Overstock’s Blockchain arm, tZERO announced on Thursday that its retail broker-dealer subsidiary had gained approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
The company can now legally offer brokerage services to retail customers in the United States and also can offer 'issuers with investment banking and placement agent services in connection with capital raising activities'.
It is to be noted that the broker-dealer is already registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Commenting on the recent development and the company’s plans, tZERO CEO, Saum Noursalehi said: “Through tZERO Markets, we will establish a direct relationship with our customers, while also offering a streamlined experience for onboarding and trading digital securities.”
The recent approval did not come as a surprise as the company already publicized its plans of seeking such regulatory permissions.
Plans to Go beyond the US
The CEO also revealed that the company is planning to launch the platform in the next couple of months. Though the company has received approvals to offer the services to the US-based customers, it has plans to further expand its services internationally.
The official press release also detailed, initially, the platform will be launched on a web platform, but that will be complemented with mobile applications thereon after.
Earlier this year, the company also reduced its staff and slashed the remaining’s salaries as a cost-cutting effort ahead of a planned capital raise round next year. In fact, last April, the company secured $5 million with an equity investment sale to GoldenSand Capital.
“From digitizing a private company’s ownership records to trading through an institutional-grade order-management system, tZERO has built an end-to-end ecosystem that democratizes access to private assets,” Noursalehi added.
