Nuvei to acquire Crypto Payments Provider Simplex

Canadian fintech startup, Nuvei has agreed to buy the crypto industry's leading payments provider Simplex. Nuvei will acquire Simplex in an all-cash transaction for approximately $250 Million.

Founded in 2014, Tel Aviv based Simplex is an EU licensed financial institution enabling the purchase of around 50 cryptocurrencies through Simplex’s network of partners. Simplex enables its network of partners to accept the widest range of payment methods, including Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay, SWIFT, SEPA, etc. 

Simplex provides a fiat infrastructure for the crypto industry and processed approximately $500 million of total volume last year. For the current year, Simplex estimates that it will process $2 billion, notes the announcement.

Simplex also processes crypto-to-credit card payments with 100% fraud protection. In short, Simplex pays their client or merchant in case of any fraud. Their proprietary AI technology stops fraudulent transactions and allows legitimate ones to complete payments. To date, Simplex secured a total of $19M in funding in six funding rounds.

Nuvei’s Chair and CEO, Philip Fayer, said, "We expect Simplex to enhance and expand Nuvei’s steadily growing portfolio of alternative payment methods, adding turnkey simplicity to the process of buying and selling cryptocurrency and converting it back to fiat within a user account – ultimately reducing complexity for merchants and consumers. Simplex’s infrastructure is a natural fit for Nuvei’s Native Commerce Platform, further strengthening the capabilities and overall value proposition of our single-integration approach to payments. We are excited to welcome Simplex to the Nuvei team."

Simplex's Co-founder and CEO, Nimrod Lehavi, said, "Today is a very special day for all of the Simplex team, as well as the entire cryptocurrency community. By joining Nuvei, Simplex will be able to fulfill its promise of bridging the gap between the blockchain space and the traditional finance world. We couldn't have thought of a better partner for us, and we are excited for what the future holds."

Nuvei (formerly Pivotal Payments) is connected to 200 markets across the globe. The fintech company supports more than 450 local and alternative payment methods. Nuvei also supports more than 150 currencies. 

In March, Nuvei added pay-in and payout support for 40 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, NEO, Ripple, and more. The latest list of supported cryptocurrencies at the Nuvei platform is available here.  In 2020, Nuvei IPO was one of the biggest in the Toronto Stock Exchange’s history and raised $833 Million.

With Simplex acquisition, Nuvei will automatically receive an electronic money institution (EMI) license. This will enable Nuvei to offer IBAN accounts to end-users and corporations, and offers future banking and card issuing capabilities, notes the announcement.

Previously, Binance started accepting debit and credit card payments to purchase cryptocurrencies on its crypto trading platform through the Simplex platform.