Tokenization specialist Dinari and broker-dealer tZERO are working together to offer broker-dealers a turnkey platform for tokenized U.S. equities, as competition intensifies over how public stocks should move onto blockchain networks.
The companies said Wednesday they will combine Dinari's tokenized stock platform with tZERO's brokerage, custody, clearing and settlement infrastructure, allowing financial firms to launch blockchain-based equity offerings without assembling the underlying market infrastructure themselves.
"Tokenized equities won't reach mainstream adoption until broker-dealers can offer them as naturally as they offer traditional securities," Dinari CEO Gabriel Otte said in a statement.
The move comes as tokenized equities emerge as the next battleground in real-world assets. After U.S. Treasury funds became the first institutional trend for tokenization, firms are increasingly turning to public stocks, betting blockchain can modernize trading, settlement and shareholder recordkeeping.
Some firms, such as Robinhood and Kraken's xStocks initiative, focus on creating blockchain-based representations of publicly traded shares via offshore structures, often called synthetic tokens, offered to non-U.S. investors.
Others argue that tokenized stocks should be issued directly by the companies themselves. Securitize made that case last week when it listed its own shares on the New York Stock Exchange and simultaneously issued an onchain version of the stock on Avalanche and Solana, describing issuer-sponsored tokenization as the long-term model for public equities.
Dinari occupies a middle ground. Its dShares are backed one-for-one by underlying shares held with regulated custodians, while preserving shareholder rights such as dividends and corporate actions, the firm said.
The partnership with tZERO adds the regulated brokerage infrastructure around those assets. Besides trading and custody, the companies said the platform will support clearing, settlement, shareholder communications and future onchain collateral and financing services.
Founded in 2014, tZERO was among the first companies to build a regulated infrastructure for blockchain-based securities markets. Dinari launched in 2021 and has focused on bringing U.S. equities onchain through its dShares platform. It obtained a broker-dealer registration in June 2025 for its subsidiary, making it the first U.S. platform cleared to legally offer blockchain-based shares to domestic investors.