tZERO wins approval from FINRA for broker-dealer subsidiary

tZERO, the blockchain-powered trading arm of online retailer Overstock.com, said Thursday that its broker-dealer subsidiary had won approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, an industry self-regulatory organization.

Public records indicate that the FINRA registration became effective on September 4. In a statement, tZERO said that the registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission now means that the firm can "offer its customers retail brokerage services for digital securities and provide issuers with investment banking and placement agent services in connection with capital raising activities."

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“Today’s announcement is an important milestone and further advances our vision of creating the most robust and innovative marketplace for private assets. Through tZERO Markets, we will establish a direct relationship with our customers, while also offering a streamlined experience for onboarding and trading digital securities," CEO Saum Noursalehi. 

tZERO Markets is expected to go live in "a couple of months," according to Noursalehi.

Noursalehi said earlier this summer that it was working toward this approval, a statement that came as tZERO moved to trim its headcount and reduce salaries, as previously reported by The Block. At the time, Noursalehi said that the firm was cutting expenditures ahead of a planned capital raise sometime next year.