At Fireblocks, a strong commitment to regulatory compliance has always been one of our core principles. That’s why we’re so thrilled to announce that we’re building out our global Regulatory Compliance Team, led by: Jason Allegrante, Head Regulatory Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, and Peter Singer, Deputy Chief Compliance Officer and BSA AML Officer.

Over the last few months, the transition to a fully digitized financial system has gone into full swing. Part of Fireblocks’ role in this transformation has been to help educate top financial institutions on digital assets issues, from differing types of assets to digital asset security and beyond.

In building out our Regulatory Compliance Team, our goal is to:

• Demonstrate our commitment to following the rules
• Educate banks and FIs on digital assets

About our Regulatory Compliance Team

Jason Allegrante began his legal career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2010. He subsequently practiced law in the financial institution groups at Linklaters LLP and Davis Polk & Wardwell. Since 2018, Mr. Allegrante has been focused on issues at the intersection of financial institution regulation and digital assets.

Peter Singer has previously held executive positions as the Chief Compliance Officer and BSA/AML Officer for fintech and cryptocurrency companies, most recently being an initial member of the US expansion team to launch the London based $5.5 billion fintech unicorn Revolut. He started in the world of payments and FinTech compliance in earnest in 2011 and holds the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist and Certified Fraud Examiner designations.

Increasing clarity through regulations

A critical objective of the Regulatory Compliance team is to help FIs of all sizes and in all regions gain increased understanding of the complex regulatory situation of the digital asset ecosystem.

At Fireblocks, we welcome thoughtful digital asset regulations because they provide insight into the legitimate concerns of governmental bodies, legal clarity for market participants, and, hopefully, certain protections for businesses, consumers, and investors.

Ultimately, engaging in discussion about regulation with both our customers and their regulators is a necessary step towards recognizing that a paradigm shift is underway – from a world where fiat currency is the predominant means of payment and store of value, towards one where digital assets and distributed ledger technology form a permanent part of the global monetary ecosystem.

The Regulatory Compliance Team is here to help our stakeholders understand the implications of that transition.

A culture of regulatory compliance

“Regulation” has a negative connotation in many contexts, but not at Fireblocks, where we appreciate regulations that protect the interests of our customers without unduly restricting innovation.

While regulation may be difficult and costly, we support regulations that serve the fundamental interest of our customers in participating in a vibrant, rule-based digital asset ecosystem.

Our commitment to direct custody

Differentiating between the concepts of “direct custody” and “sub-custody” within the digital asset context are a critical part of the perspective we want to share.

“Direct custody,” by which we mean the empowerment of an organization to securely hold and manage their own digital assets without reliance on, or exposure to, a third-party custodian, never existed in traditional banking infrastructure, which was only served by “custodians” and “sub-custodians.”

The invention of the blockchain changed all of that.

Building a “direct custody” solution leverages the distributed ledger to reduce counterparty risk and place operational control into the hands of the customer.

Helping our customers, and our customers’ regulators, understand how different this third category of “direct custody” is from traditional “custody” and “sub-custody” is one of our responsibilities.

Interested in learning more about direct custody? Read our latest whitepaper, Introducing Direct Custody: Why Financial Institutions Are Choosing To Custody Their Own Digital Assets, to learn more.

Teaming up with blockchain organizations to improve regulatory clarity across the globe

In addition to formally introducing our Regulatory Compliance Team, we’re also participating in a number of blockchain organizations across the globe to improve regulatory clarity in various jurisdictions.

These organizations include: Association for Digital Asset Markets (“ADAM,” U.S), Crypto Valley (Switzerland), Crypto UK (United Kingdom), INATBA (EU), Blockchain Association (U.S.), and Alastria (Spain).