Credit Agricole-Backed Blockchain Startup Setl Files for Insolvency in the UK

Setl, a Credit Agricole-backed blockchain startup based out of the United Kingdom, has filed for insolvency. The insolvency notice was filed on March 7 with U.K. authorities.

Credit Agricole is reportedly the world’s largest cooperative financial institution, headquartered in France.

Setl was founded by Peter Randall, one of the founders and former CEO of the alternative European stock exchange Chi-X, and Anthony Culligan, founder of peer-to-peer Bitcoin (BTC) trading venue Roolo, in July 2015. The company was granted approval from the French securities regulator to run a Central Securities Depository (CSD) in October last year.

As Cointelegraph reported in January, Setl has hired former governor of the French central bank Christian Noyer as a member of its board of directors. Still, in a statement released today, the company “recognises that as an early stage technology firm it is not sufficiently placed to contribute the capital required.”

In the same statement, the company also notes that now that the CSD is operational, Setl can move forward and “is now now [sic] seeking to place its ID2S [regulated CSD platform] holding with a larger financial services firm, one better placed to provide the capital required to support the growth trajectory.” Per the announcement, the company also appointed an independent administrator in the form of business advisory firm Quantuma.

According to Crunchbase data, Setl has obtained $39 million of funding in three rounds, the last of which ended on Feb. 1, 2018.

Some in the industry are still optimistic about blockchain’s use in traditional finance despite the current crypto bear market. For instance, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Bitcoin bulls and founders of the cryptocurrency trading platform Gemini, have recently said stablecoins and tokenized securities will usher in a bright future for the digital currency space.

Development by major financial institutions in the space is ongoing, with global financial messaging network the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), currently carrying out a blockchain-based shareholder e-voting proof-of-concept with major financial institutions.