Broker-dealer Watchdog Capital, regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is preparing to launch the Gladius platform for issuing stock tokens.
Watchdog said in a statement that the platform will be able to provide companies with better access to capital as well as better opportunities for investors. Gladius was developed to comply with regulatory requirements and US securities laws and is currently in beta mode.
Bruce Fenton, CEO of Watchdog parent company Chainstone Labs, said the first share token offering on Gladius will take place in the next three months. Since Watchdog is a registered broker-dealer, the platform can be used for offers subject to SEC exemptions, including crowdfunding.
Watchdog must approve every proposal, and some of them may need SEC approval. The broker dealer is not licensed to offer secondary trading or custody services. Gladius is not tied to a specific blockchain and can also be used to issue paper shares. Investors will be able to make payments on the platform in both fiat and cryptocurrency.
Fenton noted that Watchdog is the only regulated broker-dealer currently launching a US stock token issuance platform. He added that stock tokens may well open up a new regulated investment path for companies in the decentralized financial space.
Stock tokens are increasingly of interest to regulated companies. In July, the Swiss crypto bank SEBA, in partnership with the Digital Asset Shared Ledger, announced that it would issue share tokens on traditional assets. In addition, in June, one of the largest Japanese financial organizations, Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings, announced that it plans to open a stock token exchange with the participation of Hash Dash Holdings and iSTOX.
