tZERO blockchain for digital assets partners with Prime Trust fintech innovator

tZERO a leader in blockchain innovation and liquidity for digital assets has partnered with Prime Trust the leading provider of all-in-one, financial infrastructure for fintech innovators. This partnership sends a clear signal to the market that tZERO is committed to replacing legacy systems with the future of financial technology. tZERO CEO Saum Noursalehi stated, “Digital infrastructure isn't just another settlement or payment system – it represents an evolution in how we will issue, record, transfer and settle value seamlessly across markets and geographies by leveraging technology that is superior to the legacy systems and infrastructure in place today. The initiatives announced today affirm our commitment to remain agile and swiftly adapt to regulatory and technological developments in order to foster a robust and dynamic marketplace.”

The partnership supports the custody of digital assets, including securities and cryptocurrencies, by users directly with Prime Trust, and enables trading of such digital asset securities on the tZERO ATS, tZERO’s broker-dealer subsidiary. Additionally, tZERO ATS filed to support self-clearing for itself and its broker-dealer subsidiaries.

tZERO signed a technology integration agreement that allows Prime Trust to facilitate custody of digital securities and cryptocurrencies for its customers who trade such assets on platforms operated by tZERO’s regulated subsidiaries. This new infrastructure replaces reliance on third-party clearing firms, enables accelerated onboarding of new digital securities, improves the account funding process, and enhances the settlement process.

The updated central custody is also expected to replace tZERO’s existing cryptocurrency wallet, the tZERO Crypto app. This will improve the cryptocurrency trading experience through increased buy limits, faster transaction settlement, and a seamless process of onboarding new cryptocurrencies, subject to regulatory approvals and launch.

Prime Trust CEO Scott Purcell shared, “We’re thrilled to work with a leading fintech company like tZERO and to help them make this infrastructure change quickly. This is exactly how we designed PrimeCore, our leading compliance, payments, and proprietary API platform, to be used. We worry about the infrastructure, so our partners can launch on their terms and focus on their core business.”

“We are delighted to partner with Prime Trust to give investors the ability to custody their digital securities and cryptocurrencies and trade them on the tZERO ATS,” added Noursalehi. “This trading model creates flexibility for customers, subscribers, and issuers that wish to join our marketplace, and opens our marketplace to securities with greater blockchain functionality.”

In addition to the customer self-custody model, which would support digital securities and cryptocurrencies, tZERO ATS’s trading ecosystem will also continue to support a conventional broker-dealer clearing and custody model, principally for NMS securities. To be able to offer a broad product set, operate independently, improve margins, be nimble and innovate quickly, tZERO ATS filed a continuing membership application (CMA) to allow it to custody, clear, and settle securities transactions for itself and its broker-dealer affiliates.

tZERO is also working to evaluate the pathway for its broker-dealer subsidiaries to custody digital securities themselves, without reliance on any third parties, under the recent milestone Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) statement that outlined how broker-dealers can engage with digital asset securities, including maintaining custody of these assets and settling on-chain without a clearing firm or a custodian. This is a critical milestone for digital security trading, custody and settlement in a next-generation trading ecosystem.