TZERO receives SEC and FINRA approval for digital securities custody

TZERO has received approval from both the Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to offer digital asset securities custody.

According to a press release published on Sept. 10, tZERO expects to officially launch its service in early 2025. The first product to go live will be TZROP, the platform’s Series-A preferred equity security.

The SEC and FINRA approval allows tZERO’s subsidiary, Digital Asset Securities, to operate as a regulated special purpose broker-dealer, providing custodian services for digital asset securities.

These products leverage blockchain technology and offer investment opportunities for users in a regulated environment. Private securities, tokenization of real-world assets, and funds fall into this category. As a result, securitized real estate, art and sports have increasingly gained traction amid blockchain adoption.

Approval for tZERO means TZROP, which the company debuted in 2019 will now become the first digital asset security to trade on the SEC-regulated tZERO Securities ATS. Before this milestone, digital security issuers faced multiple hurdles, including forgoing key blockchain features to ensure compliance or having to issue assets outside the U.S.

Now, tZERO has the opportunity to power this ecosystem by bringing blockchain to the capital markets.

“Our special purpose broker-dealer status will enable us to offer safe, secure and regulated broker-dealer digital asset custody and other new and innovative products for issuers, investors and other market participants alike.”

David Goone, the chief executive officer of tZERO