tZERO partners with Prime Trust to facilitate platform evolution

By Pavithra R

tZERO, a leading financial technology company which owns, develops and operates a suite of fintech solutions for capital markets, has announced partnering with Prime Trust, an innovative open-banking financial solutions provider.

The collaboration sends a clear signal to the market that tZERO operates, replacing legacy systems with the future of financial technology. It supports the custody of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and securities, 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 has filed continuing membership application (CMA) to support self-clearing for itself and its broker-dealer subsidiaries.

“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,” said tZERO CEO Saum Noursalehi.

tZERO’s technology integration deal will allow 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 dependence on third-party clearing firms, enables accelerated onboarding of new digital securities, enhances the settlement process and improves the account funding process.

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

“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,’ said Prime Trust CEO Scott Purcell.

“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. 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,” added Noursalehi.

tZERO ATS’s trading ecosystem will continue to support a conventional broker-dealer clearing and custody model, principally for NMS securities. It has filed CMA to allow it to custody, clear, and settle securities transactions for itself and its broker-dealer affiliates.