Canadian payments firm Nuvei has agreed a $250 million cash deal to acquire Simplex, a fintech startup providing fiat infrastructure to the cryptocurrency industry.
Founded in 2014, Simplex provides a fiat-cryptocurrency gateway connecting market participants including exchanges, brokers, wallet and liquidity providers.
The firm's infrastructure enables users to buy and sell crypto with credit and debit cards, while the firm's proprietary fraud and risk management tools ensure a zero-chargeback guarantee to customers.
The acquisition will also provide Nuvei with an electronic money institution (EMI) license to offer IBAN accounts to end users and corporations, and offers future banking and card issuing capabilities.
As a principal member of the Visa network, Simplex has permission to issue cards, giving its consumers access to digital currencies daily. The firm processed approximately $500 million of total volume in 2020 and is expected to process more than $2 billion in 2021.
Philip Fayer, CEO, Nuvei, says: "We expect Simplex to enhance and expand Nuvei’s steadily growing portfolio of alternative payment methods, adding turnkey simplicity to the process of buying and selling cryptocurrency and converting it back to fiat within a user account - ultimately reducing complexity for merchants and consumers."