The Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) is reportedly set to pilot bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) live trading in the near future, thanks to a partnership it has with Canadian fintech firm Blockstation.
According to a recently published press release the Jamaica Stock Exchange and Blockstation have entered an agreement to enable the live trading of cryptocurrencies – including security tokens – in a safe, regulated environment.
The agreement was signed after both organizations conducted a “successful live-trading pilot” that included regulated broker-dealers, market markets, and the Jamaica Central Securities Depository (JCSD). In the document Marlene Street Forrest, the JSE’s managing director, was quoted as saying:
This is an unprecedented opportunity for the JSE to diversify its product offerings and attract new listings and inbound investments. We welcome retail investors and companies both locally and around the globe to trade digital assets under a safe, efficient and transparent regulatory framework.
The new agreement is set to help both Blockstation and the Jamaica Stock Exchange support international small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by “providing them with a streamlined and simple process for raising capital in a compliant and transparent manner through security token offerings (STOs).”
The partnership’s goal is to also show the financial community cryptocurrencies can be safely traded through “trusted broker members like any other security, in full compliance with regulations.”
The bitcoin and ether trading pilot will see broker-dealers sign up and onboard retail investors, that’ll have to go through a know-your-customer (KYC) process to comply with local regulations.
Blockstation’s co-founder and chief enterprise architect, Jai Waterman, noted in the document digital assets are the “future of capital markets” and that the firm’s solutions pave the way for “traditional financial institutions to easily adopt this new, game-changing asset class.”
The Jamaica Stock Exchange was notably planning to launch crypto asset trading by the end of last year.
