallets instead of entrusting them to a third party. Through GK8’s technology, the assets remain safely stored and accessible in its vaults, but institutional users maintain total control over their funds.
The purchase of GK8, a company that has created its own patent bitcoin custody system with the intention of providing safe asset management for institutional customers, has been successfully completed by the cryptocurrency investment business owned by Mike Novogratz.
The firm specializes in the provision of cold vault technology, which enables transactions to be carried out despite the absence of a connection to the internet. It has the potential to automate transactions thanks to its in-house multi-party computation (MPC) vault, and the service also gives access to decentralized finance (DeFi) networks, tokenization, and NFT trading.
According to a statement released by Novogratz, one of the primary motivations for the purchase was the rising demand for custody services among investors. The cold storage solutions and wallet technologies developed by GK8 will be integrated into GalaxyOne, the premier brokerage platform that will soon be released by Galaxy Digital.
As a result of the business transaction, Galaxy will expand its operations to include a location in Tel Aviv, where they will bring on approximately 40 staff formerly employed by GK8. Lior Lamesh and Shahar Shamai, co-founders of GK8, will continue in their roles as leaders of Galaxy’s custodial technologies offering after the company was acquired.
Additional benefits of the transaction for Galaxy include adding an office in Tel Aviv, expanding the company’s geographic reach, and bringing on a team of nearly 40 people, including cryptographers and blockchain engineers. The founders of GK8, CEO Lior Lamesh and CTO Shahar Shamai, have also joined to lead Galaxy’s custodial technologies offering.
“The closing of this transaction represents an exciting new chapter for GK8, our employees, and the institutions that rely on our best-in-class custody infrastructure and services,” said Lamesh. “Galaxy has built an impressive reputation as one of the most trusted and client-focused companies across the digital asset space, and we are thrilled to join the Galaxy team to help them deliver an unparalleled suite of offerings to institutional clients.”