Caceis, Credit Agricole’s asset services arm, has acquired a minority stake in France’s Fintech Cliptown to support the launch of Lise, a blockchain-based exchange aimed at small and medium-sized businesses and intermediate companies.
Lise, short for Lightning Stock Exchange, is set to be Europe’s first tokenized exchange, focusing on small business equity funding and streamlining public lists, Caceis said in a press release Monday.
Lise is currently awaiting regulatory approval as a DLT Transaction and Settlement System (DLT TSS) under the European Pilot System. If approved, businesses can directly issue, trade and settle financial instruments in distributed ledgers, reducing the time and costs associated with traditional IPO processes.
Lise allows investors to trade stocks in the secondary market, which operates around the clock, without the bottleneck of a standard liquidation home or long adjustments of multiple intermediaries.
The move coincides with Caceis’s broader push to digital assets, which received Mica’s approval earlier this year.
Founded in 2018, Kriptown develops the infrastructure that represents financial products, consolidating both market and post-trade operations. Lise’s first IPO is planned for 2025 and is subject to the requirement of receiving the required approval.
