“Lack of regulatory clarity” is the catchall complaint levied against U.S. regulators by most major players in the crypto industry. But the founders of Bosonic and Prometheum disagree. Both firms have spent years chasing the necessary regulatory approvals to compliantly trade digital assets, including those seen as securities. Last week, Prometheum secured a potentially landmark approval to operate as a special purpose broker-dealer for digital asset securities. Prometheum co-founder Aaron Kaplan and Rosario Ingargiola, founder of Bosonic, which earlier secured a similar approval, discuss why big players like Coinbase need to quit carping in the court of public opinion and do the hard work of getting approved.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights:

• what Bosonic and Prometheum Capital do 
• how Aaron and Rosario started working in crypto
• what it means to be a special purpose broker-dealer
• what the three-step letter from the SEC is and why it's relevant for scaling a digital asset business
• how exchanges work in traditional finance and how crypto differs
• why Aaron believes there’s a “pathway forward for crypto in the U.S.”
• whether the argument that there’s a lack of regulatory clarity is convenient for crypto incumbents 
• why Aaron agrees with SEC Chair Gary Gensler on his stance that everything except BTC is a security
• how a token registration would work and what the nuances would be
• why Coinbase’s approval to be a publicly traded company does not mean that the SEC is in line with the business
• whether ETH is a security, with Aaron arguing it is and Rosario saying it’s a commodity
• what the different requirements are for national securities exchanges and alternative trading systems
• what Aaron and Rosario would tell existing crypto companies as it relates to compliance
• whether regulation kills innovation

Thank you to our sponsors!

• Crypto.com

Guests:

• Aaron Kaplan, co-CEO and co-founder of Prometheum
• Rosario Ingargiola, Founder and CEO of Bosonic

Previous coverage of Unchained on crypto regulation: 

• Ex-CFTC Commissioner Berkovitz Says ‘DeFi Should Be Regulated’ – But How?
• ‘Is ETH a Security?’ Why Gary Gensler Couldn’t Give Congress a Straight Answer
• Coinbase's Legal Action Against the SEC: How It Will Likely Unfold
• Rep. Emmer on Why He Believes Gary Gensler Is a ‘Bad-Faith Regulator’
• Is the Government Trying to Kill Off Crypto in the US?
• Coinbase’s Top Lawyer Calls SEC Wells Notice a ‘Massive Overreach’

Links

• CoinDesk: 
• SEC Proposal Could Bar Investment Advisers From Keeping Assets at Crypto Firms
• U.S. SEC Moves Toward DeFi Oversight as It Reopens Proposed Regulations
• Prepared Remarks of Gary Gensler On Crypto Markets Penn Law Capital Markets Association Annual Conference
• SEC Issues Investigative Report Concluding DAO Tokens, a Digital Asset, Were Securities
• Unchained: 
• SEC Chair Gary Gensler Avoids Question: ‘Is Ethereum a Security?’
• Coinbase Seeks to Compel SEC Response to Rulemaking Petition
• SEC Asks Court to Deny Coinbase Demand for Crypto Rules
• Financial Institutions Hub: SEC Proposal Targets Crypto Exchanges, Trading Platforms, and Brokers
• Emmer and Soto Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Provide Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets

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