Fintech Firm BlockShoals With Global Crypto Exchange Partner Has Joined SEC Regulatory Sandbox

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the application of Blockshoals Technologies, Inc., to enter its regulatory sandbox, the agency announced.

The approval is for a proposal that involves Blockshoals, a domestic fintech firm which entered into a partnership with a global crypto exchange to operationalize its services. The global crypto exchange is not identified in the press release.

• It is important to emphasize that what the SEC is approving is Blockshoal’s application to the sandbox trial.

The Commission En Banc granted “in-principle approval” to Blockshoals on November 12 ^{, subject to the firm’s compliance with certain remaining requirements. According to the SEC, Blockshoals serves as a “technology and infrastructure intermediary for virtual asset services”.}

The SEC StratBox Program

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The SEC StratBox, as outlined in SEC Memorandum Circular No. 9, Series of 2024, serves as the agency’s regulatory sandbox. It allows firms to test innovative products or services in a live, controlled setting before a wider public offering.

A key feature of the program is that the SEC may grant temporary “regulatory reliefs” to participants, modifying specific licensing, registration, or compliance requirements during the test period^.

Blockshoals’ testing period is set to run for 24 months, with a possibility of being shortened or extended after the first year following a periodic review^.

Sandbox Context: From US Equities to Tokenized Real Estate

The approval of Blockshoals’ application brings the total number of entities in the SEC StratBox to four^{. The other three participants include two firms testing services related to the offering of US equities and one focused on tokenized real estate.}

The SEC stated that it “continues to review other applications… as part of the Commission’s commitment to advancing innovations in the capital market”^.

This article is published on BitPinas: SEC Approves Blockshoals’ Sandbox Entry with Global Crypto Exchange Partner

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