Securitize—a company that manages and creates compliant digital securities—today announced its acquisition of BUIDL, a blockchain consulting firm based in Tokyo, Japan.

The purchase, according to Securitize, will help the firm expand its presence in Asia, with the aim of building an industry in which institutional investors feel comfortable participating.

The news comes just days after Japanese regulators reinitiated the Act on Settlement Funds and the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, which define security tokens as “liquid securities,” meaning they are easily tradable and can be converted into fiat quickly. Both Acts have been updated to regulate businesses that provide crypto-related services.

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In a statement, Securitize CEO and co-founder Carlos Domingo explained, “By acquiring BUIDL—a proven security token leader and blockchain innovator in Japan—Securitize is immediately better positioned to help develop the institutional-grade security token industry in Japan, Asia and beyond.”

2019 has been a big year for Securitize. Last August, the Coinbase and Blockchain Capital-backed company became a registered transfer agent for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), allowing it to keep records of all digital securities registered with the agency. Securitize also offers a platform for security token issuers to deliver assets to investors while ensuring regulatory compliance.

At the time, general counsel for the company, Brian Farber, said that the move was a big deal for the securities landscape. Old-fashioned paper securities, according to Farber, are simply too expensive and require “too many steps” to initiate, while digital securities are safer for investors, he claimed. Farber added that it was a main goal of Securitize to ensure that all securities were digitized in the future.

BUIDL was founded in late 2018 by Yasuhiko Yurimoto—the CEO of Global Brain, a venture capital firm and Securitize shareholder—and Jun Hasegawa—the CEO of blockchain payment enterprise Omise. BUIDL provides both financial and advisory support to several crypto and blockchain projects throughout Japan.

“We are very happy to be joining Securitize as our businesses are very complimentary,” Hasegawa said in a statement. “Together, we will be able to realize the vision of modernizing capital markets with blockchain technology.”

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Both he and Yurimoto are set to join the board of directors for Securitize. The acquisition is expected to be complete by the end of December granted Japanese regulators approve the transaction.

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