FINRA approves crypto company Uphold's acquisition of broker-dealer JNK Securities

After nearly three years in limbo, crypto trading platform Uphold has garnered approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for its acquisition of broker-dealer JNK Securities.

News of the acquisition was first circulated in June 2018. The approval makes Uphold one of the first firms to own a broker-dealer that can offer equities to retail traders on an omnibus basis. An omnibus account allows a broker to manage trades for more than one person within one account since the trades are made in the broker's name. This means that JNK clients will have access to crypto to fiat trading pairs with a degree of anonymity. 

With the approval in hand, Uphold announced plans to launch fractional equities in the U.S. later this year "to pioneer seamless trading between cryptocurrencies, U.S. stocks, precious metals, carbon credits, FX products and other assets, all through a single interface."

It also plans to market its crypto investment fund, Digital Asset Alpha, to hedge funds by way of JNK's client base. 

Last year, CEO JP Thieriot sat down with The Scoop podcast to talk about competition in the crypto brokerage landscape.