NEW YORK, March 26 (Reuters) - Anchorage Digital, a federally regulated U.S. crypto platform, said on Thursday it would add Justin Sun's Tron blockchain to its network, expanding the venture's access to U.S. investors.
The deal with Anchorage marks another regulatory milestone for Sun, who this month reached a $10 million settlement to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges. Sun and his companies did not admit or deny wrongdoing, the SEC said.
San Francisco-based Anchorage is the only federally chartered crypto bank in the United States and provides crypto custody, settlement and other services for financial firms such as hedge funds, as well as other crypto players.
"By supporting Tron on Anchorage Digital's regulated platform, we're helping bring one of crypto's largest ecosystems into an institutional framework," Anchorage co-founder and CEO Nathan McCauley said in a statement.
Anchorage clients will now be able to custody Tron's tronix, potentially paving the way for greater adoption of the token in the U.S. and boosting Tron's goal of expanding in the country.
The Tron Foundation, which oversees the blockchain network, is based in Singapore.
U.S. investors who wish to invest and trade in Tron's token currently do so mostly through decentralized exchanges, which aim to cut out the middleman and allow users to transact directly on a blockchain network.
President Donald Trump has pushed to make the U.S. a global hub for cryptocurrencies and courted cash on the campaign trail by promising to overhaul policies toward digital assets.
Sun, a major backer of the Trump family crypto venture World Liberty Financial, said in a statement that Tron's partnership with Anchorage will help "expand secure institutional access" to the blockchain network.
(Reporting by Hannah Lang in New York; editing by Michelle Price and Alexander Smith)
