TMX Group, operators of Toronto Stock Exchange, is launching a crypto brokerage platform, officials have announced. The crypto operations will be run through Shorcan Digital Currency Network, one of its subsidiaries, and they will focus on ethereum and bitcoin. The project is set to be done in partnership with Paycase Financial Corp.
Trading Ethereum and Bitcoin

TMX Group Ltd. says it wants to offer its clients the chance to sell and buy Etheruem and Bitcoin, the most popular digital coins, and that support will increase if clients demand additional cryptos. The Toronto Stock Exchange announced that the brokerage would be implemented in conjunction with Paycase Financial Corp, a local fintech startup. The fintech firm offers decentralized financial services. It runs a mobile-based financial remittance platform.

“As the first public cryptocurrency brokerage service offered by an exchange, this project represents the real institutionalization of digital currencies as a major asset class,” said Paycase’s CEO Joseph Weinberg. The Chief Executive Officer also termed the project as “the first major tie between traditional financial markets and the crypto world.”

TMX Group said that the brokerage platform is a significant step towards the execution of their digital strategy. John Lee, the MD, Enterprise Innovation and Product Development also said that the firm is looking for means to address the various needs of its clients in both non-traditional and traditional markets.

The management at TMX is hoping that Shorcan Digital Currency Network will allow the establishment of links between the Group and the crypto space. Shorcan DCN plans to debut later this year. “We’re excited about entering into this business agreement with Paycase, which is an industry leader having an entrepreneurial and innovative spirit,” said Peter Conroy, President of Shrocan DCN.

Tapping into a billion-dollar market

TMX Group’s partnership with Paycase is anticipated to create digital currency benchmarks that are based on consolidated crypto data from the globe’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges. Conroy detailed that “the initial objective is covering between 2-5 percent of the “over-the-counter” markets globally, which are presently estimated to be worth $4-9 billion in cryptocurrencies. Banking services are also expected to be offered by the Bank of Montreal, one the largest banks in Canada.

The Toronto-based TMX Group operates derivative and cash markets and clears houses for various asset classes via its subsidiaries throughout North America. The company also controls the Canadian Depository for Securities, the Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation, and the Montreal Exchange. TMX Group firms provide listing markets, clearing facilities, trading markets, among other financial services.

In February 2017, the CSE (Canadian Stock Exchange) said that it would soon launch a blockchain platform through which sales of tokens that qualify as securities will be cleared. In its listings, the stock exchange also referred to digital currencies as securities. CSE provided firms an opportunity for issuing debt securities and traditional shares as what it termed as “security token offerings,” that could then be sold to willing investors.

A section of the crypto community has welcomed this move, terming it as a positive development as regards to the mainstream adoption of digital currency.