A French fintech company has acquired a digital asset service provider (DASP) from a leader in the French retail market.
The acquisition is strategically aimed at securing DASP registration under EU regulations and ensuring compliance with the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. This move positions the buyer to finalize the launch of a comprehensive B2B payment ecosystem designed to bridge the gap between traditional finance and cryptocurrency markets.
PARIS (April, 2) — The French-based fintech company, Next Generation, has acquired the digital asset service provider (DASP), Lugh Financial Services (LFS) from a leader in the French retail market, Casino Group.
LFS is registered as a DASP company with the French regulator.
The purchase of the DASP is carried out as part of building a fully-fledged payment ecosystem, designed to unite two parts of the modern financial market - crypto and traditional finance.
The Next Generation payment ecosystem will be tailored to the needs of all types of businesses, ranging from banks and international corporations to small and medium firms. It will provide clients with a full range of fintech services in the integrated field of classical and digital finance.
The comprehensive B2B solution empowers businesses to seamlessly settle transactions between crypto and fiat accounts. Key features include digital asset custody, streamlined payment processing, programmable third-party payments, and seamless IBAN-dgital wallet integration, enabling efficient cross-platform transactions and financial flexibility.
The ecosystem will provide a comprehensive range of services, including robust accounting and settlement capabilities for all asset types, ensuring full regulatory compliance. Additionally, the b2b solution will enable customers to seamlessly execute various combinations of crypto and fiat transactions.
The ecosystem’s cornerstone will be its proprietary EUR-pegged stablecoin, designed to act as a bridge between fiat and cryptocurrencies.
“After the introduction of MiCA, digital assets, including stablecoins, and traditional finance became one unified and regulated field. The ecosystem will enable businesses to take full advantage of being able to work with digital and fiat assets simultaneously. It will cover the full range of payment aspects, including compliance, KYC, security, AML etc.,” said COO of Next Generation, Frank Combay.
The target audience will include businesses of all sizes - from payment institutions and large banks to centralized and decentralized exchanges, small and medium enterprises.
“Many businesses have already recognized blockchain technology’s advantages: high transaction speeds, low costs, and scalability. The new payment ecosystem will be a universal, efficient, and state-of-the-art B2B solution, combining digital and traditional payment methods to address everyday business needs,” the executive stated.
“Nowadays companies need on-chain solutions that enable them to work with digital and traditional assets at the same time. However, they face an issue. In order to perform just a single transaction, our potential clients need to use a long chain of actors - bank, neobank, crypto exchange, etc. All this leads to an increase in transaction execution time, higher costs and other complicating aspects. We have created a modern business solution that solves all these aspects for our clients within the framework of a single, state-of-the-art payment ecosystem. I’m sure the future of the market lies in such solutions. We are very pleased that the deal with such a reputable holding as Casino Group has become a key milestone in building the ecosystem,” Mr. Combay said.
The company has made significant progress toward ensuring successful operations post-launch. According to Next Generation’s reports, the project has already secured €10 million in Total Value Locked (TVL) commitments from partners and investors.
Considerable effort has been made to expand the network of launch partners, which now includes major cryptocurrency exchanges, international financial institutions, and payment operators.