Paxos Registered as Clearing Agency by SEC

Paxos Securities Settlement Company, a subsidiary of blockchain infrastructure firm Paxos, has been granted registration by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a clearing agency under Section 17A of the Securities Exchange Act.

Blockchain-Native Status

According to a press release from the company, this registration makes Paxos the “only blockchain-native firm” approved by the SEC to operate as a central securities depository in the United States.

Temporary Registration

The SEC order designates the approval as a temporary registration, permitting the company to offer clearing and settlement services while adhering to ongoing regulatory requirements. “Most importantly, it allows us to offer the most complete infrastructure for our partners to continue evolving with the market and blockchain technology,” said Charles Cascarilla, Paxos CEO and Co-Founder, in a statement.

Seven-Year Regulatory Journey

Cascarilla noted that this milestone concludes a seven-year regulatory process, “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.”

The pilot program, which commenced in February 2020, has been clearing and settling U.S. equities daily with participation from “top global financial institutions” under SEC no-action relief, the firm stated. In 2022, a blockchain-based pilot launched by Paxos in collaboration with State Street achieved same-day settlement times for stock trading, known as “T+0.”

Industry Context

The registration arrives as established infrastructure providers embrace tokenization. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation recently unveiled plans for its own tokenization service, supported by major Wall Street firms.

Paxos issues several digital assets, including PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin and Pax Gold (PAXG). In October 2025, an “internal technical error” led the firm to accidentally mint and subsequently burn 300 trillion PYUSD tokens. Months later, the company received conditional approval to convert to an OCC national trust bank, enabling it to operate under a unified federal regulatory framework instead of a collection of state regulations.