Wyoming may become a US fintech hub; Securitize now offers broker-dealer services; INX and iSTOX break ground
📰 Week Ending December 6th
Hi everyone! In our digital asset industry newsletter, we’re covering regulatory precedent in Wyoming, Securitize & it’s newly minted “Securitize Markets”, milestones from iSTOX & INX, and more highlights of the week.
The newest issuance platform report is now out in our research hub, this time covering Nexo.
Alright, on we go to the news!
1. Wyoming sets a precedent for regulations surrounding “Qualified Custodians”
Setting a precedent this past week, the Wyoming Division of Banking levied a ruling that allowed Two Ocean Trust, a public trust company based in Wyoming, to act as a “qualified custodian” for digital assets. This comes amidst ongoing dialogue, partially started by the US SEC, about what should count as a qualified custodian.
This marks the “first opinion by a state or federal banking regulator to permit a financial institution to act as a “qualified custodian” under the Advisers Act of 1940 (‘Advisers Act’) for digital assets.” (The National Law Review)
1. Securitize receives approval to act as a broker-dealer through their new “Securitize Markets”!
This week kicked off with some very welcome news from our partners at Securitize as they received “regulatory approval to acquire Distributed Technology Markets, LLC, (“DTM”) a FINRA registered broker-dealer with an alternative trading system (ATS) on file with the SEC.” This service will be happening through their newly minted “Securitize Markets”.
The key value proposition here isn’t just that Securitize can now offer broker-dealer services, but that those services will now be tightly integrated into Securitize’s transfer agent platform/services, providing more efficiency to their customer base and an industry that prides itself on that very aspect. (Securitize via PR Newswire)
2. Coinsquare shakes off recent legal troubles, moves forward with goal to become Canada’s first regulated digital asset marketplace
Big moves coming from Canada’s Coinsquare, as the digital currency exchange has just applied to become the first regulated digital asset marketplace in Canada. This decision, along with an application to become a dealer, and perhaps more pertinent, the change in leadership at the company, signals the strong steps being taken by Coinsquare after recent incidents with Canadian regulating authorities.
Wendy Rudd, one of the recent appointees on the company’s board of directors, did serve as the senior vice president at the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, so this should spell a more stable and compliant way forward for Coinsquare. (CoinGeek)
3. iSTOX breaks new ground in Chongqing
iSTOX, an “exchange-backed security token platform” based out of Singapore, has just set up a digital securities exchange in Chongqing as part of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chongqing Monetary Authority. iSTOX is hitting substantial milestones this year, as it “graduated from the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s fintech regulatory sandbox in February”.
The greater picture here is the Chongqing-Singapore financial hub that this development contributes to making a reality. As part of this vision, iSTOX may also integrate with Chinese state-owned companies. (The Business Times)
1. INX set to bring about an industry first
INX, this week, announced that it will list a diamond commodity on its blockchain-based digital security/cryptocurrency exchange platform. The “Diamond Standard Coin” is a “digital and physical asset: a standardized set of diamonds with a wireless chip enabling it to trade as a token on the INX trading platform.”
To get an idea of the magnitude of this development, this commodity, according to INX, avails a $1.2 trillion asset to institutional investors.
As it stands, the Diamond Standard Coin is awaiting regulatory approval, so be sure to keep an eye out for when this listing is official as it’s sure to be quite substantial. (INX via Businesswire)
2. Cattle ranching will be digitized
This, like the news about INX, is an industry first! CoreLedger, a blockchain platform, is opening traditional asset classes such as cattle ranching to be digitized, availing this opportunity to customers of Finka, a Swiss advisory firm. This is part of a grander hope by CoreLedger and Finka that other low-risk, traditional asset classes will follow suit and open themselves up to the frictionless, borderless trading that blockchain can manifest. (Finextra)
That wraps up the week’s news. There were a lot of exciting updates this time around and, if you couldn’t already tell, our industry is a rocket. As it reaches new heights, we will be right there, covering it and sharing the knowledge with you.
Bye for now. We will see you next week! 👋
References
Regulatory News
1. “SEC Responds to Wyoming’s Opinion on Custody of Digital Assets and Qualified Custodian Status”
Industry Updates
1. “Securitize Receives Regulatory Approval for BD/ATS Acquisition”
2. “Coinsquare files to become Canada’s first regulated digital asset marketplace”
https://coingeek.com/coinsquare-files-become-canadas-first-regulated-digital-asset-marketplace/
3. “SGX-backed iSTOX to set up digital securities exchange in Chongqing”
Investment and Financing
1. “Diamond Standard Commodity and Token to List on INX”
2. “CoreLedger enables Finka to deliver tokenized agricultural trading instrument for Bolivian cattle”
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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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