Controversial Prometheum officially launches digital asset securities custody platform, adding suppo

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 hold digital asset securities through Prometheum Capital, although most industry insiders are still debating with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the regulatory agency's practice of labeling most tokens as securities.

Prometheum Capital is a FINRA member company and a registered Special Purpose Broker Dealer (SPBD) for digital asset securities with the SEC. The company stated in a press release, "Unlike most state licensed cryptocurrency venues and other trading or custody platforms in the United States, Prometheum Capital was established specifically to comply with regulatory and compliance standards under federal securities laws

Prometheum is now ready to accept tokens such as Ethereum (ETH) held by institutional clients, Uniswap's UNI, and Arbitrarum's ARB, and has added support for Optimism's OP and The Graph's GRT. The company also plans to incorporate traditional securities and other investment contract products issued and transferred on the in memory blockchain in the future.

Prometheum Capital CEO and co CEO of Prometheum Inc. announced that the company will open its custody business on Wednesday after the previous trial operation period and will launch trading business in the "near future".

The fintech company tZERO, supported by American online retailer Overstock, also follows the path pioneered by Prometheum and announced on Tuesday that it has been approved to become the second special purpose broker dealer in the United States to engage in digital asset securities custody business.

External doubts

However, many industry insiders and prominent Republican lawmakers argue that operating such cryptocurrency businesses is not feasible under existing securities laws, and Prometheum has not disclosed any customers or revenues to prove its critics wrong.

When asked if Prometheum has had any clear dialogue with regulatory agencies regarding the feasibility of its approach, Kaplan refused to elaborate on the interaction and only stated that the company would communicate with the SEC in the normal course of its business. The SEC spokesperson declined to comment on the agency's views on Prometheum's custody business.