Gibraltar is planning to open the world’s first cryptocurrency stock exchange, allowing investors to trade conventional stocks and other financial goods in digital currencies.
According to Wired, the ideas were begun by British businessman Richard O’Dell Paulden, who wants to assist cryptocurrency investors in monetizing their holdings.
Paulden intends to carry out the project if his Gibraltar-based business Valereum acquires an 80% interest in the Gibraltar Stock Exchange (GSX). Regulators are presently considering the transaction.
“Valereum’s scheme makes cryptocurrencies a more appealing asset since it allows you to invest a part of your bitcoin savings in a fiat security, borrow against it, and utilise it to purchase a home,” Paulden said.
Valereum’s executive director, Patrick Lyle Young, insists that if the business acquires majority ownership in GSX, the exchange would continue to function as a standard exchange, but investors will be able to pay for transactions in cryptocurrency.
Investors would be able to trade cryptocurrency for equities owned by the exchange’s trust business. According to Young, despite the bright prognosis for assets such as Bitcoin, holders are averse to selling owing to concerns about tax obligation. As a result, an exchange provides the ability to purchase another cryptocurrency-denominated asset.
Additionally, the business is preparing to seek £50 million ($67.6 million) in a financing round to invest on the potential exchange. However, given the complexities of the cryptocurrency business, Valereum has not disclosed how the exchange would be set up or the technology that will be used.
Additionally, in announcing its acquisition of GSX, Valereum included Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Cardano, Ethereum, and Tether as assets that would be authorised for trading on the stock exchange. The business intends to increase the list in the future, subject to regulatory permission.
GSX, on the other hand, is not unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies, having launched BitcoinETI, a Bitcoin-backed exchange-traded instrument, in 2016. However, the product was removed off the market in 2017.
The overarching strategy is predicated on Gibraltar’s tax haven status, with financial regulators realigning the industry. Authorities have recently taken steps to establish the nation into a worldwide bitcoin and blockchain powerhouse.
As a result of the seamless regulatory environment, Gibraltar has continued to attract renowned crypto enterprises.
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