tZERO Resets Vision, Focuses on Partnerships

Published on Markets Media October 24 2025

Alan Konevsky was appointed as chief executive of tZERO Group in September this year and recalibrated the vision for the U.S company which provides institutional infrastructure for blockchain and tokenized securities.

Konevsky has over two decades of global experience in financial services, payments, technology and strategy across senior roles at Mastercard, Goldman Sachs, and Sullivan & Cromwell. He joined tZERO in December 2018 and was previously chief legal and corporate affairs officer before succeeding David Goone as CEO.

He told Markets Media that the firm recalibrated quickly after he became CEO. Konevsky said: “This is a very fast-moving industry and is seeing significant tailwinds for the first time in years, as opposed to gale force headwinds.”

The first thing the firm had to do was define its vision “clearly and crisply.” He described tZERO as starting as an early innovator in tokenization for capital markets but explains that vision got lost because of regulatory and political issues.

However, the world is now very different as the current U.S administration has a more favourable view of blockchain technology, crypto and tokenization. In July this year President Trump passed the GENIUS Act, which provided the first federal framework for stablecoins, and legislators are reviewing the CLARITY Act, which aims to set a framework for market structure for digital assets.

“Since the GENIUS Act was passed and the SEC has changed its regulatory stance, we have been fielding 1,000% the amount of calls from broker-dealers who don’t want to miss the boat and need infrastructure,” added Konevsky.

He described tZERO’s vision as being a digital-first company and the leader in regulated best-of-breed infrastructure in the U.S. for tokenized securities.

“We can raise tokenized capital, create tokenized capital, and, very importantly, we are one of only two broker-dealers in the US who can custody tokenized shares directly onchain in a wallet,” he said.

tZERO Digital Asset Securities launched in September 2024 after being approved as a special purpose broker-dealer by the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission with permission to custody, clear and facilitate trading in digital asset securities. On 1 October 2025 tZERO said in a statement that the special purpose broker-dealer had successfully completed its first regulatory exam without exception.

Alex Vlastakis, president of tZERO Digital Asset Securities, said in a statement: “We’ve established the foundational infrastructure needed to scale, simplify adoption, and, most importantly, add value for issuers and investors. We are not just participating in this market – we are building the secure, compliant pathways that will define it.”

Partnerships

tZERO Digital Asset Securities is also approved to offer correspondent custody and clearing services to other broker-dealers who lack this approval as an effective alternative to non-broker-dealer-led custody for digital asset securities.

Kovensky said: “A big focus is on strategic partnerships including broker-dealers who do not have digital asset infrastructure, global cryptocurrency firms looking at multi-asset experiences, infrastructure providers in other jurisdictions, crypto and DeFi participants.”

On 23 October 2025 tZERO announced a partnership with Archax, the UK/EU-regulated digital asset platform led by Graham Rodford, chief executive and co-founder, to cross-list and distribute digital securities and other tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) to expand their global reach. The two forms will work together to streamline the process for digital securities issuers to list their assets across multiple venues, allowing them to tap into a broader international investor base and provide access to deeper pools of liquidity. In addition, tZERO will become an investor in Archax.

Konevsky said a key reason for tokenization is geographic convergence. He continued that digital assets can trade 24/7, across borders, and real progress depends on stitching together ‘follow-the-sun’ infrastructure that reduces frictions and creates a smoother experience for capital formation, trading and custody for issuers and investors.

“Archax is a key partner for us in the UK and Europe, where we are aligning regulated digital asset infrastructure with institutional demand, and together we are setting the foundation for expansion into other regions,” he added. “This relationship is central to tZERO’s global infrastructure and strategic partnerships initiative, laying the rails for a new era of interconnected, compliant, and resilient market access.”

Graham Rodford, chief executive and co-founder of Archax, said in a statement that this collaboration demonstrates Archax’s commitment to bridging traditional finance and the digital world. Rodford added: “Together, we are providing issuers with seamless access to international markets and helping investors benefit from enhanced liquidity and connectivity.”

