Swiss cryptocurrency custody and trading firm Taurus has been given the green light by Swiss financial regulator FINMA to offer blockchain-based shares in unlisted companies to retail investors, bringing tokenized securities to the masses.

Deutsche Bank (DBK)-backed Taurus’ TDX marketplace allows transactions using crypto as well as Swiss franc (CHF), Euro (EUR), and U.S. dollar (USD). A clutch of Swiss firms have chosen TDX to issue shares, including Investis, la Mobilière, Qoqa, Structured Commodity & Corporate Finance (SCCF), Swissroc, and Teylor – a fintech lending firm already working with Taurus issuing tokenized shares for professional investors.

Tokenization is a hot topic, whether that’s with Wall Street giants like JPMorgan looking to streamline the way they deal in financial assets, or innovators like Taurus, on the ground in Switzerland looking to democratize the tech.

“Our TDX marketplace had one thing missing because it was only authorized for professional or qualified investors,” Taurus co-founder Lamine Brahimi said in an interview. “Now FINMA has granted us the green light to open it to retail investors as well. We think it should be as easy to buy a share of a company as it is to buy a book on Amazon.”

Retail investors can participate in capital raises for unlisted firms in a primary market setting and can also be involved in the secondary markets.

"As of today, TDX is targeted at Swiss residents but may be open to additional investors provided they meet compliance requirements, depending on the trading segment and the issuer," Brahimi said.