Securitize Issues Crypto Token Representing Newsletter Business

Securitize, a firm that enables the issuance and management digital securities, announced its tenth on-chain digital asset.

The Curzio Equity Owners’s (CEO) token represents an equity stake in the financial publishing analytics firm Curzio Research’s newsletter business. The token presents a path to invest in a “scalable, high-margin industry that is normally difficult for outsiders to access,” according to a statement.

The Coinbase-backed firm previously tokenized assets in collaboration with Cityblock Capital, Protos, and Lottery.com, among others, to provide ownership opportunities “that people can purchase instead of using traditional non-digital methods,” according to a Securitize spokesperson. Investments can be placed in either fiat or cryptocurrencies, while dividends can be paid in Circle and Coinbase’s USDC stable coin.

To date, Securitize’s Ethereum-based protocol holds nearly $200 million spread over 9 on-chain tokenized securities, with an average of 150 investors per asset. Five of these assets trade on regulated markets like Open Finance Network, Sharespost, and tZero’s alternative trading system (ATS).

The costs involved in tokenizing an asset include “securing legal advice, issuance and management platform fees, broker-dealer fees – if a broker-dealer is required for fundraising – and listing fees – if a listing takes place,” according to a Securitize representative. In April, the firm launched the Securitize Ready Program, an advisory network including Coinbase Custody and OpenFinance to assist in issuance, management, and compliance of securities.

In this instance, “Curzio did all the definition and legal work, whilst Securitize did all the technical work to support the process of investor onboarding, as well as issuance and management of the security token, and the preparation of all smart contracts for the digital security,” according the representative.

“I’m excited to be an early adopter of digital securities, an industry that’s disrupting the traditional high-fee investment banking business model,” Curzio CEO Frank Curzio said in a statement.

Curzio is not alone. In the past quarter Securitize signed on 17 companies bringing a total of 43 companies using Securitize services. Additionally, the company has forged partnerships with industry-leading names like BitGo, Coinbase, and tZero  to help the companies meet compliance requirements for the management of digital securities.

Carlos Domingo image via Securitize