Leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced this week that it has received the regulatory approval for the acquisitions of a number of securities firms, which could be the first step towards the listing of security tokens on its platform.
Bloomberg reported that Coinbase has received the approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for its acquisition of Keystone Capital Corp., Venovate Marketplace Inc. and Digital Wealth LLC.
"Being approved to take ownership of these licensed entities is one more step toward our ultimate goal of allowing our customers to trade securities tokens on our platform,” Elliott Suthers, a company spokesman, told Bloomberg in an emailed statement. “There are many more steps and conversations needed with regulators before this journey’s complete.”
The spokesperson said that the next step would involve integrating Coinbase’s technology into the new subsidiaries. This would essentially mean ensuring that employees have the appropriate licenses and reviewing how the company reports data and on-boards customers.
Last month, Asiff Hirji, President and COO at Coinbase, had announced that the company was making efforts to operate a regulated broker-dealer, subject to approval from federal authorities.
“If approved, Coinbase will soon be capable of offering blockchain-based securities, under the oversight of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). This step forward is being made possible by our acquisition of a broker-dealer license (B-D), an alternative trading system license (ATS), and a registered investment advisor (RIA) license,” Hirji said.
In an update, Coinbase said on Tuesday that it still has some work to do before it can launch security token trading on its platform.
The company had also recently announced that it is considering the listing of five tokens including Cardano (ADA), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Stellar Lumens (XLM), Zcash (ZEC), and 0x (ZRX).
