In a significant development, bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) manager WisdomTree It has been granted a trust company statute from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), marking another regulatory victory for the company following its ETF approval by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on January 10.
This regulatory victory allows the company to operate as a limited purpose trust company under the New York Banking Law, clearing the way for the asset manager to launch its long-awaited crypto application in New York.
WisdomTree Receives NYDFS Trust Company Status
The NYDFS trust company charter authorizes WisdomTree to provide trust custody services for digital assets, including digital wallet services. The signature is also authorized to issue and exchange DFS approved stablecoins and manage stablecoin reserves.
Jonathan Steinberg, Founder and CEO of WisdomTree, expressed the importance of NYDFS approval, stating:
The New York State Department of Financial Services is the primary regulator of companies engaging in digital asset activities. This well-established trust company charter program, which long predates digital assets, is based on bank-level regulation, allowing us to offer products that capitalize on innovation without sacrificing customer protection.
Steinberg further emphasized that this approval not only positions the company to participate in the “rapid growth” of New York. digital asset market but also prepares the asset manager to lead the evolution of the industry in the future.
Tokenized assets in gold and dollars
According to the announcement, under the WisdomTree Prime umbrella, the company's digital trust will initially offer products to customers. These include Gold Token and WisdomTree Dollar Token, which will be available within the Prime ecosystem.
The company will also maintain reserves for these assets under the framework approved by the NYDFS. Additionally, the trust company charter allows WisdomTree to offer retail services in New York. customers with access to WisdomTree Prime, which is expected to be available In the next weeks.
Will Peck, Chief Digital Asset Officer at WisdomTree and CEO of WisdomTree Digital Trust Company, LLC, highlighted the compliance standards the company maintains, stating:
Held to the highest industry compliance standards, a New York limited purpose trust company provides the leading platform to offer regulated tokenized products and services to WisdomTree's retail and institutional clients.
The granting of trust company status to WisdomTree by the NYDFS marks an important step forward in its mission to provide new, regulated financial services in the digital asset space.
With the imminent launch of its crypto applicationThe digital asset manager aims to play a pivotal role at the intersection of traditional finance and blockchain technology, improving access to digital assets for retail and institutional clients.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
