Digital Gold Rush: Streamex and tZERO Forge Regulated Trading Path

LOS ANGELES, CA – January 21, 2026 – In a significant move to merge traditional commodities with next-generation financial technology, Streamex Corp. (NASDAQ: STEX) announced today it has engaged tZERO Group, Inc. to facilitate secondary trading for GLDY, its highly anticipated gold-linked tokenized security. The collaboration will see GLDY trade on tZERO’s Alternative Trading System (ATS), a platform regulated by both the SEC and FINRA, creating a compliant and institutional-grade market for the digital asset.

The partnership represents a critical milestone in the maturation of the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market, addressing two of the biggest hurdles for institutional adoption: regulatory compliance and secondary market liquidity. With an initial launch of over $100 million in GLDY tokens expected in the first quarter of 2026, establishing a regulated trading venue is a foundational step toward ensuring transparent price discovery and building long-term investor confidence.

A New Frontier for Gold Investment

GLDY is not just another digital representation of gold; it is being positioned as a next-generation financial instrument. Described as a yield-bearing gold token, it aims to pay investors up to 4% annually in additional gold, a feature that sets it apart from both traditional gold ETFs and existing tokenized gold products like PAXG or XAUT. This innovative yield mechanism, combined with the efficiencies of blockchain technology, is designed to attract a new wave of institutional capital to the ancient asset class.

Streamex, a company focused on tokenizing real-world assets, is targeting the colossal $22 trillion global gold market. The initial offering of GLDY, which followed a successful pre-sale targeting institutions and high-net-worth individuals, is designed for sophisticated market participants, including asset managers and ETFs. The ability for these entities to trade GLDY on a secondary market is essential for managing subscriptions and redemptions efficiently.

“Our focus with GLDY has always been to build for durability, and a robust liquid secondary market for all assets we create,” stated Henry McPhie, Co-Founder & CEO at Streamex. “With the initial $100M+ USD GLDY anticipated launch in early Q1 we are excited to be able to work with tZERO and integrate into their regulated ATS to provide a compliant avenue for GLDY to trade.”

The Compliance Catalyst

The choice of tZERO as a partner underscores a deliberate, compliance-first strategy. In the often-turbulent world of digital assets, regulatory certainty is paramount for institutional investors. tZERO operates one of the pioneering regulated trading venues for digital securities in the United States through its broker-dealer subsidiaries, which are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and members of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

This framework provides established securities market protections, applying them to the novel world of tokenized assets. It ensures that trading activity occurs within well-defined regulatory guardrails, a stark contrast to the unregulated nature of many cryptocurrency exchanges.

“Access to organized secondary liquidity is a critical component of any functioning capital market,” said Alan Konevsky, CEO of tZERO. “Our regulated ATS is designed to bring established securities market protections to tokenized assets, and this collaboration with Streamex reflects a shared commitment to building liquidity, price discovery, and investor confidence within a compliant, cross-asset framework.”

While tZERO is a leader in the space, its journey highlights the evolving regulatory landscape. In 2022, its ATS settled a matter with the SEC for $800,000 related to disclosure and filing failures, a case that demonstrated the regulator’s intent to apply existing rules strictly to digital asset platforms. Since then, tZERO has achieved significant regulatory milestones, including receiving SEC and FINRA approval in 2024 to custody digital securities, enabling an end-to-end service from issuance to settlement and reinforcing its position as a trusted infrastructure provider.

A Strategic Play in a Booming RWA Market

This partnership is not occurring in a vacuum. It is a strategic maneuver within the rapidly expanding market for tokenized real-world assets, which is projected to grow from an estimated $30 billion today to nearly $80 billion by the end of 2026. Streamex and tZERO are tapping into a powerful trend that is seeing Wall Street giants embrace blockchain technology.

Major financial institutions are making similar moves. BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, a tokenized U.S. Treasury security offering, has already attracted over $2.5 billion in assets. In a landmark announcement this month, the New York Stock Exchange revealed plans to build its own tokenized securities platform, signaling that the fusion of traditional finance and blockchain is accelerating. By establishing a regulated secondary market for a high-value commodity like gold, Streamex is positioning GLDY to capture a significant share of this institutional inflow.

For Streamex, the partnership provides an immediate liquidity solution and lends significant regulatory credibility to its flagship product. For tZERO, adding a high-profile, yield-bearing gold token to its platform diversifies its asset offerings and solidifies its role as the go-to ATS for serious digital security issuers.

Building the Path to Long-Term Liquidity

The secondary trading of GLDY on tZERO’s ATS will not be a free-for-all at launch. Trading will be governed by applicable resale exemptions under U.S. securities laws, meaning it will initially be accessible only to "eligible institutional investors." This controlled rollout is a common practice for new securities, designed to ensure compliance and market stability.

This approach limits the initial investor pool but creates a trusted environment for qualified institutional buyers, asset managers, and ETFs to trade with confidence. The structure is key to fostering transparent price discovery, where the market can determine the fair value of GLDY based on supply and demand within a regulated ecosystem.

There is a potential pathway for broader access in the future. tZERO’s own security token (TZROP) initially traded among accredited investors before becoming available to non-accredited investors under Rule 144 after a one-year holding period. A similar path could eventually open GLDY to a wider audience, though the immediate focus remains on building a resilient and liquid market for its core institutional base. By pairing strong primary demand with a robust, regulated secondary market, Streamex aims to create a durable and active trading environment that will support the long-term growth of the GLDY ecosystem.