TLDR: We're building a regulatory compliant decentralized exchange for tokenized securities. We're based in NYC and are registering a broker/dealer to operate it. We’re building a chain-agnostic protocol that optimizes for speed, compliance, and security using proven technologies.
All leading crypto exchanges in the US are currency markets that are not allowed to list securities. Crypto companies that adopt securities regulation will need exchanges that enable their trading. We’re registering a non-custodial broker dealer that will operate such an exchange.
Most of what people understand to be regulated crypto exchanges are in reality leveraged brokerages with a trading app attached. Some of them custody their customers' assets and loan them out to other brokerages. We think that’s inappropriate and insufficient for continued evolution and growth of the crypto industry.
We’re doing things differently because we strongly believe in the benefits of decentralization. We serve crypto native tokenization platforms, market makers, and crypto asset managers that value transparency, chain-agnostic protocols. None of them can risk being locked into a centralized entity’s ecosystem.
Things that are critically important
1. No funds or assets held by Poet - custody with whomever you do. We’ll never build a walled garden that locks you in. You decide which custodians, transfer agents, or prime brokers are suitable for your use case.
2. Attestations of KYC & AML completed by your customers should be transferrable - we don’t force your customers to migrate to a new platform to trade. We’ll integrate directly with leading platform providers for both institutions and individuals.
3. We run the compliance back office and the protocol, you decide which parts are important for your customer’s needs.
What the product is
Imagine Uniswap but for securities. For regulatory compliance, system redundancy, security, and up time we’re building a chain-agnostic protocol that leverages industry standard technologies.
When we’re launching
Expect late 2023 to early 2024. Regulatory licenses take time and we’re working on getting them. If you think you need Poet for your use-case, signup for early access, follow our updates on Paragraph, or message us on LinkedIn, Farcaster, or Twitter.