Shorcan DCN Partners with Paycase to Launch New Crypto Brokerage

Cryptocurrency trading continues to see a healthy demand in the institutional space, notably in North America. This includes TMX Group, with its subsidiary Shorcan Digital Currency Network (DCN) launching a new crypto brokerage service. The new initiative constitutes a joint venture with Toronto-based Paycase Financial, focusing on both Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The launch of a new cryptocurrency brokerage reflects a growing industry trend and appetite for these services. TMX Group has historically shied away from these instruments, opting instead for more traditional assets such as equities. That seems to be changing with Shorcan DCN's new partnership.

"Shorcan DCN represents a significant step forward in the execution of TMX Group's digital strategy. As new technologies continue to reshape the global financial industry, we continue to explore new ways to evolve our business to address client needs in both traditional and non-traditional markets,” explained John Lee, Managing Director, Enterprise Innovation & Product Development, TMX Group.

Shorcan DCN will look to take advantage of Shorcan Brokers' expertise in the Canadian market. This includes the provision of a diverse set of brokerage services. By extension, Paycase will be tapped for its cryptocurrency data aggregation platform capabilities.

Of note, BMO Financial Group will be providing Shorcan DCN with banking services as part of the payment and settlement infrastructure. The establishment of a new crypto brokerage will also see the launch of proprietary-based cryptocurrency benchmarks. To help accomplish this, Shorcan DCN and Paycase will harness data streams from other leading crypto exchanges and OTC broker volumes.

Peter Conroy, President of Shorcan, commented on the partnership: "we are excited to enter in to this agreement with Paycase, an industry leader with an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. We look forward to putting in the necessary collaborative work in the days ahead as we strive to make Shorcan DCN a lasting success."

Shorcan DCN is targeting a launch date as early as Q2 2018. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see if other exchanges move forward with their own plans to unveil crypto brokerages in an industry that seems to be benefitting from a growing demand.

"Paycase’s partnership with the TMX solved a major problem in the Blockchain ecosystem. With this partnership, we have built the first major Bridge between the crypto world and the traditional financial markets. This is just a taste of more things to come from the collaborative and tight-knit Canadian community as we build out more products for the world," noted Paycase Financial CEO, Joseph Weinberg.