BCB Group, a European provider of business accounts and trading services for digital assets, has acquired LAB577, a software engineering company.
As part of the acquisition, LAB577’s team will be incorporated into BCB Group and LAB577’s solution DASL, a Corda-based digital asset shared ledger for financial institutions, will become part of BLINC, BCB Group’s global payments network.
Richard Crook, founder of LAB577, will be appointed chief operating officer at BCB Group, while Farzad Pezeshkpour, director of LAB577, is to become its chief technology officer.
Crook set up LAB577 in 2018 and has more than twenty years’ experience in technology software for financial services. Prior to establishing LAB557, Crook held senior technology roles at UBS and RBS.
Since 2001, Pezeshkpour has served in multiple senior roles at Natwest, NatWest Markets, and Deutsche Bank. He has been working with distributed ledger technology since 2014 – including Ripple, Ethereum and Corda.
Commenting on the acquisition of LAB577, Crook says: “We are delighted that LAB577 is joining BCB Group to accelerate our shared exciting next chapter of growth. DASL becoming part of BLINC will extend participants' ability to settle instantly in any currency or digital asset, with no limits."
Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie, founder and CEO at BCB Group, comments: "As one of LAB577's first clients, we have always been in awe of their ability to deliver innovative blockchain tech. We are thrilled to bring Richard and team fully into the group."
