Coinbase Claims It Now Has Regulatory Approval to List Security Tokens
July 17, 2018 @ 14:58 +03:00
U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has reportedly received regulatory approval to acquire several securities firms – a move that could eventually see it supporting trading in tokens deemed as securities. A spokesperson for the exchange said on Monday that both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have approved recently revealed acquisition deals for currently regulated firms, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Last month, the exchange announced that it intends to purchase three companies – Keystone Capital Corp., Venovate Marketplace and Digital Wealth LLC – as a means to becoming a regulated platform for offering trading in security tokens, as well as to tokenize traditional financial assets. As reported by CoinDesk, Coinbase’s chief operating officer and president Asiff Hirji indicated that, through the acquisitions, the exchange is seeking licenses as a broker-dealer, an alternative trading system and a registered investment adviser.
The move by the noted U.S. crypto exchange comes at a time when financial watchdogs in the U.S. are beefing up scrutiny over cryptocurrency projects, especially initial coin offerings (ICOs), and would seem to be positioning the firm for a future when current legal gray areas have been clarified in new regulation. The SEC has said it is currently investigating dozens of token projects, and its chairman Jay Clayton recently said in a public hearing that he believe every ICO he’s seen is a security.
Coinbase Claims It Now Has Regulatory Approval to List Security Tokens, CoinDesk, Jul 17