Watchdog Capital Announces Decentralized Broker Dealer Platform
Watchdog sees a solution in blockchain technologies where distributed ledger eliminates the inefficiencies in global capital markets. Distributed ledgers allow values to move with no need for third parties to interfere.
According to PRNewsWire, the company is an SEC registered FINRA broker and is subsequently approved for securities underwriting, investment banking, crowdfunding, Reg A+ offerings, REITs and various OTC, retail and institutional business such as directed brokerage. If firms and individuals meet a strict compliance screening process, they could become affiliated with Watchdog and access its technical and operational capabilities. The firm is focused on both digital and traditional assets anf their intersection.
Watchdog does not need to bend rules or maneuver around them, it is already registered with the SEC. The company aims to be technologically advanced and remain compliant. The firm does not beleive that sticking to regulations and being decentralized are mutually exclusive.
“Many of the ideals from the Bitcoin industry can benefit the securities industry. Cypherpunks write code to protect consumers and their privacy and to give them more control over their digital lives. This isn’t at odds with the pro-free market ideals of the U.S. stock markets, in fact it can be very complimentary. Watchdog believes in cypherpunk values, privacy, personal property rights, Austrian economics, security and Bitcoin as global money. The firm will work to push the limits of this technology as the digital securities ecosystem evolves”, said Bruce Fenton, CEO of Chainstone Labs, owner of Watchdog Capital.
The goal is to modernize the securities market. “Watchdog is particularly interested in the future of technologies like decentralized exchanges, cross chain atomic swaps, the Lighting network and privacy tools for digital assets. This is an ever-evolving area and the team believes we can merge the best of decentralized technology and its core values in a regulated environment,” said Fenton. Most advancements in securities technology are still underdeveloped and Watchdog aims to be at the forefront of those advancements.
“We’ve been building for some time and Chainstone has been quietly working on constructing an industry best practices model for securities technology. Watchdog is both very conservative and traditional regarding compliance but also embracing the latest developments in technology.”
Independent startups can participate as well so they do not need to create their own broker dealer. Due to the thorough compliance process, however, only high net worth clients can have access to it for the meantime.
“If startups, existing firms or individuals with a spotless compliance record have need for a broker dealer or would like to explore affiliation with our decentralized broker dealer network, we’d love to talk. Our focus is to build a regulatory compliant firm that is at the cutting edge of developments in the cryptocurrency and digital assets space,” said Carl Litsch, Director and Chief Compliance Officer of Watchdog. “In addition to Bitcoin, Watchdog is working to support SEC compliant, regulated securities projects built on Ethereum and other platforms. This will evolve as we gain confidence in the ability of each toolset to comply with securities regulations and we see offerings that meet our rigorous screening process.” The firm does not plan to custody digital assets and intends to focus on a methodical and regulatory focused rollout.
