Intercontinental Exchange, or just ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, said in a Monday press release it has agreed to invest in tZERO's latest financing round and license the blockchain infrastructure firm's patent portfolio as part of a broader deal around the NYSE's planned Digital Trading Platform.
- Under the agreement, tZERO will become a "premier design partner" helping develop digital transfer agent and broker-dealer infrastructure for the platform, according to the announcement.
- ICE also plans to consult with tZERO on standards for transfer agents, tokenization agents and broker-dealers operating on the market.
- Michael Blaugrund, ICE's vice president of strategic initiatives, said tZERO's experience in regulated on-chain infrastructure makes it a "valuable partner" as ICE develops the program.
- ICE will also receive a license to tZERO's blockchain patent portfolio, which the company said includes 103 patents across 23 patent families.
Two design partners, one patent fight
There's one complication, though. The thing is that tZERO isn't the only company helping ICE design the infrastructure.
In March, NYSE named Securitize, the tokenization firm that works with asset managers including BlackRock and Apollo, as the first digital transfer agent eligible for its planned platform and another "premier design partner."
- NYSE said at the time that Securitize would help develop regulatory, operational and technology standards for transfer agents and tokenization agents.
- Securitize Markets is also expected to participate on the platform as a broker-dealer.
The dispute began in June after tZERO accused Securitize's DS Protocol and Vault Registrar products of infringing two patents and sent the company a cease-and-desist letter.
Securitize sued tZERO on June 22 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, seeking a declaration that it doesn't infringe the patents. Securitize called the allegations "without merit" and said it would vigorously defend itself.
In amended counterclaims filed July 17, tZERO accused Securitize of infringing five patents in total and sought monetary damages and injunctive relief, according to Securitize's regulatory filings.
Securitize has also acknowledged that the case could potentially affect the technology it uses.
ICE was already a tZERO investor
Monday's investment is also not ICE's first bet on tZERO. ICE first invested in the company in 2022, leading a financing round that made the NYSE owner a "significant minority shareholder," according to an ICE announcement at the time. David Goone, then ICE's chief strategy officer, subsequently became tZERO's chief executive.
The new agreement deepens that relationship. Along with another investment, ICE will now license tZERO's patent portfolio for use on the Digital Trading Platform and potentially other applications.
The companies didn't disclose the size of ICE's latest investment or the detailed terms of the patent license. The announcement also doesn't say whether the license specifically covers the five patents tZERO is asserting against Securitize.