Investment Firm Republic Purchases 10M Astra Protocol Tokens in New Deal

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Switzerland-based decentralized know-your-customer (KYC) platform Astra Protocol said investment platform Republic will acquire 10 million ASTRA, the protocol's native fixed-supply utility token.

Regulatory scrutiny has increased around crypto since the multibillion-dollar collapse of centralized exchange FTX, which allegedly had a liquidity crisis due to bad actors rather than a failure of the technology. The scandal increased the focus on decentralized finance (DeFi) projects, and also the need to get out ahead of potential regulations that might look similar to traditional finance (TradFi).

“The events of the last year have made it clear that legitimate crypto and DeFi projects with a long-term strategy can no longer afford to operate outside the bounds of TradFi regulatory frameworks,” said Republic Crypto head Andrew Durgee in a press release. ”Astra Protocol converges the best of both worlds for individual users, allowing everyone to continue reaping the benefits of Web3 without compromising their privacy, security, or anonymity.”

Republic will use the ASTRA tokens, which are worth about $3 million, essentially as “credits” for Astra’s compliance platform for KYC and Know-Your-Business (KYB) services, Astra Chief Technology Officer Sakhib Waseem told CoinDesk during an interview. Astra uses tokenization to rank transactions coming in to achieve faster throughput even with a high volume of requests.

Astra’s platform, which also offers anti-money laundering services (AML), applies financial regulatory standards from more than 160 countries and more than 300 sanctions and watchlists without compromising user anonymity.

“Because of its lack of regulatory adherence and its open-source nature, people have kind of looked at [crypto] as a shady kind of financial vehicle – new technology that can allow people to operate in illicit and strange ways,” said Waseem. “Astra brings more legitimacy to a lot of platforms because it shows that these builders aren’t operating in shady mechanisms. They’re taking advantage of incredibly fast and incredibly innovative technology, but they’re doing it the right way.”

Astra Protocol has grabbed headlines with its stacked advisory board, which includes former Samsung Corporate President and Chief Strategy Officer Young Sohn, former acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, former Secretary for Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen and former European Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan.

Read more: Former Trump Aide Mick Mulvaney Tapped as Astra Protocol Adviser