FINRA Authorizes Ohanae Securities to Handle Crypto Asset Custody and Settlement

NEW YORK — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has granted Ohanae Securities LLC approval to expand its business activities to include the custody, clearing, and settlement of crypto asset securities, the company announced on May 26, 2026. The authorization marks a significant step in building a regulated infrastructure for the issuance and trading of tokenized securities, potentially bridging the gap between traditional capital markets and the emerging digital asset space. Ohanae Securities, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ohanae, Inc., can now operate as a full-service broker-dealer for securities that exist on a blockchain. This approval allows the firm to manage the entire lifecycle of a digital security, from its initial offering to its final settlement, all within a framework supervised by one of the U.S. financial industry's primary self-regulatory bodies. This development provides a much-needed layer of regulatory clarity in a market segment that has been characterized by uncertainty. For small and mid-sized businesses exploring innovative ways to raise funds, this is a noteworthy development. The ability to issue securities as digital tokens has long promised to democratize access to capital, but the lack of regulated market infrastructure has been a major deterrent for both issuers and investors. This FINRA authorization for a firm to handle custody and clearing is a foundational piece of that puzzle. The approval addresses a critical challenge in the digital asset securities market: the secure holding and transfer of ownership. Unlike traditional securities, which are held and transferred through established clearinghouses and custodians like the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), digital securities have lacked a comparable, regulated infrastructure. This has often forced market participants to rely on complex, fragmented, and sometimes unregulated solutions. By authorizing a FINRA member firm to perform these functions, regulators are establishing a pathway for digital securities to operate with safeguards more akin to those in traditional finance. In our experience, many business owners are intrigued by the potential of tokenization for capital raising but are rightly concerned about the compliance and operational risks. The emergence of FINRA-regulated entities that can handle the technical and custodial aspects of digital securities is a game-changer. It reduces the execution risk for companies that want to tap into a wider pool of investors through a security token offering. However, this doesn't eliminate the strategic complexities. Structuring a successful offering still requires deep expertise in securities law, financial modeling, and investor relations. At C&S Finance Group LLC, we provide specialized capital raising advisory services to help clients navigate these new opportunities, ensuring their offerings are not only technologically sound but also strategically compelling and fully compliant. For guidance on structuring your next capital raise, you can learn more about our work at csfinancegroup.com. This move by FINRA signals a growing recognition among regulators that digital assets are becoming a permanent feature of the financial landscape. Rather than issuing a blanket prohibition, regulators are working to integrate these new technologies into the existing supervisory framework. The authorization for Ohanae Securities to handle custody—the safekeeping of assets—is particularly important. It provides investors with assurance that their digital security holdings are protected by a regulated entity subject to net capital rules, customer protection standards, and regular examinations. Similarly, the approval for clearing and settlement functions is crucial for creating a liquid and efficient market. Clearing involves the process of confirming and matching trade details, while settlement is the final transfer of the security to the buyer and cash to the seller. A regulated entity managing these processes can increase market confidence, reduce counterparty risk, and ensure that transactions are completed in an orderly manner. While this approval is specific to one firm, it sets a precedent that other broker-dealers may follow. The establishment of a clear regulatory pathway could encourage more financial institutions to enter the digital asset securities space, fostering competition and innovation. For small and mid-sized companies, this could eventually lead to lower costs of capital, faster settlement times, and access to a global investor base that has been difficult to reach through traditional private placement channels. The broader context is the ongoing tokenization of real-world assets, where ownership rights in assets like real estate, private equity, or debt are represented as digital tokens on a blockchain. This specific approval for crypto asset securities provides the critical market infrastructure needed to support that trend within a compliant U.S. framework. This is a significant step, but the landscape is far from settled. The industry will now watch to see how this newly authorized infrastructure performs in practice and whether it attracts significant trading volume and new issuers. Further regulatory developments, particularly from the Securities and Exchange Commission, will also be critical in shaping the long-term viability and growth of the tokenized securities market in the United States.