Security Token Show Companies of the Week — January 2021
A summary of why January’s winners were selected by Kyle Sonlin and Herwig Konings on the Security Token Show’s Company of the Week segment.
Propine Granted CMS License from Monetary Authority of Singapore
For Episode 76 of the Security Token Show, digital asset custody provider Propine won Kyle’s company of the week for gaining its Capital Markets Services (CMS) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. After being admitted into the Singapore Fintech Sandbox program in 2018, Propine has now set the precedent for the many fintech companies in the region hoping to innovate in the realm of digital securities. In the month prior to this announcement, Propine disclosed that it is utilizing the Zilliqa blockchain for a multitude of use cases including asset tokenization, custody, and compliance. The firm is set to continue its push to serve its customers in asset servicing, trade settlement facilitation, and investor reporting using blockchain technology now that Propine is a regulated company.
HQLAx Receives Investment From World’s Largest Banks
On the other hand, Herwig selected HQLAx as company of the week for receiving investment from some of the world’s largest banks. After closing a $14M+ investment round from BNY Mellon, Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas Securities Services and Citigroup, and Deutsche Börse Group, the financial technology firm is connecting otherwise fragmented collateral and improving liquidity management for the invested banks. Utilizing R3’s distributed ledger technology Corda for the settlement of digital securities, HQLAx is equipped to serve its new investors well in the near future.
https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/37244/big-banks-invest-in-hqlax
SolidBlock Partners With Digital UBI Company GoodDollar
On January 19th, real estate-focused digital securities platform SolidBlock announced its partnership with social venture GoodDollar. The partnership will allow SolidBlock investors to choose a percentage of their earnings to stake to GoodDollar’s digital universal basic income network in 3 steps. Renown for its success in launching real estate security token offerings such as the Aspen St. Regis resort in 2018, this partnership demonstrates SolidBlock’s deep understanding of how stablecoins and tokenized securities allow investors to more easily contribute to projects that are rooted in creating social welfare. For partnering with the eToro backed GoodDollar SolidBlock earned Herwig’s company of the week for Episode 77 of the Security Token Show.
Vonovia Uses Stellar Blockchain to Issue $20M Bond
In mid-January, Europe’s largest real estate company Vonovia announced their utilization of the Stellar blockchain to issue a $20M bond in their efforts to further digitize the financial division. Having previously launched a $50M promissory note using blockchain technology, the German-based company is proving its commitment to working closely with the government’s newly announced regulations regarding the digitization of financial assets and processes. For continuing its push to create more adoption for digital securities as the largest real estate company in Europe, Vonovia won Kyle’s company of the week.
Oasis Granted Regulatory Approval from FINRA and SEC
For achieving U.S. regulatory approval by FINRA and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its digital security alternative trading system (ATS), Oasis Pro Markets LLC won Kyle’s company of the week for Episode 78 of the Security Token Show. This makes Oasis the first US-regulated ATS to allow its users to trade digital securities using digital cash (ie. stablecoins, CBDC) as payment. Expected to launch in Q2 2021, the ATS is on a path to help bring trillions of dollars of value to the digital securities space.
iSTOX Receives Investment from Japanese Government
In January, tokenized securities platform iSTOX announced that it received investment from the Japanese Investment Corporation and the Development Bank of Japan. For securing investment from the Japanese government iSTOX earned Herwig’s company of the week. Licensed for digital asset issuance, custody, and trading by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the platform utilizes smart contracts and blockchain technology to automate asset issuance and trading. After developing a close relationship with the leaders of the Japanese government’s blockchain initiatives, this investment is an endorsement of the work that the company has done in the past and is a clear sign of what may be to come next for the digital securities platform.
