Michael Novogratz’s cryptocurrency investment bank Galaxy Digital has gained approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to underwrite registered public offerings of securities.
As reported by Bloomberg on Sept. 6, the company has its sights on facilitating security token offerings, or STOs.
FINRA is a non-governmental private organization that acts as a self-regulatory body for member firms and exchange markets.
The Goldman Sachs of cryptocurrencies
Novogratz is a former partner at Goldman Sachs who wants his firm Galaxy Digital to fulfil a similar role in the cryptocurrency space. He sees underwriting securities offerings as a good complement to the company’s existing services. Novogratz said:
“It’s a really young industry, and we are a pretty young business. We are sober and patient about how fast it will grow, and we are well capitalized. This feels like a perfect addition.”
If you build it they will come
Whilst Novogratz is aware that business could take some time to ramp up, there are already signs of demand for initial public offerings (IPO) within the cryptocurrency industry.
Exchanges like Coinbase have already raised billions of dollars in securities offerings, and mining giant Bitmain seems to finally have its beleaguered IPO back on track.
According to Bloomberg, as early movers in the cryptocurrency industry mature and start to generate real revenue and profits, it is likely that an increasing number of companies will want to go public.