The Ministry of Finance of Bermuda approved the initial coin offer (ICO) of the commercial company Velocity Ledger Holdings Limited (VLHL).
The subsidiary of VLHL, VL Financial, is in the process of applying to the Monetary Authority of Bermuda (BMA) to obtain the relevant licenses to operate. If approved by the BMA, the company will operate an exchange of digital assets in Bermuda. In the version it is indicated that the company can use VL tokens for the payment of licenses of platforms and technological services of VL.
Commenting on the development, Shawn Sloves, CEO of VLHL, said that “Bermuda has adopted pragmatic and non-restrictive frameworks for digital assets that provide regulatory security to market participants”.
Bermuda Prime Minister David Burt told the Royal Gazette: “They have a traditional pedigree in the finance industry and are building solutions for the institutional finance market, their platform will show the potential of what fintech and Bermuda They have to offer”.
Last December, the BMA published a draft regulation entitled “Digital Asset Custody Code of Practice,” which seeks to clarify the regulator’s position on criptocustodia services in Bermuda and protect the assets of the clients. In order to offer a high level of protection to crypto-custody customers, the BMA suggested that a Digital Asset Business should ensure that “all assets belonging to customers are kept segregated” from their own assets.
The first certification for an ICO under the new regulatory regime of the island nation for the crypto and blockchain business was granted by the government of Bermuda in October of last year. Prime Minister Burt introduced new regulations on ICOs in the lower house of the country’s Parliament, the House of Assembly last July. The guidelines require that ICO issuers provide detailed information on “all persons participating in the ICO”.
In the first quarter of 2019 there was less ICO than in the fourth quarter of 2018. In the first quarter there were almost 350 ICO projects, that is, less than in the fourth quarter of 2018. The total volume of Funds raised in the first quarter allegedly amounted to almost USD 1 billion, however, the figure is lower by approximately USD 500 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2018.
Also published on Medium.