Asian digital currency custody firm raises $3M for settlement network

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Asian digital asset custody firm First Digital Trust has raised $3 million as it seeks to offer Asia’s premier digital currency settlement and clearing network. The firm, which is a spinoff of Legacy Trust, raised the money from Taiwanese venture capital company Nogle. It will channel the funding to developing world-class custodial standards for the crypto industry.

First Digital Trust (FDT) was launched as a subsidiary of Legacy Trust, a financial services company catering to the Asian market. It was later spun out as an independent company in September 2019 to give it more freedom to innovate and to allow its parent company to focus solely on its core business. FDT is aiming at bringing global standards to digital currency custody, a sector that has grown rapidly in the past few years as more institutional investors have become involved.

FDT’s chief operating officer Gunnar Jaev remarked, “A lot of the funding will be deployed to building out the First Digital Trust tech stack. We are also deploying capital into compliance building for financial services that, not only meet our global clientele requirements but also worldwide regulatory standards.”

Jaev revealed that its relationship with Nogle goes beyond the funding, stating, “The unique synergies between our two companies will accelerate our vision of creating a world where people can trade and transact digitized assets freely.”

On its part, Nogle believes that FDT will not only dominate the digital currency custody sector, but also provide a critical institutional settlement layer. Nogle’s founder Jonathan Leong stated, “Based on their current platform, we’re looking to build up their settlement layer and put up more formal partnerships. Basically to have more businesses plug into the settlement layer.”

FDT announced last month that it was working on a rapid settlement and clearing network that will allow clients to transfer digital assets seamlessly in the Asian region. The Hong Kong-based firm intends on offering Asian digital currency traders with an alternative to the Silvergate Exchange Network, a settlement layer operated by American bank Silvergate. The California-based bank is one of the few regulated entities that handles digital currency clients and processes most of the transactions for Asian traders. However, while efficient, it compels Asian traders to adhere to American market regulations even when no American entity is involved. FDT intends on changing this, with its settlement layer set to launch in May.