Balance Commits $10,000,000 of Capital Towards Registering Balance Trust Company

Balance, Canada's oldest and largest digital asset custodian, is happy to announce the incorporation of Balance Trust Company as a special purpose trust under the Loan and Trust Corporations Act (Alberta). In connection with the issuance of the letters patent by Alberta's Treasury Board and Finance (ATBF), Balance committed $10,000,000 of regulatory capital into this new wholly-owned subsidiary towards becoming a qualified Canadian and US custodian.

This achievement is the culmination of over a year and a half worth of work, including closely coordinating with the ATBF since formally submitting the application in late August of last year. Since then, Balance:

• audited its financial statements and performed its first independent proof of assets under custody;
• got SOC 2 Type 2 certified and performed an in-depth penetration test of its systems with a top-tier global firm;
• bolstered its insurance program by purchasing additional capacity for its vault risk, D&O, and cyber liability policies;
• added a Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance and Risk Officer to its senior management team.

The board of directors of Balance Trust Company is composed of:

• George Bordianu (internal seat) is the co-founder, President, and CEO of Balance, Canada's largest digital asset custodian. George is a second-time founder with a strong technical background and holds an MSc. in Computer Science degree from McGill University. Prior to Balance, he worked in the digital media sector as 500px's Director of Engineering. Before 500px, he was the co-founder and CTO of YourExtraLife, an early mobile social network.

• Alex McDougall (affiliated seat) is the co-founder and CIO of Bicameral Ventures, one of Canada's first native digital asset venture funds, and an early investor in Balance. He is also the President and CEO of Stablecorp, and a former Managing Director at 3iQ, the issuer of North America's first Bitcoin ETF. Prior to Bicameral Ventures, Alex built his career as an investment banker at Bank of Montreal, where he was recognized as a leader within their Capital Markets team.

• James Slazas (affiliated seat) is the founding partner and CEO of DARMA Capital, a CFTC-registered US commodity trading advisor, pool operator, and swap firm managing in excess of $1.5B in digital assets. He is also the President and CEO of VaultLink and an early investor in Balance. James brings over 30 years of experience in the financial industry, having created the Global Risk Management group across Lehman Brothers' London, Hong Kong, and Swiss banks, as well as more recently ConsenSys Capital, as its founding member and Director of Capital Markets.

• Colin Pyle (unaffiliated seat) is the EVP of Strategy and Corporate Development at RFA Capital Holdings, which serves as the umbrella organization for RFA Bank of Canada, RFA Mortgage Finance, and several other subsidiaries. Combined, the RFA group of companies has over $65 billion in assets under management and an additional $25+ billion in assets under administration. Colin joined RFA in 2019 and was instrumental in the acquisition of Street Capital Bank of Canada, now called RFA Bank of Canada, where he subsequently served as the Vice-President of Capital Markets, Treasury, and Digital Assets & Venture.

• Jean Desgagné (unaffiliated seat) is a Bay Street veteran with over 30 years of experience. He is the former President and CEO of the Canadian Depository for Securities (CDS), as well as TMX Global Solutions and both an angel investor and early advisor to Balance. The CDS is the world's second-largest post-trade financial services company in the world with over $5 trillion dollars worth of assets in custody. Jean currently serves on multiple boards as an independent director, including CAA Club Group, BDO Canada, and Province of Ontario's Internal Audit Committee (IT Sector, Chair). He also served on the board of 3iQ and is the former Chair of CPA Ontario.

Over the coming weeks, Balance's focus is on registering Balance Trust Company to commence operations as a qualified custodian, enabling it to serve public ETF and mutual fund issuers, investment broker-dealers, and advisers.

"Canadian regulated entities are still forced to this day to use US custodians or Canadian custodians leveraging US-based technology. We're laser-focused on bringing a truly local solution to the ecosystem and are grateful to the team at the ATBF for their help and guidance in achieving this mission and for granting us this letters patent," said George Bordianu, co-founder and CEO of Balance.

"Balance has truly built a next-generation custodian. Its platform and technology deliver above and beyond those of large industry names, which is why we're enthusiastic to provide them with the needed capital and resources to become qualified and expand to the Canadian and the US regulated markets," said James Slazas, CEO of 007 Capital.

In addition to its flagship digital asset custody solution, which secures over $2.5 billion worth of assets, Balance Trust Company will offer fiat custody, collateral management, and escrow services upon registration. To learn more, visit www.balance.ca.

Disclaimer

PARADISO VENTURES INC. O/A Balance is a private company incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. C-44, with its registered office address at 888 3rd St SW, Bankers Hall West Tower, 10th floor (Attn: Balance), Calgary, Alberta, T2P 5C5, Canada, which sells digital goods and services. Balance is registered with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) as a money services business dealing in virtual currencies with registration number M20210422 and with the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as a money services business with registration number 31000258737080. This is not an offer or solicitation of any investment contract or financial security and should not be misconstrued as such. Balance does not provide financial, investment, tax, legal, or any other type of professional advice. Digital assets and the blockchain are early technologies and as such have an associated high degree of risk. For informational purposes only.