According to CoinDesk, Prometheum Capital, a subsidiary of digital asset company Prometheum, announced on Wednesday the launch of its digital asset securities custody platform. Institutions can now custody digital asset securities through Prometheum Capital, although most industry players are still working with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). ) argued over the regulatorâs labeling of most tokens as securities.
Prometheum Capital is a member FINRA and an SEC-registered special purpose broker-dealer (SPBD) for digital asset securities. âUnlike most cryptocurrency venues and other trading or custody platforms in the United States that operate under state licenses, Prometheum Capital is purpose-built to comply with regulatory and compliance standards promulgated by federal securities laws,â the company said in a press release.
Prometheum is now ready to accept tokens such as Ethereum (ETH), Uniswapâs UNI and Arbitrumâs ARB held by institutional clients, and has added support for Optimismâs OP and The Graphâs GRT. The company also plans to include traditional securities and other investment contract products issued and transferred on the blockchain in the future.
Benjamin Kaplan, chief executive of Prometheum Capital and co-chief executive of parent company Prometheum Inc., said the company opened its custody business on Wednesday after a previous trial period ended and will launch trading operations "in the near future."
tZERO, a financial technology company backed by U.S. online retailer Overstock, is also following the path pioneered by Prometheum, announcing on Tuesday that it has become the second special purpose broker-dealer in the United States capable of engaging in digital asset securities custody business.
Doubts from the outside world
However, many industry figures and prominent Republican lawmakers argue that operating such a cryptocurrency business is unfeasible under existing securities laws, and Prometheum has yet to disclose any customers or revenue to prove its critics wrong.
Asked whether Prometheum had had any explicit conversations with regulators about whether its approach was feasible, Kaplan declined to elaborate on the interactions, saying only that the company communicates with the SEC in the normal course of business. An SEC spokesman declined to comment on the agency's views on Prometheum's custody business.
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