A low-cost share trading platform and a crypto exchange are merging in a deal that combines decentralised and traditional finance.
Brisbane-based Swyftx and Sydney-based share trading platform Superhero are joining forces with plans to eventually combine the platforms under a single "superapp".
The merger creates a business with 800,000 customers across Australia and New Zealand and offices in Sydney, Brisbane, London and Vancouver.
The deal merging the two private companies values the combined entity at $1.5 billion.
"It's an agreed valuation based on business fundamentals," a Swyftx spokesman told AAP.
"We're confident it's robust and it's been agreed by both Swyftx and by the Superhero board."
Swyftx was launched in 2018 by Alex Harper and Angus Goldman and has more than 600,000 retail and corporate investors on its platform after growing its investor base by 1,200 per cent last year.
Superhero launched in late 2020 after being co-founded two years earlier by John Winters and Wayne Baskin, offering trading of both Australian and US stocks.
Superhero grew its investor base by 600 per cent last year to 200,000, and added a superannuation product as well.
"The proposed merger proposed merger represents a significant step for both businesses in terms of their evolution from disruptive tech players into a single, major financial institution that can grow across domestic and international markets," Mr Harper said.
He and Swyftx chief executive Ryan Parsons will become co-CEOs, while Mr Winters will lead the traditional financial services arm and take a position on the board.
A name for the combined platform has yet to be decided.
