NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--tZERO, the global leader in blockchain innovation for capital markets, announced today that it has partnered with Alliance Investments, a UK-based direct-to-developer real estate investment company, to provide technology services to tokenize Alliance Investments’ River Plaza, a 180-unit luxury residential development that is located in Manchester, UK. River Plaza is the UK’s first real estate-backed security token offering (STO) and the first project of Alliance Investments’ real estate tokenization plan to tokenize approximately $640 million of real estate projects across the UK over the next several years.

Alliance Investments intends to tokenize at least $25 million of the value of River Plaza. The River Plaza STO will be digitized using tZERO’s tokenization technology and Megalodon’s advisory services and issued on the Tezos Blockchain. River Plaza’s security tokens will provide investors with liquidity through tZERO’s secondary trading technology, which powers the alternative trading system operated by PRO Securities, LLC, a subsidiary of tZERO. The STO is expected to launch in Q1 of 2020.

tZERO CEO Saum Noursalehi stated, “ We believe that asset tokenization will revolutionize the real estate sector. We applaud Alliance Investments for spearheading one of the world’s first real estate-backed security token offerings. Tokenization of real estate will democratize access and greatly enhance liquidity for this asset class.”

According to a 2016 Savills World Research Report, real estate is the largest asset class in the world, valued at $217 trillion, which represents about 60% of all the world’s assets. While this market is greater than the value of all stocks, shares and stocks combined, it is one of the most difficult asset classes to invest in. Only one third ($81 trillion) of the global real estate asset are readily investible at scale, with the rest not being accessible to public investors in a meaningful way.

A real estate-based STO is the process of issuing digital equity securities in a holding company that owns the real estate asset. More generally, security tokens can be structured to represent a variety of ownership and economic interests in an underlying asset, such as equity in a company that owns the asset, an interest in debt secured by the real estate, a stream of income based on cash flows from the asset or an interest in the capital growth of an off-plan project, to name a few.

Alliance Investments CIO Rani Zahr said, “ We view tZERO as a leader in blockchain innovation and asset tokenization solutions and are excited to partner with them on our first STO. We strive to stay ahead of the innovation curve and believe that security token offerings are the future. They are more efficient, cost-effective, autonomous and democratic in comparison to traditional financing. We hope to continue to collaborate with tZERO to see out our real estate tokenization plan.”

Alliance Investments’ real estate tokenization plan to tokenize approximately $640 million of real estate projects will occur over the next several years in all parts of the UK with projects ranging from residential and student accommodation to commercial and hospitality properties. The River Plaza building is scheduled to complete in Q3 of 2022. For more information about River Plaza, visit www.riverplazamanchester.com.

tZERO is a technology firm that was founded in 2014 with the goal of utilizing blockchain technology to revolutionize Wall Street so that financial processes no longer need to rely on traditional institutional market structures in favor of using blockchain to bolster and enhance market integrity. tZERO is a keiretsu company of Medici Ventures, the blockchain subsidiary of Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK).

Investor Notice

Investors should note that trading security tokens could involves substantial risks, including no guarantee of returns, costs associated with selling and purchasing, no assurance of liquidity which could impact the price and ability to sell, and possible loss of all the principal invested. Further, an investment in single security token could mean lack of diversification and, consequently, higher risk.

No Offer, Solicitation, Investment Advice or Recommendations

This release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation to buy, or a recommendation for any security or token, nor does it constitute an offer to provide investment advisory or other services by Alliance Investments, tZERO, The Tezos Foundation and Megalodon or any of their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, directors or employees. No reference to any specific security or token constitutes a recommendation to buy, sell or hold that security or token or any other security or token. Nothing in this release shall be considered a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any security, token, future, option or other financial instrument or to offer or provide any investment advice or service to any person in any jurisdiction. Nothing contained in this release constitutes investment advice or offers any opinion with respect to the suitability of any security or token, and the views expressed in this release should not be taken as advice to buy, sell or hold any security or token. In preparing the information contained in this release, we have not taken into account the investment needs, objectives and financial circumstances of any particular investor. This information has no regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and particular needs of any specific recipient of this information and investments discussed may not be suitable for all investors. Any views expressed in this release by us were prepared based upon the information available to us at the time such views were written. Changed or additional information could cause such views to change. All information is subject to possible correction. Information may quickly become unreliable for various reasons, including changes in market conditions or economic circumstances.

About Alliance Investments

With 30 years of experience in UK’s property development sector, Alliance Investments are renowned for their ability to deliver some of the most outstanding and exciting developments across the country. Alliance Investments have an extensive award-winning property portfolio, covering everything from residential and office developments, to industrial and hotel sectors. With a team of industry experts, investors have come to know Alliance Investments as specialists when it comes to delivering luxury concepts and high-quality finishes. For more information, please visit: https://alliance-investments.com/.

About tZERO

tZERO Group, Inc. (“ tZERO“) is a majority owned subsidiary of Overstock.com, focusing on the development and commercialization of financial technology (FinTech) enhanced with cryptographically-secured, decentralized ledgers – more commonly known as blockchain technologies. Since its inception, tZERO has pioneered the effort to bring greater efficiency and transparency to capital markets. For more information on tZERO, please visit: https://www.tzero.com/.

tZERO is not a registered broker-dealer, funding portal, underwriter, investment bank, investment adviser or investment manager, and is not providing brokerage, investment banking or underwriting services, recommendations or investment advice to any person, and does not provide any brokerage services. tZERO takes no part in the negotiation or execution of secondary market transactions for the purchase or sale of securities and at no time has possession of investor funds or securities in connection with such transactions.

About PRO Securities, LLC

PRO Securities, LLC is a broker-dealer registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a member of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Securities Investor Protection Corporation. More information about PRO Securities may be found at https://finra.org/.

About Tezos

Tezos is a blockchain that evolves by upgrading itself. Stakeholders vote on amendments to the protocol to reach social consensus on proposals, creating a secure and organic upgrading system. The protocol's on-chain governance system, Proof-of-Stake (PoS), and ability to facilitate formal verification, make Tezos an ideal long-term solution for digital transactions, including smart contracts and security tokens.

The Tezos Foundation supports the development and long-term success of the protocol and ecosystem. For more information on Tezos, please visit: https://tezos.com/. For more information on the Tezos Foundation, please visit: https://tezos.foundation/.

About Megalodon

Megalodon is a financial consultancy firm. The firm is specialized in legal and fintech advisory focusing on digital securities. For more information, please visit: https://www.megalodon.ae/.