WisdomTree has been granted a charter by the NYS DFS to operate as a trust company in New York.
Takeaway Points
- WisdomTree announced it has been granted a charter by the NYS DFS to operate as a trust company in New York.
- The trust company charter authorizes WisdomTree to perform fiduciary custody of digital assets, including digital wallet services.
The Trust Company Charter
The global financial innovator announced on Friday that it has been granted a charter by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) to operate as a purpose trust company under the New York Banking Law.
The trust company charter gives distinguished authority in the digital assets landscape to serve customers under enhanced regulatory supervision and marks the ability to launch WisdomTree Prime in New York, the report stated.
Jonathan Steinberg, WisdomTree Founder and CEO, said that the NYS DFS is the leading regulator for businesses that participate in digital asset activity, that by allowing them to take part in the New York’s digital asset marketplace today but equips WisdomTree to lead in the industry evolution of tomorrow.
“The New York State Department of Financial Services is the premier regulator for businesses that engage in digital asset activity. This well-established trust company charter program – which long predates digital assets – is based on bank-grade regulation, allowing us to offer products that capitalize on innovation without sacrificing customer protection. This approval not only allows us to participate in New York’s rapidly growing digital asset marketplace today but equips WisdomTree to lead in the industry evolution of tomorrow.” Jonathan said.
Will Peck, Head of Digital Assets at WisdomTree and CEO of WisdomTree Digital Trust Company LLC, said, “Held to the highest compliance standards in the industry, a New York limited purpose trust company provides the leading platform to offer regulated tokenized products and services to WisdomTree’s retail and institutional customers.
He added, “We have a robust initial product offering and a strong plan to grow in a responsible manner with this charter in New York and through our other licenses across the nation.”
WisdomTree Digital Assets
According to the press-release, the trust company charter authorizes WisdomTree to perform fiduciary custody of digital assets, including digital wallet services, to issue and exchange DFS-approved stablecoins and manage stablecoin reserves under the newly formed entity, WisdomTree Digital Trust Company, LLC. WisdomTree joins only a few other digital asset trust companies with this charter, demonstrating its position at the helm of the industry’s shift to blockchain-enabled financial services.
WisdomTree Digital Trust Company will provide products to customers as part of the WisdomTree Prime ecosystem; they will offer the WisdomTree Gold Token and the WisdomTree Dollar Token available in WisdomTree Prime and maintain reserves for those assets under a DFS-approved framework. This charter will also allow WisdomTree to offer New York retail customers access to WisdomTree Prime, which will be available in the coming weeks.
WisdomTree is headquartered in New York and its common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: WT).
