Prometheum is betting that the next phase of tokenized finance will not be won by crypto exchanges, but by traditional stockbrokers and registered investment advisors (RIAs).
“So far, the story of tokenization has revolved around issuance, but no one has addressed the challenge of how to get those products to mainstream investors,” Aaron Kaplan, co-founder and co-CEO of Prometheum, told CoinDesk in an interview.
“Until tokenized and digitally native securities can reach investors through the broker-dealer channels they already use, tokenization will be a non-market solution,” 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 that represent ownership or investment rights.
The New York-based digital asset infrastructure firm recently launched Prometheum Capital’s Digital Brokerage Solutions, a suite of correspondent clearing, custody and trading services designed to enable broker-dealers to 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 cryptocurrency industry and the regulated securities ecosystem.
“Cryptocurrencies have solved tokenization, but not distribution,” says Kaplan. “There are already tens of billions of dollars in tokenized securities issued on blockchain rails, but almost no conventional distribution channel to reach investors at scale.”
Prometheum operates a network of SEC registered broker-dealers and FINRA members 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, offering regulated infrastructure for tokenized securities, cryptoassets and on-chain financial products through existing securities and brokerage legal frameworks.
It operates a network of regulated entities spanning the lifecycle of digital assets, including a transfer agent, broker-dealer, alternative trading system (ATS), custody platform and correspondent clearing infrastructure. Kaplan described the company’s clearing-captured custodian as its “special sauce.”
Prometheum joined the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) Industry Working Group in May as one of more than 50 financial firms helping shape the development of the Depository Trust Company (DTC) tokenization service.
Building a distribution flywheel
The company says its platform serves two main functions: helping issuers distribute tokenized securities in the broader financial system and allowing traditional broker-dealers to build digital asset businesses without relying on native crypto exchanges.
This creates what Kaplan calls a “flywheel effect,” connecting issuers with institutional distribution channels while giving traditional financial firms access to the growing market for blockchain-based assets.
Prometheum’s inaugural correspondent clearing clients include Arete Wealth Management, Network 1 Financial Securities and an unnamed 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 the way to 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 venues on a more level playing field.”
Compete with crypto platforms under securities rules
Prometheum argues that traditional securities firms have been largely sidelined during the cryptocurrency boom because many digital asset platforms operated outside conventional securities regulation. Kaplan says that by incorporating blockchain-based assets into a regulated broker-dealer framework, companies can compete while maintaining investor protections such as asset segregation, custody controls, and compliance oversight.
“It’s a tried and tested regulatory structure that has allowed investors to thrive for generations,” Kaplan says. “Now it can also support digital assets.”
The company is positioning itself around the idea that the future of stock markets will ultimately come down the chain. Kaplan points to growing industry projections that tokenized real-world assets (RWA) could become a major segment of the capital markets over the next decade.
“The future of values is in the chain,” he says. “As these products get better, faster and cheaper, brokers will need the infrastructure to compete and offer them to clients.”
More broker-dealers and RIAs expected to join
Prometheum says more 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 to the ecosystem.
The broader thesis reflects a shift occurring across the digital asset industry, where companies are increasingly focusing less on token creation and more on integrating blockchain-based assets into existing financial distribution networks.
For Prometheum, the bet is that tokenization alone is not enough. Without Wall Street’s distribution machinery, digital securities risk remaining a niche product despite the promise of the technology.
According to Kaplan, “integrating blockchain into capital markets is not about replacing the system, but rather modernizing it so that issuers, broker-dealers and investors benefit from faster settlement, broader access and more efficient distribution of investment products.”
“Achieving those benefits at scale depends on an infrastructure that can move products on-chain through the channels that investors and advisors already use, and that’s what Prometheum has built,” he added.
Read more: Crypto Platform Bullish to Buy Equiniti for $4.2 Billion, Build Tokenized Securities Infrastructure
