Not all crypto-exchanges and tokens are created equal. Some have innovation without institution, that is, a good platform or technology with no record of compliance.

We at Blockchain.io (BCIO) made it our mission to offer our traders a trustworthy “trustless” platform. Traders will benefit from a centralized exchange with decentralized settlement, fully-compliant and meeting current regulations. To put it frankly, we’re on the up and up.

Fully compliant

While a few governments have a momentary ban on cryptocurrency exchanges, most national agencies such as the SEC in the US and the AMF in France are seeking to define a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and ICOs. Gibraltar has introduced the world’s first regulations for ICOs and Japan has licensed exchanges while considering, like Estonia, issuing state-sponsored tokens for specific uses.

Being based in France, we are taking the necessary steps in full European compliance. Paymium.com — our parent company — is, to the best of our knowledge, the only crypto exchange whose financial accounts are fully audited by an external auditor with a European title equivalent to an American CPA. This is done on a voluntary basis and conforms to European Banking requirements for anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) procedures. In addition, Paymium is in full compliance with the now implemented GDPR European regulations.

Expanding on compliance, consider the following:

1. Our accounting records are audited by independent professional auditors to ensure the integrity of our trading platform

2. We aspire to maintain compliance with all current and future applicable EU regulations, ensuring that assets are never seized or frozen

3. And on the liability side, customer balances must match exactly the inventory of coins held by the exchange. We will continually perform balance checks and we will publish its cryptographic proof at each block interval.

Blockchain.io has filed a Form D with the SEC for its Token Sale. Blockchain.io will then register for a Broker-Dealer license with the SEC following the token sale to enable trading of security tokens.

We look forward to updating our contributors with developments on this soon.

Fully professional

On a personal level, we make it a priority to collaborate on a regular basis with the AMF (French equivalent to SEC) and other institutions to shape upcoming crypto-exchange EU regulations. Our CEO Pierre Noizat recently met with the French minister of finance Bruno Le Maire to discuss France becoming a major hub for blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

Concerning the team, one of our advisors, Jean-Pascal Beaufret, is the former general manager of the tax administration of the French ministry of finance with connections at the highest institutional level. Yes, not only are we legal, we even pay our taxes :). Additional advisors have experience in private equity and law.

Fully yours

At the end of the day, we are doing all of this for you, the contributor and trader. We all know stories of crypto platforms or tokens that had great potential but fell short of reaching their goals simply because the proper legal procedures weren’t taken. Let that not be said of us. We’re working hard each day to gain and maintain your trust for what will prove to be a distinct exchange and trading experience.