In other news, NinjaTrader embraces Nano Bitcoin Futures, CACEIS partners for digital asset support, and CanDeal focuses on KYC.
SETL & Colendi to Focus on Tokens & Smart Contracts
London-based blockchain settlements vendor SETL reports that it has been acquired by Colendi, an embedded fintech services platform provider, based in Instanbul, Turkey, and they plan to create a new public blockchain infrastructure to host native tokens and smart contracts for Colendi’s users.
“As part of this combination, the SETL/Colendi enterprise is preparing a new public blockchain infrastructure that will be used to host native tokens and smart contracts for Colendi’s current 10+ million users,” according to officials. “Crucially, the network will bridge the gap between public and private blockchains by allowing regulated institutions to deploy nodes which can selectively participate in public transactions whilst maintaining their own permissioned ledger.”
The new architecture “will be integrated into the core Colendi wallet and available to all Colendi users as the company extends its services into investment, messaging, gaming, and many other apps currently under development within the Colendi ecosystem. A native network token offering is expected shortly, supporting a 2023 launch,” officials say.
SETL, which was launched in 2015, has landed clients among central banks and T1 financial institutions, according to the company. Late last year SETL “announced a collaboration with SWIFT in an interoperability Proof of Concept and tested its 1m TPS blockchain to service a Regulated Liability Network (RLN) with AWS,” officials add.
“After closing a $38 million Series A funding round last September, Colendi has continued to build from strength to strength, and with the SETL acquisition and the services that will be offered under the Colendi umbrella, will position the company as a major player in the corporate blockchain solutions market,” officials say.
“Interoperable with SETL’s 1 million TPS interbank offering, the new decentralized network is expected to be EVM [Ethereum Virtual Machine] compatible, able to support cross-chain connectivity, and to natively support popular formats for NFT’s and other tokens,” officials add.
NinjaTrader Subsidiaries Offer Nano Bitcoin Futures
NinjaTrader Group, a clearing, brokerage and technology solutions vendor for active traders reports that its subsidiaries, NinjaTrader and Tradovate, are among the first to offer the Nano Bitcoin futures (BIT) contract, recently launched by Coinbase Derivatives Exchange, officials say.
“Individuals can trade this cryptocurrency futures contract via NinjaTrader or Tradovate without any commissions or market data fees,” vendor officials say.
“Each Nano Bitcoin futures contract is sized at 1/100 the price of a bitcoin, representing the smallest size cryptocurrency futures contract available today,” officials say.
“The contract enables traders to go long or short bitcoin, providing an opportunity to take advantage of the markets going in either direction. Those who have an existing crypto position can use the new Nano Bitcoin contract to hedge against that position, and others who may have been reluctant to invest in bitcoin directly can participate in the movement of the price for a much smaller investment,” officials say.
CACEIS To Use Taurus Platform for Digital Assets
CACEIS, the asset servicing banking group of Crédit Agricole and Santander, reports that it has signed an agreement to use a special platform from Taurus SA, a vendor based in Geneva, Switzerland, focused on digital assets and blockchain space, officials say.
With the agreement, CACEIS can broaden its digital assets offerings “with services that meet clients’ growing demand,” officials say.
CACEIS wants to offer the “following services by interfacing its systems with the Taurus platform and its three modules”:
- Custody of digital assets “using Taurus-PROTECT, including automated corporate action processing, dividend payments and Smart Contract management;”
- Digital asset issuance and tokenization on blockchain using Taurus-CAPITAL; and
- Connectivity with 10+ blockchains using Taurus-EXPLORER.
“In addition to our traditional asset servicing, CACEIS aims to gradually extend its offering to all digital assets and provide support for clients on blockchains,” says Arnaud Misset, chief digital officer at CACEIS, in a prepared statement.
“The digitization of financial instruments is the next wave of growth in digital assets and requires state-of-the-art technology to automate and simplify their processing,” says Sébastien Dessimoz, co-founder of Taurus.
CACEIS focuses on asset managers, insurance companies, pension funds, banks, private equity and real estate funds, brokers and corporate clients, officials say.
Canadian Banks to Build KYC Solution for Capital Markets
The CanDeal Group, an operator of Canadian market and infrastructure services, reports that it has partnered with five Canadian banks “to deliver a comprehensive, centralized Know Your Client (KYC) solution to the capital markets industry,” according to CanDeal.
The five banks are: The Bank of Montreal, The Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank), The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, The National Bank of Canada and The Royal Bank of Canada. They have agreed to create “a common data and regulatory experience for the industry, building widespread trust in the data for use in risk assessments, as well as streamlining KYC compliance for clients,” according to CanDeal.
The collaboration would mutualize “many of the costs and efforts of complying with KYC requirements and the proceeds of crime (money laundering) and terrorist financing act (PCMLTFA) and delivers unparalleled operational efficiencies,” officials say. “CanDeal Innovations, a division of CanDeal Group, first conceived of this initiative in 2020 and is delighted to have completed multiple phases, with completion of the technology infrastructure expected later this year.”
“We look at the biggest challenges facing the markets today and set out to solve them,” said Tim Cain, president of CanDeal Innovations, in a prepared statement. “The need for KYC compliance is not going away, but this collaboration ensures that it will be far more efficient for participants.”
The CanDeal Group, which was formed in 2001, provides financial markets, data services and infrastructure support for the domestic Canadian market, officials say.
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