CoinDesk
Dinari and tZERO are joining forces to offer broker-dealers a turnkey platform for tokenized U.S. equities, combining Dinari's dShares tokenized stock product with tZERO's brokerage, custody, clearing and settlement infrastructure. Under the deal announced Wednesday, financial firms will be able to launch blockchain-based equity offerings without assembling the underlying market plumbing themselves.
The platform packages issuance, trading, custody, settlement and shareholder servicing into a single regulated framework, with future plans for onchain collateral and financing services. Dinari's dShares are backed one-for-one by underlying shares held with regulated custodians and preserve shareholder rights including dividends and corporate actions. tZERO, founded in 2014, was among the first builders of regulated infrastructure for blockchain-based securities markets.
Why it matters
Tokenized equities are emerging as the next battleground in real-world assets after U.S. Treasury funds became the first institutional tokenization trend. "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. Dinari obtained a broker-dealer registration in June 2025, making it the first U.S. platform cleared to legally offer blockchain-based shares to domestic investors.
The partnership sits between two competing models for tokenized stocks. Robinhood and Kraken's xStocks initiative have built blockchain representations of publicly traded shares via offshore structures, often called synthetic tokens, marketed to non-U.S. investors. Securitize pushed the other direction last week when it listed shares on the New York Stock Exchange and simultaneously issued an onchain version of that same stock on Avalanche and Solana, arguing issuer-sponsored tokenization is the long-term model. Dinari's dShares product claims a middle ground.
Frequently asked questions
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What are Dinari and tZERO building together?
A turnkey platform for tokenized U.S. equities aimed at broker-dealers. It bundles Dinari's dShares product, backed 1:1 by underlying shares, with tZERO's brokerage, custody, clearing and settlement infrastructure into a single regulated framework.
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How do tokenized equities on Dinari differ from synthetic tokenized stocks?
Dinari's dShares are backed one-for-one by underlying shares held with regulated custodians and preserve shareholder rights such as dividends and corporate actions. Synthetic tokenized stocks from initiatives like Robinhood and Kraken's xStocks are typically offered through offshore structures to non-U.S. investors.
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Why is broker-dealer infrastructure the focus of this partnership?
Dinari CEO Gabriel Otte argued tokenized equities will not reach mainstream adoption until broker-dealers can offer them as naturally as traditional securities. Combining Dinari's tokenization layer with tZERO's regulated brokerage plumbing removes the need for financial firms to stitch together vendors themselves.
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What is Dinari's regulatory standing in the U.S.?
Dinari 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, according to the announcement.
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How big is the tokenized equity market right now?
Tokenized equity volumes surged 145% in June to a record $3.86B, even as stablecoin market cap fell to $312B, its largest monthly drop since the TerraUSD collapse.
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