The world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume said Wednesday it has partnered with fintech firm Amun to develop the USD-denominated ETP.
Binance’s native cryptocurrency will serve as the underlying asset to a new exchange traded product (ETP).
Listed on the Switzerland’s principal stock exchange SIX under the ticker ABNB, the financial product can be purchased through a bank or brokerage like a stock.
Amun CEO Hany Rashwan told CoinDesk the ETP will initially be backed by $20 million worth of Binance coins (BNB), representing nearly a quarter of the firm’s total crypto assets under management.
Since launching the first crypto-backed ETP in Nov. 2018, Rashwan said Amun’s suite of 8 crypto-ETPs are backed by $75 million in total assets.
The regulated ETP provides an avenue for investors to gain exposure to one of the top performing cryptocurrencies. According to Messari, BNB has a $2.84 billion market capitalization, making it the eighth largest crypto by that metric. In recent months, daily transaction volume usually top $100 million.
BNB is used to pay transaction fees on the exchange and for Binance’s development and projects marketing. The exchange completed its initial coin offering (ICO) of 100 million BNB in 2017, raising approximately $15 million.
Binance has capped the supply of BNB at 200 million tokens, of which the firm plans to “burn” half to prevent depreciation.
Blockstation Builds Disclosure Tool for Security Token Issuers on Jamaica Stock Exchange
Blockstation, a Canadian digital asset trading systems firm, has built a fast-track disclosure filing process for companies hoping to list security tokens on the Jamaican Stock Exchange (JSE).
Announced Tuesday alongside JSE’s launch of a tokenized Initial Public Offering (IPO) platform, Blockstation’s new tool, called the Smart Listing Accelerator Process (SLAP), is designed to streamline the filing of required regulatory disclosures and prospectuses, said CTO and co-founder Jai Waterman.
Waterman said SLAP “lowers the barrier to entry” for companies that want security token offerings (STOs) but do not know how to sift through the corresponding paperwork.
The companies may not realize how many disclosure requirements the JSE – and its regulator, the Financial Services Commission – have to inform the public about an investment’s risks.
“Full disclosure needs to be there in order to make sure that these investors know what they’re getting in to, and that they’re protected”, said Waterman.
Every potential risk has to be laid out in the company’s prospectus. SLAP helps companies do so with a veritable “library” of business risk factors – far more than any one capital-seeking company could guess to include, according to Waterman.
“There’s hundreds of risks that people are not necessarily thinking of”, he said. “When you see that huge library, you’re like, ‘oh you know what, that kind of applies to us.’ So you can take that concept and make it specific to your business.”
Building out their filings on SLAP, companies can tailor their prospectus and have a lawyer review the result. Once the filings are finished the companies can submit directly to JSE and FSC.
Four companies have already begun the regulatory filing process with SLAP, Waterman said.
The new service is the latest advancement in JSE and Blockstation’s digital asset partnership. Since joining forces in August 2018, the pair have developed and launched a cryptocurrency trading platform. They announced their plan to list security tokens in early 2019.
