Coincheck Group N.V. (NASDAQ:CNCK), the crypto arm of Japan’s Monex Group and operator of one of Japan’s leading crypto asset exchanges, has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire France based Aplo SAS, a digital asset prime brokerage for institutional crypto investors. Pursuant to the agreement, all issued and outstanding shares of Aplo are to be exchanged for newly issued ordinary shares of Coincheck Group. Closing of the transaction, subject to certain undertakings and conditions, is expected in October 2025.

Coincheck stated that this acquisition represents the first step of an important component of Coincheck Group’s stated mission—to make acquisitions for retail and institutional crypto businesses outside of Japan, including in Europe. As part of its business strategy, Coincheck Group said it is actively exploring potential opportunities to make acquisitions and strategic investments both inside and outside of Japan to add complementary companies or specialized knowledge, expertise, products, services, licenses, or technologies that could complement or enhance its business.

Aplo founders

Founded in 2019 in Paris by Oliver Yates, Arnaud Carrere, Simon Douyer, and Jacques Lolieux, Aplo has built an innovative, proprietary institutional trading application and supporting infrastructure, combining algorithmic execution, unified access to deep liquidity, and a strong regulatory foundation. Aplo is currently registered as a Digital Asset Service Provider with the French Authority for the Financial Markets (AMF), and is in the process of obtaining a full crypto asset service provider license under the European Union’s Market in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA).

Aplo has grown rapidly and today serves more than 60 active institutional clients, including hedge funds, asset managers, banks and large corporates. All four founders are to continue with Aplo after the closing.

Together, the companies will look to accelerate Aplo’s product roadmap and scale existing solutions, including:

• Financing solutions, such as cross-margining and deferred settlement to enhance clients’ capital efficiency;
• Expanding liquidity access and product offerings across multiple jurisdictions and to new institutional partners;
• Driving innovation in digital asset trading infrastructure to meet the growing needs of global markets; and
• Providing a B2B2C offering to banks interested in using Aplo’s execution platform to serve their customers.

The companies will also explore, as a potential synergy, whether Aplo can provide significant additional liquidity to some of Coincheck’s altcoin offerings to its customers.

Gary Simanson, CEO of Coincheck Group said,

“Aplo brings us proven technology, expertise recognized by institutional clients in Europe, and a high performance team with an entrepreneurial culture. By combining our strengths, we believe we will be better positioned to meet the needs of institutional crypto investors, which includes plans to provide a valuable B2B2C offering to banks looking to make crypto investing available to their customers.”

Oliver Yates, CEO of Aplo said,

“Joining Coincheck Group is a tremendous opportunity to accelerate our mission. We built Aplo to provide institutional investors with the platform service they needed to navigate markets that are open 24/7 every day of the year. By combining our technology and operational expertise with the financial strength and strategic vision of Coincheck Group and its seasoned management, we can together set new standards of transparency, security and efficiency in this market.”

Galaxy Digital Partners LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to Aplo. Squair served as counsel to Aplo. De Brauw and Jeantet served as counsel to Coincheck Group.

About Coincheck Group N.V.

Coincheck Group N.V. is a NASDAQ-listed holding company based in the Netherlands. Its core subsidiary, Coincheck, Inc., operates one of Japan’s leading crypto asset trading platforms. Coincheck has ranked No.1 in crypto trading app downloads in Japan for six consecutive years (2019–2024).
Through advanced technology and robust security infrastructure, Coincheck aims to foster an ecosystem where new forms of value exchange—enabled by crypto assets and blockchain—can flourish.

About Aplo

Founded in 2019 in Paris by Oliver Yates, Simon Douyer, Arnaud Carrere, and Jacques Lolieux, Aplo is a French Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) registered with the AMF. The company provides institutional investors with a secure, unified trading and liquidity access platform, enabling large-scale crypto execution. Since onboarding its first client in 2021, Aplo has established itself as a trusted partner for hedge funds, asset managers, banks, and corporates.