Financial industry regulators have granted Prometheum Ember Capital the ability to provide clearing and settlement services that have the potential to shake up the cryptocurrency industry.
Prometheum, a little-known digital asset company, announced Thursday that it has received approval from FINRA for the first time to allow clearing and settlement services for digital asset securities through a special purpose broker-dealer license it acquired from the stock exchange last year. and Exchange Commission.
The move will strengthen Prometheum’s storage capabilities and make it “the only viable federally compliant access point for cryptocurrency trading and storage in the United States,” the company said.
“We believe transitioning cryptocurrencies to a federally regulated ecosystem is an important step forward for the industry, as the American public still needs a responsible way to participate in the digital asset space,” said Co-CEO Aaron Kaplan. An officer at Prometheum in an interview with The Block.
Prometheum announced that it plans to begin providing management services to institutional clients such as asset managers and hedge funds by the first quarter of this year. Kaplan said institutional and retail trading would begin soon.
tug-of-war
Prometheum’s progress comes as the SEC continues to warn that cryptocurrency exchanges must register with the agency. Over the past year, Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken have been accused of operating as unregistered exchanges, brokers, dealers, and clearinghouses. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency companies have claimed that it is impossible to register with the institution.
Prometheum itself has faced industry ire, with scrutiny from the Blockchain Association and Republican lawmakers. Blockchain Association charge The company reportedly reached a “good deal” with the SEC in July.
“We believe the Commission has either granted Prometheum a ‘sweetheart’ deal in exchange for its support of the Commission’s policy objectives, or that Prometheum is leveraging its personal relationship with the Commission to gain an unfair advantage in the marketplace. “I am concerned.” inspection.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, RN.C. The SEC also requested hand We reviewed the information by inquiring about documents related to the license issued to Prometheum last August.
Some Republican lawmakers who have been critical of the SEC said the timing of legislation to regulate cryptocurrencies “raises serious questions.”
bow your head
Asked Thursday what message Kaplan had for people who say it’s impossible to register with the SEC, he said it helps to work with the law instead of against it.
“Instead of changing the law, by keeping our heads down and working within the regulations and trying to work within the law, we first got approval for a special purpose broker-dealer, and now if we register properly under the securities laws, we can be successful, approval to liquidate and resolve.”
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