tZERO Wins CFTC Approval for Derivatives Exchange and Clearing

tZERO Group, Inc., a leading provider of regulated financial market infrastructure, has received approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to register its wholly owned subsidiary, tZERO DCM, LLC, as a Designated Contract Market (DCM). This authorization allows tZERO to operate a regulated derivatives exchange. The approval follows the CFTC's October 16 registration of tZERO DCO, LLC as a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO), completing a significant milestone in tZERO's strategy to build regulated infrastructure supporting both traditional and digital financial markets.

Under the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated October 31, 2026 with FG Imperii Acquisition Corp. (“FG Imperii”), the first earn-out milestone is satisfied upon CFTC approval of tZERO’s pending DCM and DCO designations. With the DCO designation granted on October 16, 2026 and the DCM registration now granted, tZERO has delivered on one of its key performance targets, which will foster the company’s growth in 2027. With both registrations, tZERO now has the regulatory foundation to support derivatives trading and clearing through its own regulated entities. The approvals establish a unique new derivatives market infrastructure vertical within tZERO's growing Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) business, enabling the company to develop exchange and clearing services for financial institutions and other market participants.

“Securing both exchange and clearinghouse approvals is a major achievement for tZERO and illustrates our ability to deliver on the company’s roadmap and business plans and drive shareholder value and revenue opportunities,” said Alan Konevsky, Chief Executive Officer of tZERO. “Our derivatives infrastructure vertical is truly unique. Most holders of these capabilities use them to support their own books of business – tZERO once again rises to provide an independent service to the industry that seeks to enable a range of market participants who do not and cannot have these capabilities in any reasonable timeframe. We appreciate the CFTC's thorough review and look forward to advancing this next phase of our strategy.” The new derivatives capabilities complement tZERO's existing regulated securities infrastructure, including broker-dealer, alternative trading system (ATS), digital asset securities custody, transfer agency, clearing and settlement services. Through its IaaS model, tZERO provides infrastructure that enables financial institutions, broker-dealers and other partners to offer financial products and services to their own clients. The DCM and DCO registrations further extend that model into derivatives markets, creating opportunities to support a broader range of financial products and institutional business models as tZERO develops its new offerings.