Archax CEO Graham Rodford on Regulation, Tokenization, and the Future of Digital Markets

Archax CEO Graham Rodford traces the company’s roots to decades in traditional finance. “I was COO of a hedge fund for 20 years,” he says. “My co-founders and I started watching crypto around 2013, and by 2017–2018, we realized two things—many offerings looked like securities that would need regulation, and blockchain technology itself could bring real efficiency to financial markets.”

Rodford saw an opportunity to merge those worlds. “As an operations guy, I spent years reconciling between prime brokers and administrators. A shared ledger could remove so much friction,” he explains.

“We believed every asset would eventually move on-chain—but there was no credible, regulated counterparty. So we decided to build one,” explains Rodford.

Archax applied to the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2019 and, in 2020, became the UK’s first regulated digital securities exchange, broker, and custodian—a rare trifecta.

The company supports a broad spectrum of assets—from unregulated cryptocurrencies to regulated tokenised real-world assets (RWAs)—and covers the entire digital asset lifecycle, including token issuance, fundraising, trading, and custody.

With its strong regulatory foundation and international footprint, Archax is building the bridge between TradFi and DeFi, advancing its vision of a world where financial markets operate fully on-chain.

Working With the FCA and Building Trust

Securing FCA authorization was a complex process. “The path for traditional regulation was well-defined,” Rodford says. “But we were proposing something new—handling digital securities and assets. It required education on both sides.”

He describes taking the regulator “on the journey,” engaging separate teams overseeing custody, exchanges, and brokerage. “We had to demonstrate how existing rules applied to this new technology. Where the framework didn’t fit, we worked with the FCA to adjust.”

That early regulatory dialogue, Rodford believes, gave Archax a head start as tokenization gained mainstream attention.

Tokenization and the Rise of Onchain Cash

Asked where he sees the most immediate traction, Rodford points to tokenized cash. “Money market funds are taking off because they trade at a stable value and pay yield,” he says.

“Stablecoins showed how powerful cash on-chain could be, but they don’t pay interest. Now we’re seeing the next wave—yield-bearing digital cash,” adds Rodford.

Archax has already tokenized equity and debt instruments with more than half a billion dollars processed through its platform. “We’re working with banks, asset managers, and market infrastructure providers on over 30 projects,” he adds. “Everyone sees that in the future, if two assets are identical, the on-chain one will always be more useful.”

Expanding Through Acquisitions

In July, Archax announced that it is set to acquire Deutsche Digital Assets (DDA), marking its third strategic acquisition in recent months as it accelerates global expansion. The move will strengthen Archax’s regulated footprint across Europe, extending its presence into Germany and France—two of the continent’s most active and influential digital asset markets.

DDA is a Germany-based issuer of crypto ETPs. “The acquisition helps bridge two worlds,” says Rodford. “Archax brings traditional assets into the digital space, while DDA gives traditional investors regulated access to digital assets.”

He notes that global demand for regulated exposure is growing fast. “The BlackRock Bitcoin ETF was the quickest ever to reach $100 million. That shows mainstream appetite,” he says. “We’ll be creating both passive and active ETPs, expanding access for investors who want to enter digital markets safely.”

Looking ahead, Rodford expects tokenized capital markets to be fully integrated within five years. “Eventually, every major platform will use digital cash to buy and settle tokenized assets 24/7,” he says. “That’s the world Archax is building for.”

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