Intercontinental Exchange taps tZERO for digital transfer agent infrastructure

Intercontinental Exchange, the global exchange operator that owns the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), is backing tZERO as it builds out infrastructure for tokenized securities. The two companies have agreed to collaborate on ICE’s upcoming NYSE-affiliated Digital Trading Platform.

Under the memorandum of understanding, tZERO will act as a premier design partner for digital transfer agent and broker-dealer infrastructure designed to support on-chain settlement. ICE will also participate in tZERO’s latest financing round and receive a license to the company’s blockchain patent portfolio for use on the platform and other potential applications.

“tZERO’s experience in regulated on-chain infrastructure makes them a valuable partner as we expand our upcoming digital transfer agent program in support of tokenized securities trading and settlement,” Michael Blaugrund, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at ICE, said in a statement.

tZERO’s intellectual property includes 103 patents across 23 patent families covering the security-token lifecycle, including compliance-aware transfer mechanisms, upgradeable smart contracts, corporate-action processing and interoperability for broker-dealer identities.

The companies will work on standards for digital transfer agents, tokenization agents and broker-dealer subscribers. If regulatory and technical requirements are met, tZERO is expected to receive approval as a digital transfer agent and subscriber to ICE’s platform.

ICE and tZERO will also assess whether tokenized assets can be used as collateral at ICE clearing houses and other affiliates, adding a potential clearing and collateral-management application to their tokenization partnership.

The companies first established a relationship in February 2022 when ICE became a minority shareholder in tZERO through a strategic investment. The financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.