tZERO, the blockchain FinTech division of Overstock, is planning to launch its broker-dealer service in the United States during Q2 2020, and GoldenSand completes its $5m investment.

Securing regulatory approval

Talking to Forbes, tZERO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Saum Noursalehi, said the company is planning to become a one-stop-shop for mainstream cryptocurrency and security token trading, but that it first needs to secure approval as a retail broker-dealer.

tZERO submitted a registration application with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) earlier this year, with a view to expanding trading by combining equity and traditional securities with crypto and digital assets.

Noursalehi told Forbes that he expects tZERO to gain regulatory approval sometime in the second quarter of 2020. He also noted that, over the last few months the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis had boosted public use of blockchain and Overstock.

Specifically he highlighted mobile voting, digital identity, digital currency, and supply chain tracking blockchain applications. He also said that he expected the upcoming insuance of the Overstock OSTK digital dividend to further boost tZERO platform activity.

Overstock launched tZERO’s initial coin offering (ICO) back in 2017, and quickly launched efforts to secure approval to launch a security tokens market. In October 2019 tZERO’s Boston Security Token Exchange submitted an application to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for approval to launch such a market. However, as of 1 April, the SEC was still considering the application.

GoldenSand completes $5m equity investment

A couple of weeks ago, tZERO announced that GoldenSand Capital (formerly known as GSR Capital), a private equity firm based in Hong Kong, had completed is $5 million equity investment in tZERO.

Commenting on the news tZERO CEO, Saum Noursalehi, said:

“GoldenSand Capital understands the value of tZERO and its mission to introduce greater efficiency and transparency to capital markets by leveraging blockchain and smart contract technology. We are excited to continue working with GoldenSand Capital to achieve this mission.”

While GoldenSand Capital Chairman, Sonny Wu, added:

“tZERO is building the next generation capital markets platform, capable of tokenizing, trading and settling digital securities, and we are pleased to be joining them to further build this capability.

“We plan to continue to collaborate with tZERO on strategic opportunities and are interested in partnering our wealth of industry connections across Asia with tZERO’s tokenization protocol technology. Our portfolio of digital assets, including GoldenSand Bank, are the low-hanging fruits for synergistic partnerships with tZERO.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Overstock itself has obviously been well placed to benefit from the surge in online retail activity during the COVID-19 crisis, and there are clear opportunities for tZERO to grow its footprint as economic uncertainty drives more people to invest in digital assets, and the “new normal” of social distancing and tracking makes digital identities and remote trust more in-demand than ever.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

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