tZERO and North Capital Move to Unite U.S. Tokenized Securities Ecosystem
Two firms in digital asset infrastructure, tZERO Group Inc. and North Capital Investment Technology Inc., have announced a joint venture aimed at solving one of the private market’s biggest hurdles: fragmentation.
The companies have launched Agora, a technology network designed to connect disparate alternative trading systems, or ATSs. By linking these platforms, Agora creates a shared infrastructure that allows for easier discovery and order routing of tokenized and private securities.
Agora will allow securities listed on one ATS to be accessible to qualified subscribers of another, expanding market reach and potential liquidity without requiring bespoke integrations between each platform. Participating ATSs will retain full control of their matching engines, settlement processes, and compliance procedures.
“Private securities markets have operated in silos for too long,” said Jim Dowd, chief executive officer of North Capital, a financial technology company providing technology solutions to private securities issuers, intermediaries, and investors. “Agora’s purpose is to create the connective infrastructure to allow ATSs to maintain their independence while participating in a broader network that will be expanded through tokenization on public blockchains. This is how we unlock liquidity in private markets.”
“As I’ve noted before, this industry must defragment. For tokenized and private securities to reach their full potential, they can’t live inside isolated platforms,” said Alan Konevsky, CEO of tZERO, an innovator in blockchain-powered multi-asset infrastructure. “Markets need connective tissue – not walled gardens. Agora represents an important step toward a more open, interoperable market structure, where ATSs retain their independence while enabling assets and liquidity to move more freely across platforms. That kind of networked infrastructure is essential to building scalable, efficient private markets.”
According to the companies, the initial phase of the Agora network launch will focus on internal connectivity, enabling qualified subscribers of the tZERO ATS to access securities listed on the North Capital PPEX ATS, and vice versa. This phase is designed to validate the core routing and integration technology. Subsequent phases will aim to open the network to additional third-party ATSs and liquidity providers, further accelerating market access and liquidity aggregation across the private securities ecosystem.
The Agora application programming interface, or API, framework is expected to be available in the first half of 2026.
“Real liquidity is unlocked when assets can move across interconnected markets and asset types. Blockchain is the ideal candidate to become the base layer for private markets because it allows assets to be issued, traded, and settled on shared, interoperable rails. When private assets are natively digital and regulated, they can move across venues, access multiple liquidity pools, and integrate directly into modern market infrastructure. That interoperability is what turns tokenization from a feature into a foundation for the future of open, interoperable private markets infrastructure that allows liquidity to aggregate naturally across platforms,” added tZERO’s Konevsky.
Agora will operate as a technical registry and routing layer – not an exchange or ATS. ATSs will be participants, choosing the securities they wish to make available and the capabilities they plan to support. Broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, and qualified institutional buyers register as subscribers to discover and trade securities across the network. When a subscriber submits an order, Agora will route it to the appropriate ATS where the security is listed for trading. Key features include single integration, ATS sovereignty, flexible protocols, and a shared infrastructure.
North Capital, through technology and services provided by its registered subsidiaries, offers infrastructure solutions for issuers, intermediaries, and investors in the $3 trillion exempt securities market. Its platform supports capital raising, clearing, custody and secondary trading for exempt securities, including tokenized securities that utilize smart contracts deployed on decentralized blockchain systems.
tZERO Group, through its broker-dealer subsidiaries, provide a trading platform for private companies and assets. The firm offers blockchain-based solutions for digitizing private company cap tables and enabling secondary trading on alternative trading systems. Its platform is designed to support broker-dealers, institutions, and investors seeking access to private markets through automated and regulated trading infrastructure.
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