Top Estonian Fintech Companies Partner to Revolutionize Digital Securities Under New Regulatory Framework

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Two Estonian FinTech Startups Launch a Securities Marketplace within a New Regulatory Framework for Digital Securities
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TALLINN, ESTONIA – One of Europe’s most innovative cryptocurrency exchanges, CoinMetro, recently partnered with blockchain-based central securities depository, Ignium, to develop and launch a new digital securities marketplace. This one-of-a-kind marketplace will allow not only retail but also institutional investors to purchase digital bonds, convertibles, and equities in established companies and startups that are seeking to raise funds via primary markets.

The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of Montenegro provided a regulatory sandbox in order to establish compliance necessary to proceed with the launch of the marketplace. CoinMetro has provided investor-oriented platforms for both primary and secondary markets while Ignium is responsible for the issuance, primary distribution, registrar and settlement of the digital securities. In addition, Ignium will be handling corporate services for the issuers. Take a look at the new security token platform.

Though it has taken some time for the regulatory environment to form, security token offerings (STOs) are predicted to be the next big thing in crypto, having the potential to far outperform the ICO boom of 2017 and 2018. This sentiment is shared by some of the world’s leading investors and hedge funds, including Tim Draper, Andreessen Horowitz, Pantera Capital, Polychain Capital, and Wavemaker. What has been holding back the rise of the STO market thus far?

“In theory, the STO market should be well on its way to widespread adoption: the benefits of digital securities are clear and undisputed. However, in order for the security token market to evolve, it must be supported by a proper capital market infrastructure with all of the necessary elements; primary, secondary and post-trade. Currently, these essential building blocks are not in place. This is why we are ‘building the house from the foundation’: the capital markets infrastructure must be redesigned from the ground up, starting from the underlying infrastructure to which exchanges and primary offering platforms can connect.” – Reimo Hammerberg, founder and CEO of Ignium.

Two of the first major financial institutions to offer tokenized bonds to investors were World Bank and Santander, which started the trend in 2019. In contrast to what is being made available by CoinMetro and Ignium today, this first round of tokenized assets were offered only to institutions and private investors. The plan is to be able to offer these types of securities to a much broader audience, providing investors from around the globe with the infrastructure to invest in exciting new startups.

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“Trust is a big issue in STO adoption. Regulators think the best way of protecting investors is to stop them from investing. However, we all know prohibition doesn’t work; it didn’t work for alcohol and drugs, it hasn’t worked for capital markets. People will always try to find ways to surpass barriers. This is exactly what happened in the ICO boom: issuers found a way around regulations and exploited it. This is why CoinMetro and Ignium are focused on working with regulators, rather than around them, and finding common ground rather than trying to evade them altogether.” – Kevin Murcko, CEO of CoinMetro.

“The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of Montenegro has been trying to innovate for a couple of years now and we found we were on the same page with Ignium and CoinMetro on how we believe regulations should be designed and implemented. This is why we have partnered within this sandbox. We believe that we need a new approach in investing for the young population that is taking over.” – Zoran Djikanovic, President of the Capital Markets Authority of Montenegro.

Thanks to the combination of CoinMetro’s securities marketplace and Ignium’s issuance, custody and settlement system, investors of any size can now purchase digital securities, including digital bonds and equities. The new digital securities trading platform is being hailed as the first end-to-end marketplace for such types of investments in all of Europe, breaking exciting new ground in the modern world of digital finance.

About CoinMetro

An Estonia-based company, CoinMetro is an EU-licensed exchange that is owned and operated by CoinMetro Group OÜ. Its flagship product, the CoinMetro Platform, is a cryptocurrency exchange for several of the most popular pairings of cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies, recently adding primary and secondary markets for digital securities. For press inquiries, please contact Liina Laas (email: liina@coinmetro.com, phone: +372 56 27 3661).

About Ignium


Founded in 2020 by Reimo Hammerberg and Kevin Murcko of Estonia, Ignium serves to create practical solutions for connecting investors with companies in an affordable and reliable manner. To meet this goal, the company uses a proprietary method for performing real-time settlement of digital securities and other funds. Ignium is now looking for investors and companies who are seeking novel, affordable ways to partake in and perform fundraising activities. For press inquiries, Rachel McIntosh (rachel@ignium.io; +358 41 474 2612). For US phone calls, please contact Tom Gooch (+1 314 488 6920).