Prometheum is betting that the next phase of tokenized finance won’t be won by crypto exchanges, but by traditional broker-dealers and registered investment advisors (RIAs).
“The story of tokenization until now has been about issuance, but no one has addressed the challenge of getting these products to mainstream investors,” Aaron Kaplan, co-founder and co-CEO of Prometheum, told CoinDesk in an interview.
“Until tokenized and digital-native securities can reach investors through the broker-dealer channels they already use, tokenization is a solution without a market,” he added.
Tokenized securities are traditional financial assets such as stocks, bonds or funds that are issued and traded on blockchain networks as digital tokens representing ownership or investment rights.
The New York-based digital asset infrastructure company recently launched Prometheum Capital’s Digital Brokerage Solutions, a suite of correspondent clearing, custody and trading services designed to let broker-dealers offer crypto assets, including tokenized securities and other blockchain-based financial products, directly through traditional brokerage accounts.
The launch marks Prometheum’s latest attempt to bridge the gap between the crypto industry and the regulated securities ecosystem.
“Crypto solved tokenization, but not distribution,” says Kaplan. “Tens of billions of dollars of tokenized securities have already been issued on blockchain rails, but there is almost no mainstream distribution channel to reach investors at scale.”
Prometheum operates a network of SEC-registered and FINRA-affiliated broker-dealers designed to support the full lifecycle of blockchain-based securities, including issuance, trading, custody, clearing and settlement.
The company positions itself as a bridge between traditional financial markets and digital assets, providing regulated infrastructure for tokenized securities, crypto assets and on-chain financial products through existing brokerage and securities law frameworks.
It operates a network of regulated entities covering the digital asset lifecycle, including a transfer agent, broker-dealer, alternative trading system (ATS), custody platform and correspondent clearing infrastructure. Kaplan described the company’s clearing-enabled custodian as its “special sauce.”
Prometheum joined the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s (DTCC) Industry Working Group in May as one of more than 50 financial companies helping shape the development of the Depository Trust Company’s (DTC) tokenization service.
Building a timing flywheel
The company says its platform performs two primary functions: helping issuers distribute tokenized securities into the broader financial system and enabling traditional broker-dealers to build digital asset businesses without relying on crypto-native exchanges.
That creates what Kaplan calls a “flywheel effect,” connecting issuers to institutional distribution channels while allowing traditional financial firms to tap into the growing market for blockchain-based assets.
Prometheum’s first correspondent clearing clients include Arete Wealth Management, Network 1 Financial Securities and an undisclosed clearing broker-dealer, according to a company statement.
Kaplan says the broader opportunity lies in opening up the broker-dealer and RIA channel, long the dominant distribution network for traditional securities, to digital assets.
“The broker-dealer channel is how you reach investors at scale,” he says. “Now, for the first time, broker-dealers and RIAs can offer digital assets directly through their existing account structures and compete with crypto trading platforms on a more level playing field.”
Competing with crypto platforms under securities regulations
Prometheum argues that traditional securities firms have been largely sidelined during the rise of crypto, as many digital asset platforms operated outside conventional securities regulation. By bringing blockchain-based assets into a regulated broker-dealer framework, Kaplan says companies can compete while maintaining investor protections such as asset segregation, custody controls and compliance monitoring.
“It’s a proven regulatory structure that has allowed investors to thrive for generations,” says Kaplan. “Now it can also support digital assets.”
The company is positioning itself around the idea that the future of securities markets will ultimately be on-chain. Kaplan points to growing industry projections that tokenized real-world assets (RWA) could become an important segment of capital markets over the next decade.
“The future of securities lies in the chain,” he says. “As these products become better, faster and cheaper, broker-dealers will need the infrastructure to compete and offer them to customers.”
More broker-dealers and RIAs are expected to join
Prometheum says additional broker-dealers and RIAs are expected to come on board in the coming months as demand for regulated digital asset infrastructure grows. Kaplan also teased an upcoming institutional distribution partnership that he says will help attract larger issuers into the ecosystem.
The broader statement reflects a shift underway in the digital asset industry, with companies focusing less on creating tokens and more on integrating blockchain-based assets into existing financial distribution networks.
For Prometheum, the bet is that tokenization alone isn’t enough. Without Wall Street’s distribution mechanism, digital securities risk remaining a niche product, despite the technology’s promise.
According to Kaplan, “Integrating blockchain into the capital markets is not about replacing the system, but about modernizing it so that issuers, broker-dealers and investors all benefit from faster settlement, broader access and more efficient distribution of investment products.”
“Realizing these benefits at scale depends on the infrastructure that can move on-chain products through the channels that investors and advisors already use, and that’s what Prometheum has built,” he added.
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