Today tZERO and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced a set of agreements around the forthcoming NYSE-affiliated tokenized securities venue, the Digital Trading Platform. tZERO will become a design partner for the platform’s digital transfer agent and broker dealer infrastructure, and is expected to be designated as an approved digital transfer agent, with trading access as a broker dealer, once regulatory and operational requirements are satisfied. ICE is also investing in tZERO’s latest funding round and, as part of that investment, receives a license to tZERO’s blockchain patent portfolio. Separately, the firms will evaluate using tZERO tokenized assets for collateral management at ICE’s clearing houses.
The deal deepens an existing relationship. ICE first made a strategic investment in tZERO in 2022, when ICE executive David Goone moved across to become tZERO’s CEO. Today’s announcement deepens that relationship.
As context, the trading venue will support third party issued tokens such as DTC-tokenized securities as well as issuer sponsored tokens in which a company issues stocks direct to investors with their transfer agent as the intermediary. In March the NYSE named Securitize as the first digital transfer agent eligible to mint blockchain native securities for the platform. tZERO is now set to become the second. Each transfer agent might otherwise have its own technical format, so integrating more than one puts the NYSE in a position to influence or set standards. It also signals to issuers that the venue is not captive to any one tokenization provider.
Article continues …
Want the full story? Pro subscribers get complete articles, exclusive industry analysis, and early access to legislative updates that keep you ahead of the competition. Join the professionals who are choosing deeper insights over surface level news.
