Crypto-savvy broker-dealer Oasis Pro has received $27 million to launch an alternative trading system (ATS) for digital securities that decentralized financial platforms can connect to.
LedgerPrime, Redwood Trust, John Wu's Avalanche-focused Blizzard Fund and other venture capitalists joined the Series A, CEO Pat LaVecchia, a former MakerDAO advisor, told CoinDesk.
He described the strategic funders as "important" to Oasis' attempt to connect crypto infrastructure with traditional capital markets.
Oasis Pro Markets LLC, the ATS, aims to support everything from issuance to secondary trading of all forms of digital securities, the company said. It also allows subscribers to take the unusual step of paying in crypto for their digital securities, which are traditional investment assets (like shares of a company) traded as tokens on blockchain technology.
Oasis is in the "early stages" of integrating its ATS directly with DeFi applications, LaVecchia told CoinDesk. He said automated market makers (AMMs), staking and yield farming can benefit investors and also help DeFi dollars access securities.
LaVecchia cited MakerDAO as an example.
"The MakerDAO collateralization platform could fund an issuer with a collateralized note. If that note then meets regulatory collateral requirements, it could be traded on an ATS like Oasis Pro. So the DeFi financing becomes a security that can be traded on an ATS for the issuer," he said in a text.
Such tight integrations of DeFi and TradFi require regulatory approval. LaVecchia said Oasis is not there yet.
"I think we are unique in having approval for digital cash (stablecoins, CBDCs, etc.) for digital securities transactions, which to our knowledge no other group has received," LaVecchia said.