Intercontinental Exchange Invests in tZERO to Support Tokenized Securities Platform

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, has agreed to invest in tZERO as part of a collaboration to support its planned US tokenized securities platform.

ICE will participate in tZERO’s latest financing round, although the size of the investment has yet to be disclosed. It will also receive a license to use tZERO’s blockchain patent portfolio for the NYSE-affiliated platform and other potential applications.

The portfolio comprises 23 patent families and 103 patents covering areas including compliance controls, smart contracts, corporate actions and broker-dealer identity systems.

Under a memorandum of understanding, tZERO will act as a design partner for digital transfer agency and broker-dealer infrastructure. This technology is intended to support the on-chain settlement of tokenized securities traded through the platform.

Subject to regulatory, technological and operational requirements, tZERO is expected to become an approved digital transfer agent and subscriber to the new market. The companies will also work on standards for transfer agents, tokenization providers and broker-dealers using the platform.

ICE previously announced that the new market would support round-the-clock trading and immediate settlement of tokenized US-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds, subject to regulatory approval.

The platform is also expected to allow orders denominated in dollar amounts and support stablecoin-based funding.

“tZERO’s experience in regulated on-chain infrastructure makes them a valuable partner,” said Michael Blaugrund, vice president of strategic initiatives at ICE.

The companies will also assess whether assets tokenized by tZERO could be used for collateral management at ICE clearinghouses and other affiliates.