SEC clears Paxos as first blockchain-native clearing agency

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has registered Paxos Securities Settlement Company as the first blockchain-native clearing agency, authorizing it to operate as a central securities depository for clearing and settlement in the United States. Paxos is the only blockchain-native firm approved to provide regulated post-trade services for U.S. securities.

Clearing agencies verify trades, match buyers and sellers, and oversee the exchange of cash and securities after a trade is executed.

Paxos stated the registration removes regulatory barriers that had limited banks and broker-dealers from building crypto-native clearing and settlement infrastructure and allows market participants to use blockchain-based systems within an SEC-approved framework.

The approval follows a multi-year effort that began in October 2019, when the SEC issued a no-action letter allowing a pilot of blockchain-based settlement for U.S. equities. Paxos launched that pilot in February 2020 and reported it demonstrated same-day settlement, lower costs and improved operational efficiency compared with traditional post-trade systems. The company worked with large financial institutions during the pilot to test blockchain settlement under regulated conditions.

Our clearing agency registration is the result of seven years of work with the SEC, beginning with our No-Action Letter in 2019 and the settlement pilot we operated with some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated financial institutions,

Charles Cascarilla, co-founder and CEO, wrote in a statement.

Paxos issues stablecoins PayPal USD (PYUSD) and Global Dollar (USDG) and the tokenized gold asset Pax Gold (PAXG). In 2023 the SEC issued a Wells Notice recommending enforcement action over the issuance of Binance USD (BUSD), and the New York Department of Financial Services ordered Paxos to stop minting new BUSD. The SEC closed its investigation in 2024 and issued a formal termination notice. Paxos reached a $48.5 million settlement with the New York regulator in August 2025 over BUSD compliance issues.

Previously, we reported that Paxos Labs integrated Amplify into Toku’s $1B stablecoin payroll platform so workers in 100+ countries can earn yield on USDC, USDT and USDG.

With SEC registration as a clearing agency, Paxos can offer a regulated clearing and settlement service that records and settles trades on a blockchain.