tZERO Group, a firm focused on enabling blockchain-powered multi-asset infrastructure, announced that the alternative trading system (ATS) operated by its broker-dealer subsidiary can now facilitate the trading of crypto asset securities that are directly custodied on-chain by customers in their own self-hosted wallets. Transactions in those crypto asset securities “will be settled directly by customers on-chain.”
This capability marks another critical step in tZERO’s convergence strategy, offering an “additional bridge between traditional finance (TradFi) and the broader decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem for its customers and API partners.”
With the ability to support integrated self-hosted wallets, tZERO can enable customers to interact with tZERO’s regulated ATS without “relinquishing control of their private keys or assets to middleman custody.”
As one of two broker-dealers that have been custodying securities directly on-chain in its own wallets, tZERO will continue to “offer omnibus or individual wallet custody alongside self-hosted wallet connectivity for those investors who prefer broker-dealer custody for operational, regulatory, or other reasons.”
Alan Konevsky, CEO of tZERO, said that they are “becoming the connective tissue for market participants across all vectors of Web3.”
Konevsky also mentioned that by enabling custody and settlement via self-hosted wallets, they are “providing the optionality that the market demands while pointing at the end state of this revolution – compliant and transparent marketplaces that rely on self-regulating technology and asset sovereignty to deliver a cross-asset, cross-border and cross-protocol, AI-enabled investing experience.”
These services will be available to their institutional API partners who elect to use tZERO’s infrastructure “versus building their own.”
tZERO is opening up new pathways “to DeFi connectivity and interoperability for the marketplace.”
A central pillar of this forthcoming feature is “custodial optionality.”
tZERO’s brokerage platform can now support “a hybrid approach for custody, recognizing that different market participants have varying preferences.”
Customers will have the option to directly custody their own assets “on-chain using self-hosted wallets or broker-dealer custody, allowing for seamless movement between TradFi and the decentralized ecosystem.”
Vanessa Savino, Chief Legal Officer (CLO) of tZERO said that with this new capability, they continue “to demonstrate our commitment to advancing innovation in a responsible manner, while working with regulators.”
Savino added that regulatory clearance to be interoperable “with user self-hosted wallets promotes crypto asset programmability, portability, and transparency in our brokerage ecosystem.”
tZERO plans to integrate key management and wallet infrastructure providers in the first half of 2026 to support secure, compliant settlement workflows involving self-hosted wallets.
tZERO Group, Inc. (tZERO) and its broker-dealer subsidiaries provide a liquidity platform for digital securities.
They aim to offer institutional-grade solutions for issuers aiming to digitize their capital table through “blockchain technology, and make such equity available for trading on an alternative trading system.”
tZERO, through its broker-dealer subsidiaries, “democratizes access to private assets by providing a simple, automated, and trading venue to broker-dealers, institutions, and investors.”
tZERO Digital Asset Securities, LLC is a broker-dealer “registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA and SIPC.”
It is the broker-dealer custodian of all digital asset securities “offered on tZERO’s online brokerage platform.”
