SummaryEdit

tZERO is a company that has developed a platform that is designed to enable owners of assets (such as a commercial property) to convert the ownership rights of the assets to an encrypted, distributed ledger (i.e. a blockchain), from a physical or digital certificate.One of the main advantages of storing the ownership rights of an asset on a blockchain, relative to say on an digital or physical certificate, is that the cost and/or time to transfer the rights to a new owner is expected to be significantly less, thereby enabling the owner of the asset to maximise his/her profits. Another key advantage for the owner of the asset is that the cost and/or time to fractionise the asset (i.e. to break the whole asset down into smaller quantities) is expected to be significantly less. Fractionalising an asset typically results in the improvement in the price of the asset, thereby enabling the owner of the asset to maximise his/her profits. Finally, another key advantage is that in the event of an asset ownership right dispute, the cost and/or time to validate the rightful owner of an asset is also expected to be significantly less.Through its trading platform (tZERO ATS), tZERO sold 19% of the equity of St. Regis Aspen Resort, a luxury hotel with an appraised value in December 2019 of $262mm.The seller of the hotel equity is Elevated Returns, and the company intends to tokenize roughly $1bn of real estate projects.