TZERO receives SEC and FINRA approval for digital securities custody

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

According to a press release published on September 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 stock security.

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

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

The approval for tZERO means that the company’s TZROP, which launched in 2019, will now be the first digital asset security to trade on the SEC-regulated tZERO Securities ATS. Prior to this milestone, digital security issuers faced multiple hurdles to ensure compliance, such as ignoring core blockchain features or issuing assets outside the U.S.

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

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

David Goone, CEO of tZERO