Germany’s No.2 Stock Exchange Is Developing an ICO Platform

Germany’s second-largest stock exchange is developing an ICO platform, it announced on Thursday.

Boerse Stuttgart expects to roll out the platform as part of  larger “end-to-end infrastructure” for “digital assets” it is currently developing, and says the ICO platform will allow token issuers to conduct token sales with “standardized and transparent processes.”

It will also offer a “multilateral trading venue for cryptocurrencies as well as solutions for safe custody,” it said in a statement.

The bourse’s announcement comes just months after it unveiled plans for a crypto trading app.

Dubbed Bison, the app is expected to be released in September. The debut of the ICO platform, trading venue and will follow Bison’s launch, Boerse Stuttgart said, while its custody services will be available before Bison is live.

The company also has its sights set on secondary markets and has designed its new services accordingly. CEO Alexander Hoptner explained,

“At the trading venue tokens issued via our ICO platform can be traded on the secondary market. This is an important success factor for ICOs. At the same time, we are responding to demand from both retail and institutional investors for a regulated and reliable environment for trading and cryptocurrencies.”

He added that the company plans to “closely cooperate” with financial regulators.

According to Hoptner, the new suite of crypto services reflects the company’s efforts to facilitate the “digital transformation of financial markets and financial products.”

“We can offer central services along the value chain for digital assets, all under one roof,” he said.

“We will help to promote the acceptance of digital assets.”

Boerse Stuttgart is not the only stock exchange operator to enter crypto services.

Canadian stock exchange TMX announced in March that its subsidiary had inked a deal to establish a cryptocurrency brokerage that plans to initially focus on bitcoin and ether.

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