Germany-based Black Manta Capital Partners, a security token offering (STO) platform, has teamed up with Finoa, a digital asset custody firm, in order to offer custody solutions for security tokens to institutional clients.
Both companies aim to work together to create a compliant security token custody solution, which will be developed specifically for institutional investors, high net worth individuals (HNWIs), and large corporations.
Black Manta and Finoa will be securing the tokens of the Berlin STO that tokenized $12 million in real estate in April 2020.
Headquartered in Berlin, Finoa offers digital asset custody solutions to various local businesses. The company holds a cryptocurrency custody license that has been awarded by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).
Christian Platzer, co-founder and managing partner at Black Manta Capital, said that Germany’s digital asset custody laws and regulations have encouraged many crypto-focused service providers to apply for a BaFin license.
The German legislation was an important step in bringing the confidence and liquidity of mature investors to the nascent industry, Platzer argued.
He believes that the Finoa team is well-positioned to serve the professional or accredited investor class. He also thinks the company’s staff have the right mindset for the evolving STO market.
When compared to traditional forms of investments, STOs provide several benefits such as lower transaction costs, easier transferability, and improved tradability.
Blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based tokens make it possible to invest in real estate without having to go to a notary.
BaFin awarded Black Manta a license to operate its STO platform in mid-2019.
Platzer claims his company only had to answer a few simple questions (asked by BaFin), in order to acquire an operational license.
STOs are considered an important part of the digital asset ecosystem. However, many blockchain-related products and services continue to operate in a legal grey area, as the industry is still quite new and regulators have not fully understood how the technology works.