Asset class expansion

In September this year tZERO applied with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to acquire licenses for both a derivatives clearing organization (DCO) to operate a regulated clearinghouse, and a designated contract market (DCM) to operate a regulated exchange.

Konevsky said: “We have also applied for DCO and DCM licenses from the CFTC for derivatives and to support crypto if the CFTC has primary jurisdiction under market structure reform.”

The licences would also enable tZERO to potentially introduce derivatives including predictive markets and futures and options contracts tied to both digital and traditional assets.

Al Swimmer, chief strategic relationships officer at tZERO, said in a statement: “With decades in the futures markets, I’ve seen firsthand how vital robust, regulated clearing and exchange infrastructure is to the health of global capital markets. These filings reflect our conviction that the same rigor and safeguards must apply as digital assets and tokenized products scale.”

Jason Barraza, chief operating officer at STM.co and institutional lead at Security Token Advisors, said in a newsletter that the potential licenses allow tZERO to enhance its ecosystem. Barraza said: “CFTC oversight in addition to the SEC’s means more rigorous compliance (no problem for Alan since he was their Chief Legal Officer before his promotion) but it also means more flexibility in working with crypto and overall making a more robust platform that offers a more all-in-one experience for the investor.”

In addition to potentially expanding into derivatives, tZERO has received approval to expand into the sale of corporate debt securities. In September this year tZERO Securities, a FINRA member broker-dealer subsidiary, said in a statement that the group’s alternative trading system (ATS) has been authorised to facilitate secondary trading of corporate debt.

tZERO’s ATS is the leader by trading volume amongst other digital securities ATSs and runs continuous automated trading through a central limit order book, according to Konevsky.

He said in a statement at the time: “Adding corporate debt securities to our platform expands investment opportunities for clients and reinforces our vision of a comprehensive, cross-asset marketplace powered by blockchain, as well as to develop tokenized debt and structured products treated as debt tailored to specific investor demand.”

He believes tokenization is important for cross-asset and geographical convergence as more assets will use blockchain technology and smart contract automation.

tZERO already holds approvals to facilitate primary offerings of corporate debt, as well as to operate its primary offering business and ATS for corporate equity securities, including the online sale and resale of OTC equities to retail investors.

“Investors will be able to buy a stock with bitcoin, or vice versa, or make a wager on prediction markets with an Apple share,” he added. “We are trying to do what the internet did for data and voice and allow different types of activities to be seamlessly interoperable.”

In order to increase interoperability tZERO has partnered with zerohash, a crypto and stablecoin infrastructure provider, to allow investors to fund their tZERO brokerage accounts using stablecoins and cryptocurrencies, from November this year. zerohash will convert stablecoins and cryptocurrencies,into fiat currency which investors can deposit into their ZERO brokerage accounts as the broker-dealer itself does not handle crypto.

Edward Woodford, founder and chief executive of zerohash, said in a statement: “By powering seamless crypto and stablecoins into fiat, we help enable tZERO’s investors to fund accounts with digital assets in a secure and regulated way. This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to bridging traditional finance and the digital asset ecosystem through reliable, compliant infrastructure.”

In private markets, tZERO can also offer companies an auction facility to control liquidity, who gets on the cap table and pricing. Private companies and their sponsors often face a choice between loss of control when employees and early investors look to sell their shares or limiting liquidity optionality for their long-standing supporters.

In September this year tZERO launched a private market auction facility to give issuers control over secondary activity and preserve cap table integrity while still enabling much-needed liquidity through an auction system.

Competition

There are other crypto and traditional finance firms who provide institutional-grade infrastructure for tokenization and digital assets. Konevsky argued that tZERO is the only end-to-end regulated infrastructure solution for digital securities and tokenized real world assets in the U.S. that covers primary, secondary, cap table management and custody.”

He added: “My near-term perspective is that there is so much work to be done in this space that zero-sum competition is not a factor.”

Next year tZero will continue to execute on building out the spokes of its partnership strategy and build out supply, demand and multi-asset and cross-border environments.

“I hope we are more present in the public markets as well,” said Konevsky.