1Konto

1Konto, founded in 2018 by brothers Edwin and Michael Handschuh, operates as a digital asset and foreign exchange-focused broker, tackling the fragmented and inefficient nature of cryptocurrency markets. The idea for the company, whose name is German for "one account," originated from CEO Edwin Handschuh's frustrating personal experience attempting to trade altcoins, a process he found cumbersome and slow, leading to missed opportunities. This inspired the vision for a single-account solution to access multiple liquidity pools. Edwin's background of over a decade in financial services, including managing over $350 million in assets at Wells Fargo, provided him with a deep understanding of financial markets and regulatory compliance. Co-founder and CTO Michael Handschuh complements this with his expertise in engineering and algorithmic trading, having previously worked at QuantConnect and Lockheed Martin, where he focused on modeling, simulation, and distributed systems architecture.

The firm primarily serves institutional clients such as broker-dealers, hedge funds, asset managers, family offices, banks, and corporate entities. 1Konto's business model centers on providing a unified access point to the digital asset and FX markets, generating revenue through its trading and settlement services. The company has successfully raised a total of $3.88 million through angel and seed funding rounds, with investors including Terra Global Capital and Commerce Ventures.

1Konto's core offering is the 1KPrime platform, an institutional-grade system designed to provide deep liquidity and best-price execution for trading and settlement. The platform solves key industry challenges like fragmented markets and operational complexity by offering a single onboard access point to numerous markets. Its proprietary routing engine, Teloneum™, analyzes millions of routes to find price improvements for its counterparties. Clients can access the services via a Web App, a full-featured API, or a white-glove OTC desk. Key features include 24/7 trading with RFQ and market orders, access to over 30 digital assets and 23 fiat currencies, and the ability to trade any asset pair. The platform also offers white-label solutions, custody services through partners, and robust KYC/AML compliance workflows. In May 2025, the company won the Fintech Meetup Pitch Competition, recognized for its platform that replaces outdated settlement workflows with capital-efficient digital rails, reducing settlement times from days to minutes.

Keywords: digital asset broker, FX trading, institutional crypto trading, OTC liquidity, best price execution, 1KPrime, cryptocurrency trading platform, forex pairs, fragmented liquidity solution, single account trading, algorithmic routing, Teloneum, Edwin Handschuh, Michael Handschuh, institutional finance, cross-border payments, stablecoin settlement, capital efficiency, API trading, white-glove OTC, broker-dealer services, crypto-asset management, fintech infrastructure, real-time settlement, digital asset custody