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tZERO Partners With Alliance Investments to Tokenize $25M Real Estate Project in UK

In a press releaseby Businesswire on Oct. 30, tZERO announced that it has collaborated with Alliance Investments for the sole aim of tokenizing River Plaza worth around $25 million.

As a major company in blockchain innovation for capital markets, tZERO partnered with the UK-headquartered real estate investment company to tokenize a 180-unit luxury residential development located in Manchester which makes it become the first UK real estate-backed security token offering (STO) which is expected to be launched in Q1 of 2020.

Saum Noursalehi, CEO of tZERO, commented on the development expressing his belief that it will revolutionize the real estate market and also lauded the decision of Alliance Investments. Noursalehi said:

“We believe that asset tokenization will revolutionize the real estate sector. We applaud Alliance Investments for spearheading one of the world’s first real estate-backed security token offerings. Tokenization of real estate will democratize access and greatly enhance liquidity for this asset class.”

Around $25 million of the value of River Plaza will be tokenized through the use of tZERO’s tokenization technology and Megalodon’s advisory services and will be issued on the Tezos Blockchain.

In this regards, the CIO of Alliance Investments, Rani Zahr said:

“We view tZERO as a leader in blockchain innovation and asset tokenization solutions and are excited to partner with them on our first STO. We hope to continue to collaborate with tZERO to see out our real estate tokenization plan.”

He stated that Alliance Investments would continue to be on the leading side of innovation. He added: “We strive to stay ahead of the innovation curve and believe that security token offerings are the future. They are more efficient, cost-effective, autonomous, and democratic in comparison to traditional financing.”

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SEC Delays Decision on Overstock-Backed Security Token Exchange

The U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed the decision of disapproving or approving the launch of the Boston Security Token Exchange (BSTX). The commission is seeking more time and more feedback before it makes such a decision.

The Commission Seeks More Feedback Over Next Three Weeks

In a letter published on April 1, the SEC delayed the current April 2 deadline because it requires more feedbacks and reviews of the operations of the proposed BSTX, the one affiliated with Overstock’s blockchain arm tZERO.

BSTX is a project working to become a regulated exchange for trading security tokens, the platform would be jointly owned by tZERO (the blockchain arm of Overstock) and Box Digital Markets.

The commission was scheduled to announce a decision on BSTX yesterday, but because of some policy and legal matters, it is extending the deadline. The SEC is particularly interested to know whether BSTX’s operations meet compliance requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The commission also wants to know whether the information that tZERO and BOX had provided will be sufficient to make an adequate ruling concerning the BSTX’s approval.

The SEC had warned parties involved that should these two issues not sufficiently be addressed then might contribute to grounds for summary rejection. The commission has given the parties three weeks to submit their initial thoughts, and another two weeks to respond to others’ comments.

The BSTX proposal was at first filed in May 2019 in which the SEC published for public consultation in October. Last month, BOX filed an amended BSTX proposal to increase the number of market markers needed for an initial listing from two to three and to tighten the overall listing standards of the exchange.

There also have been several concerns raised by industry actors. For instance, Nasdaq stock exchange raised their concern to the SEC, saying that the BTSX proposal might create an “unreasonable burden on competition” as the underlying blockchain technology (distributed ledger) would be exclusively available on BOX. Moreover, Nasdaq stock exchange mentioned that the proposal seems to provide “inadequate” detail concerning BTSX’s digital securities technology and infrastructure pairing with the existing equities market infrastructure.

All these explained the reason why industry actors wanted the commission to spend more time before rejecting or approving BSTX’s proposal.

SEC’s Latest Guidance on Digital Assets Securities

In July 2019, the SEC published a framework that all security token investors and issuers must follow. All investors and issuers must be declared effective by the agency before they can commence with their security token sale.

Moreover, to operate their trading platforms, all investors and issuers are required to register with the agency as broker-dealers who are expected to safeguard customer assets and to keep client’s assets separate from the company’s assets under the Consumer Protection Act. The commission has been active in bringing fines and charges to individuals who have failed to create tokens without any use-value. Therefore, with more time granted for more feedbacks and reviews, it remains to see whether the SEC will approve or reject BSTX’s proposal.

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NYSE Owner Purchases Stake in tZERO

New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) parent company Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE), announced the purchase of a stake in tokenized securities venue tZERO.

The announcement also added that ICE Chief Strategy Officer David Goone will become tZERO’s new chief executive officer next month. ICE’s investment will make it a “significant” minority shareholder in tZERO. However, the announcement did not provide the stake size or dollar value of the transaction.

TZERO is currently working to remake U.S. stock trading into a blockchain-powered business. The company runs a trading system where corporations can list digital versions of their stocks.

Currently, only a few companies have signed up for tZERO’s system.

Goone, tZERO’s new CEO, said: “I look forward to bringing my three decades of product innovation and strategic experience forged in the exchange and derivatives trading industry to drive continued growth and operational excellence at tZero.”

Other investors include tZERO’s original investor, Overstock.com and Medici Ventures, a blockchain-focused fund.

ICE has hugely invested in cryptocurrency exchange Bakkt.

The NYSE has also filed for an NFT trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on February 10, Blockchain.News reported.

According to the official announcement, the application submitted by the NYSE involves virtual reality and augmented reality software, non-fungible tokens or online markets.

The NYSE hopes it will offer “downloadable virtual goods” for NFTs and digital collectables, using blockchain technology for authentication, the report added.

This trademark application implies NYSE’s determination and plans to launch the NFT market and explore the blockchain and NFT market.