After nearly a decade, Gary Gensler, the poster child for cryptocurrency compliance, makes his first trade.

After years of industry skepticism and navigating a changing regulatory landscape, Prometheum has implemented its first cryptocurrency trading operation – aiming to prove its critics wrong by seamlessly integrating digital assets with traditional investments under one regulatory roof.

The company, which has raised nearly $100 million since its founding nearly a decade ago, Introduction began Access to cryptocurrency trading last week. While the service is currently limited to Ethereum, founder and co-CEO Aaron Kaplan said the company expects to debut additional digital assets in the near future.

“We kept our heads down and kept moving forward,” Kaplan said. Decryption. “Our goal is to be able to serve brokers, channels, (registered investment advisor) channels and major asset issuers, and I think there’s a lot of relief.”

This relief comes at a time when the rest of the market is looking elsewhere. While investors flocked to vehicles such as spot Bitcoin Tracking ETFs Watershed 2024 debutthe long-awaited Prometheum event has gone almost unnoticed by the broader cryptocurrency sector.

The industry’s apathy is rooted in a bitter dispute. In 2023, Kaplan The flak industry caught on To testify to US lawmakers that the SEC has clearly laid out a path to compliance – which essentially means validating Aggressive enforcement tactics to then-SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. While giants like Coinbase have fought regulators in court, Prometheum has continued to push forward with a business model that treats digital assets like Ethereum as securities.

At the time, onlookers mocked Promethium’s lack of scale, comparing the company’s step-by-step approach to “Bicycle without wheels“or”Vending machine without snacks“.

Now the wheels are turning, and Kaplan insists the company is ready to take advantage of this opportunity Coding From the US capital markets. With the launch of the corresponding clearing system, he says brokers and dealers can finally offer clients direct access to cryptocurrencies alongside traditional assets, bypassing the management fees and “layer of abstraction” represented by ETFs.

“This is a good thing for cryptocurrencies,” Kaplan said. “This brings in hundreds of millions of accounts that can now suddenly invest in cryptocurrencies.”

But the grand opening of Prometheum arrives to a radically changed reality. The strict regulatory system they built their business to satisfy has been dissolved. Following the departure of Gary Gensler from the SEC, a formal lawsuit has been officially filed against Coinbase Shot down and expelled– Along with most regulatory bodies Lawsuits and other investigations related to cryptocurrencies.

Before Prometheum executed its first deal, the company spent years building custody infrastructure and regulatory approvals. In 2023, the company became the first to obtain a license from the SEC and FINRA to operate what is known as a special purpose broker-dealer, allowing Prometheum to legally protect digital asset securities under federal law.

Even worse for Promethium’s competitive advantage is that the exclusive regulatory moat it spent years preparing may no longer be necessary.

Revised guidance issued by the SEC last year indicated that the regulatory body’s specialized framework is optional. According to an analysis by a global law firm Winston & Strawn LLPtraditional brokers and dealers can now hold digital asset securities under standard customer protection rules – without needing the license that Prometheum took the time to obtain.