Retail investors would be able to trade digital assets, such as Bitcoin and other crypto assets, much like traditional securities under a proposal from alternative trading system operator Omega Securities Inc.
Omega and affiliated firm 4C Clearing Corp. have filed for regulatory approval to operate a regulated market for trading and clearing digital assets with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).
The Toronto-based firms announced on Tuesday that they are seeking approval from the OSC “to launch a complete end to end digital asset alternative trading system, clearing, settlement, and custody platform specifically targeted at the regulated investment dealer market.”
The proposed trading platform would use Omega’s institutional matching engine and allow investment dealers to trade digital assets on behalf of their clients like they already trade equities.
“This will allow dealers to quickly add eligible digital assets to their existing trading platforms for both retail and institutional clients,” the firms said.
“The net result of our solution is that the retail investing public will now be able to use their existing brokerage accounts with participating dealers to trade eligible digital assets without the need to move funds out to unregulated entities,” they added.
Canadian securities regulators are currently in the process of examining how to regulate crypto trading.
Earlier this year, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) launched a consultation on a proposed regulatory framework for crypto asset trading platforms. The consultation period closed earlier this month, and submissions to the regulators are under consideration.
“We continue to move our digital asset marketplace and our clearing, settlement and custody solution for regulated investment dealers forward. The filing of Omega’s F2 and 4C’s request to operate as a clearing agency are natural next steps,” said Laurence Rose, chairman of Omega Securities and co-founder, president and CEO of 4C.
“We continue to receive support and positive feedback from the regulated investment dealer community and look forward to launching the platform in due course,” he added.