Digital asset trading and custody firm Prometheum has announced that it will add Uniswap and Arbitrum to its custodial platform, where they will join Ether. Prometheum describes the tokens as “digital asset securities.” Custodial services should be available in the third quarter of the year.
The classification of Uniswap (UNI) and Arbitrum (ARB) as securities may be controversial in some quarters, although Prometheum has made the same claim about Ether (ETH).
Prometheum has big plans
Prometheum will offer ETH, ARB and UNI custody to corporate and institutional through its Prometheum Capital subsidy. Prometheum Capital is a special purpose broker-dealer (SPBD) registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a member of the self-regulatory Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Prometheum Capital claims to be “the only SEC-qualified custodian and special purpose broker-dealer for digital asset securities.” It originally planned to launch its custody services in the first quarter of 2024. Its plans do not stop at that, the company said in a statement on Aug. 21:
“Prometheum Capital will continue to expand its digital asset offerings for custody, and in the future trading, to support digital assets including debt, equities, ETFs, mutual funds, options, money market funds, and other investment contract products that are issued and transferred on a blockchain.”
Prometheum’s unique approach to digital assets
Many crypto firms have voiced their discontent with the difficulty of registering with the SEC. Prometheum’s registration as an SPBD aroused suspicions of favoritism among legislators and the crypto community when it received the designation in May 2023.
The crypto community found Prometheum’s treatment of ETH as a security no less questionable. The coin is often considered a commodity, and the SEC has chosen not to classify it as a security.
Related: SEC has 'very low' odds of winning against Uniswap: Crypto lawyer
Uniswap is a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange. It claimed that UNI is not a security and is as decentralized as Bitcoin (BTC) and ETH in response to a Well’s notice it received from the SEC in April.
Arbitrum is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Holders of its native ARB voted to enable ARBstaking on Aug. 15.
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