A First for Tokenization in Mexico; The US SEC is Paving the Way to Digital Asset Adoption; Institutional Players & the DeFi Sector
RedBlock Newsletter: Week Ending November 15th
First off, this week has been one to celebrate because, as you may have read if you’ve been on our Twitter, we are now officially operating out of Shenzhen! This momentous development positions us perfectly and reaffirms our commitment to being industry leaders.
You can read all about it in our full press release.
This week’s research report covers our partners at Securitize! Check that out in our digital securities research hub: https://www.redblockcap.com/research
Our newsletter has more developments from the US in terms of regulatory clarity, a groundbreaking development from our partners at Vertalo, and more strong indication that institutional players are embracing DeFi and digital asset technology. Read on to get those stories and more highlights from the world of digital assets in our newsletter below!
1. New Jersey Introduces Crypto Regulation Bill to the Senate Floor
This week, a bill was introduced to the New Jersey senate. Named the “Digital Asset and Blockchain Technology Act”, the bill seeks to regulate crypto service providers by requiring that they be licensed with the Department of Banking and Insurance in the state of New Jersey or in a state that has a reciprocity agreement.
It should be noted that this bill comes on the heels of the state of New York’s own implementation of regulatory framework. It will be interesting to see if other states follow suit as well. (Finance Magnates)
2. What Makes a Qualified Custodian?
In another very concrete step towards digital asset regulation and adoption, the US SEC recently stated that it is looking to further define who counts as a qualified custodian.
That is, the SEC had solicited the public to provide answers to questions such as, ”who’s been left out of the qualified custodian definition that should be in? Who’s in who should be out? And, importantly, do state-chartered trust companies… have the same characteristics as banks?”
The important takeaway here is that this sought after regulatory clarity opens up registered investment advisors and managers to the possibilities of crypto. (Decrypt)
1. Mexico & Tokenized Real Estate
Our first industry update this week comes from our partners at Vertalo!
In a first for the country of Mexico, a property will be tokenized, courtesy of Vertalo and MountX. This tokenization will happen on the Tezos blockchain.
Vertalo, the transfer agent in this tokenization initiative, and MountX, a real estate crowdfunding platform, have worked together to tokenize two apartments in Querétaro, Mexico. According to the announcement from MountX, this is part of a “larger, scaled effort by MountX to digitize and tokenize residential real estate at scale”, with plans to “design and launch 15+ digital real estate projects in Mexico and Canada over 2020 and early 2021” with partners Vertalo. (MountX via EIN Presswire)
2. UAE’s Bitex Comes to India
As India’s vocal cryptocurrency community advocates for adoption, sandbox approaches, and crypto-friendly regulation, the scene there gets more and more exciting. Just this week, as reported by AMBCrypto, the UAE’s Bitex, a digital currency exchange, has arrived in India.
This comes, in large part, as a result of the recent ruling from India’s Supreme Court that ended the Central Bank’s previous ban on crypto transactions.
Considering that Bitex is such a popular exchange, we may very well be seeing the beginnings of a snowball effect of adoption in India. (AMBCrypto)
1. Institutional Entities are Embracing DeFi
Here’s one that should come as quite the exciting bit of news: led by the likes of Yearn Finance, “institutional money appears to be flowing into the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector”.
In a telling survey of over 400 financial institutions conducted by Crypto.com and Boston Consulting Group, “86% of Companies are assessing or implementing services built on a decentralized framework.” What’s more, 58% of those companies are actually worried about losing out on the advantage provided by DeFi if they don’t adopt the technology! (CoinTelegraph; Crypto.com)
2. The Tinaga Resort Corp has Announced their STO
In what is the largest in Asia this year, Tinaga Resort Corp has announced the STO of a 5-star beach resort with the aim to raise $10.6 million.
The token is issued on the Ravencoin blockchain and, “once [the resort is] operational, the token will generate profit from the hotel operations.” (Tinaga Resorts Corp via Accesswire)
That does it for this week’s headlines. Thank you for reading, and be sure to share the knowledge!
References
Regulatory News
1. “New Jersey Introduces Digital Asset and Blockchain Technology Act”
2. SEC Looking at Which Firms Can Take Custody of Crypto”
Industry Updates
1. “Vertalo & MountX Choose Tezos For First Ever Tokenization of Real Estate in Mexico”
2. “India welcomes UAE’s digital asset exchange Bitex”
Investment and Financing
1. “Institutional money is pumping the DeFi markets back up”
“The Sudden Rise of Defi — Survey Findings”
2. “Tinaga Resorts Launches Beach Resort Backed Securitized Token Offering”
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About RedBlock
RedBlock Inc is a digital investment and fintech firm leveraging blockchain technology for asset digitization and management, from issuance to secondary liquidity. Its global network of capital market participants, including issuers, broker-dealers, secondary exchanges, funds, liquidity providers and custodians, are supported by its end-to-end blockchain-powered asset management platform. RedBlock also manages an investment fund to support companies in its ecosystem that align with its investment thesis. With a growing track record and pipeline, the RedBlock team hails from top tier global investment banks, venture capital firms and blockchain technology companies.
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