As the digital securities sector continues to mature, there are a few companies leading the pack – one of which is tZERO.
In a recently released recap of the company, and status of its various endeavors, new light was shed on what tZERO‘s next moves may look like.
More Funding?
Moving forward, tZERO is looking to generate additional external capital in the near future and has already started preparing for such an event.
tZERO has had a tumultuous history surrounding capital raises. While it did manage to raise $134million in a past STO, not all attempts have been met with success.
In 2018, tZERO made waves when it formally announced an expected $400million investment by GSR Capital into the company. In a drawn-out process over the course of a year, the actual investment ($5million) was a fraction of what was initially expected.
Despite raising less capital than initially planned, tZERO has managed to march forward and establish itself as a leader within digital securities. Undoubtedly learning from its various forays into capital generation, tZERO is taking active steps to hunt down capital again.
Cutting Costs
In its process of preparation for future rounds of funding, tZERO has taken various pre-emptive steps to make itself an ideal candidate for investment.
These steps revolve primarily around cutting costs. In its recent recap, the following areas were noted as contributing to a cash-burn, which is 45% lower than the year prior.
- Staff reductions
- Salary reductions
- Legal costs
- Majority completion of platform development
Commentary
In a summary of this past year’s achievement by tZERO, CEO, Saum Noursalehi, shared his sentiments on the company’s current footing.
“All in all, it has been a productive year thus far. I am encouraged by our recent progress, and I believe we are approaching an inflection point in the business. With the bulk of the development phase behind us and regulatory approvals soon to be behind us, we are focused on commercializing the business. We still have a lot of work ahead, however, I am more confident than ever that we are positioned to succeed, and I look forward to keeping you abreast of our journey.”
Roadmap
Looking forward, tZERO has established a clear roadmap, detailing their next steps. The following is an excerpt from their progress update, showing what these steps entail.
Assets
- Trade the St. Regis token.
- Integrate third-party issuance/transfer agent platforms
- Trade new issuers (existing assets, new offerings) on the ATS.
Liquidity
- Launch tZERO Markets on our website (pending regulatory approval)
- Develop a multi-clearing solution.
- Integrate more broker-dealers.
- Offer 24/7 order entry.
Experience
- Streamline tZERO Markets onboarding (pending regulatory approval)
- Provide the user experience to trade all digital assets.
While it may seem ambitious, tZERO believes that each of these steps can be crossed off before 2020 comes to a close.
The most immediate step expected to be crossed off this list will be the trading of the St. Regis Aspen token. Only days ago, we reported on a newly signed agreement, which will see this token being traded on the tZERO ATS, this coming fall.
The trading of the St. Regis Aspen token may only be the start, though. While tZERO will continue to work with companies looking to issue digital securities, it has noted an increased focus on listing previously existing tokenized assets.
“…we have shifted our focus to two categories. The first is existing digital securities. There are over 200 companies and/or assets that have been tokenized to-date. Many of these assets do not meet the criteria for our platform, either in size, quality, or both. There are some, however, that tZERO ATS may be interested in trading, and the business development team has had positive engagement with these issuers.”
tZERO
Founded in 2014, tZERO is a subsidiary of Medici Ventures. From its headquarters in New York, New York, tZERO works to develop a suite of services tailored towards capital markets.
CEO, Saum Noursalehi, currently oversees company operations.
To learn more about Saum Noursalehi, and the ambitions of tZERO, make sure to peruse our past interview detailing each.