WisdomTree takes lead in $17.65m Securrency investment
Securrency, a developer of institutional-grade blockchain-based financial and regulatory technology, has raised $17.65 million in a Series A funding round. This was led by WisdomTree Investments, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) and exchange-traded product (ETP) sponsor and asset manager.
Other participants in the round include the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), Japanese financial services giant, Monex Group, and venture capital firms RRE Ventures, Strawberry Creek Ventures, and Panthera Capital Investments.
Dan Doney, CEO of Securrency notes his excitement to have WisdomTree as its lead investor.
Through this investment and its collaboration with Securrency, WisdomTree plans to pursue the integration of blockchain technology into the ETF ecosystem to bring the benefits of ETFs to a broader range of investors and improve the investor experience.
WisdomTree plans to pursue the integration of blockchain technology into the ETF ecosystem.
WisdomTree notes in a statement that “certain current applications of blockchain technology are neither meeting the highest standards of compliance nor delivering the strongest possible user experience under a sound governance structure”.
Read more: SEC introduces new rule to boost ETF competition
“Our investment in Securrency is the result of a multi-year review of blockchain technology and the associated landscape,” says Jonathan Steinberg, WisdomTree founder and CEO.
“In our review, we found instances of unnecessary applications of the technology and poor compliance with existing regulations; however, there are numerous elements of blockchain technology that, when correctly applied, will bring benefits to investors. Using the technology, we believe we have identified areas for exciting innovation within the ETF ecosystem and in financial services more broadly, all with a focus on meeting the highest standards of regulation.”
Securrency’s blockchain-based market infrastructure technology provides a universal identity and compliance framework and unique interoperability to facilitate global liquidity. Its proprietary, patent-pending ‘Compliance Aware Token’ technology provides multi-jurisdictional compliance and convenience to financial services providers and market participants to facilitate the issuance, trading, and servicing of digital securities and other digital assets.
Its technology is blockchain-agnostic and its compliance and policy-enforcement tools support ledger-to-ledger transactions across multiple blockchains.
Steinberg continues, “Securrency’s leadership team has a unique combination of US national security experience, technical expertise and financial services knowledge. We are confident that these attributes, together with its focus on compliance, will empower Securrency to be the leading technology firm in the disruption of financial services infrastructure through the industry’s adoption of blockchain technology”.
