STO Services Startup TokenSoft Acquires Stake in Regulated Broker-Dealer

STO technology platform TokenSoft is launching a regulated broker-dealer as part of its push to offer greater services to token issuers and startups.

The firm – which is known for assisting startups with token sale launches – announced the new regulated broker-dealer affiliate, called TokenSoft Global Markets, on Thursday. The new entity is registered through the the New York office of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

With the regulated affiliate TokenSoft can now advise token issuers across every step of an initial coin offering. In particular, said co-founder Mason Borda, having a broker-dealer license grants the company the ability to provide services that the original technology firm could not, primarily revolving around issuance and management.

Prior to acquiring the license, TokenSoft's customers would have had to coordinate with another firm or determine the appropriate steps themselves for some of the process.

To bring about the move, said Borda, the firm bought a 20 percent stake in a regulated broker-dealer called Marpine Securities LLC, which has now rebranded to the new affiliate. The companies will remain as two distinct entities with separate leadership teams, however.

Initially, the company plans to provide referral services to custody providers or exchanges, meaning the firm will help token issuers set up accounts and services with the providers.

TokenSoft Global Markets will be able to manage ICOs on issuers' behalf as well, with the company providing support for each stage of the process, on top of its existing compliance platform. The company will also provide marketing support.

Other services will also be offered going forward, though there are no firm plans yet, according to Borda.

"We've been evaluating what sorts of business opportunities ... we can have under TokenSoft Global Markets," he said, adding:

While TokenSoft Global Markets has had its regulatory approval since late October, it's spent the last few months building up the platform.

"There's a lot of coordination that comes around getting into this process, there's regulatory concerns we need to do diligence on ... it's mainly around the management of the regulatory [side] we've been spending a lot of time on," he explained.

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