Crypto start-up Uphold acquires US-based securities firm and applies to become a licensed broker-dealer

Digital money platform Uphold became a licensed broker-dealer in the US after acquiring a registered firm called JNK Securities.

According to a report by Coindesk, General counsel for Uphold Ben Sherwin, said about the move, “We've acquired a New York-based broker-dealer to expand our product base and offer more digital assets to our users,” adding “that they have filed with FINRA to become a broker-dealer and a broker-dealer status allows us to engage in activities that we wouldn't be able to.""It also aligns with our mission of transparency and trust because we're submitting to the regulation that is appropriate and responsive to what the regulators are saying,” said Sherwin. Uphold also has future plans to become an alternative trading system (ATS) with the SEC.

To become a registered broker-dealer, the company has now filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for approval of the change of ownership, as per the report.

Now, Uphold aspires to offer security tokens, fractional equities, and other exchange services under the supervision of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and FINRA, as part of its new securities platform.

Until the merger of JNK and Uphold is complete, they both will operate as two distinct companies. Uphold intends to bring JNK's employees in to help with its expansion plans.

On these plans, Sherwin stated, “JNK is an organisation with a 25-year history of being in the financial markets. They are quality people and good operators ... running a broker-dealer requires a certain amount of expertise and the quality of the people there gives us a leg up.”

Sherwin concluded, “From a process standpoint, they have a license and we are hoping to expand that license. So we benefit from their institutional reach and they benefit from our consumer reach.”