Austrian blockchain regtech startup Blockpit acquires its competitor CryptoTax, aims to expand to the North American markets

In the latest development, the Austrian compliance expert and software developer Blockpit announced the acquisition of its biggest competitor – CryptoTax. With this acquisition, Blockpit holds a 100% stake in the company and aims to offer a range of compliance and tax services under one roof. 

“Although Blockpit and CryptoTax were active in the same market segment, they had different focuses and strengths. We took a close look at the companies’ structures and recognized a very big synergy potential, especially in technological merging and country coverage,” Florian Wimmer, CEO of Blockpit GmbH.

Based on blockchain technologies

Founded in 2017 by Florian Wimmer, Mathias Maier, Gerd Karlhuber, Patric Stadlbauer, and Gert Weidinger in Linz, Blockpit is a developer of online financial solutions for portfolio management and tax reporting of digital assets based on blockchain technologies. 

“The medium-term goal is the connection of both companies to a well-known global player as well as intensive expansion in the US market”, adds Klaus Himmer, previous owner and managing director of CryptoTax. 

No major change right now

However, the teams of both companies will remain in Linz and Munich respectively. The takeover will not change anything for the existing customers of both companies, as the previous functions and the pricing model will be retained.

Blockpit and CryptoTax are currently the only providers whose tax-optimizing calculation methods and the resulting reports are checked specifically for each country by one of the Big Four auditing firms. Furthermore, the company is planning to expand its operation to other English-speaking countries including the UK, Canada, Australia, South Korea, and other EU countries in 2021.

Big step towards RegTech on cards

As a result of the takeover, Blockpit is planning to make a move towards holistic RegTech for digital assets through its expanded product range. In fact, the KEST-tool developed by CryptoTax also offers tax reporting for traditional securities. Whilst Blockpit has also considered the legally compliant money laundering check of digital assets in addition to the tax return by developing a KYT (Know-Your-Transaction) tool. With the expanded product range, the company already wants to equip itself for the imminent introduction of MiCAR.

“By implementing the functions, we are also prepared for the coming EU-wide regulation, because MiCAR plans to classify crypto assets, digital assets, and stablecoins as regular financial instruments this year,” continued Wimmer.

Main image credits: Blockpit