In brief

  • tZERO, a subsidiary of retailer Overstock, announced a record-setting August.
  • The tZERO digital securities platform saw nearly triple the dollar volume from July.
  • The firm’s crypto trading app is also setting new high marks and bringing in users.

tZERO, part of the Medici Ventures blockchain accelerator arm of retail giant Overstock.com, announced this week that August 2020 marked a record-setting month for both its crypto trading app and blockchain-driven digital securities alternative trading system (ATS).

August was the crypto-trading app’s biggest month to date in terms of total transactions and dollar value, with 11% growth in user base over the previous month thanks to the addition of more than 1,000 new users. All told, tZERO reported total user growth of 143% since the start of 2020. The app launched in June 2019.

Meanwhile, the tZERO ATS saw a nearly threefold increase in dollar volume from July to August, rising from $7.6 million in digital securities transacted to nearly $22 million. August saw more than 2.3 million securities traded on the platform, with the dollar amount representing a 684% year-over-year rise compared to the same period in 2019.

tZERO launched secondary trading of the Tezos-based St. Regis Aspen (ASPD) digital security in August, with all of the shares collectively representing a nearly 19% ownership stake in the titular luxury resort in Aspen, Colorado.

“These wins, coupled with FINRA’s approval of tZERO Markets, are exciting, and we look forward to offering our crypto customers the opportunity to open brokerage accounts at tZERO Markets,” said tZERO CEO Saum Noursalehi, in a release. “Overall, our recent accomplishments underscore the investor demand for digital assets.”

tZERO might be poised to boost its ATS activity even further. At the start of September, the firm announced that publicly-traded digital securities will trade without fees on the platform, although private securities will retain the existing fee structure.

Beyond the crypto app and ATS, tZERO has also tokenized hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate along with other projects, such as a film about Atari founder Nolan Bushnell.

Overstock was the first major retailer to accept Bitcoin as a payment back in 2014, with former CEO Patrick Byrne a noted blockchain and crypto evangelist. He resigned in August 2019 following a scandal involving the FBI’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 United States Presidential election.