Jack Paul 
New Sales Leadership at tZERO
tZERO Group has brought on Mike Diedrichs as their new Senior Vice President and Head of Sales, effective immediately. The company seems to be betting that his background in digital asset platforms can help translate their recent infrastructure improvements into actual revenue streams. Diedrichs comes from Bosonic, where he served as chief revenue officer and built out institutional sales for their broker-dealer and alternative trading system focused on digital asset securities.
I think this move makes sense given where tZERO is in their development cycle. They’ve been spending time on platform upgrades and partnerships, and now they need someone who can actually sell what they’ve built. Diedrichs mentioned on LinkedIn that tZERO sits at the intersection of traditional finance and regulated digital markets, which perhaps explains why they wanted someone with his particular mix of experience.
Focus on Revenue Generation
CEO Alan Konevsky was pretty direct about the company’s current priorities. He said their core focus is converting operational progress into revenue, which honestly feels like a sensible shift after what appears to have been a building phase. The platform has been retooling infrastructure and forming partnerships, including one with UK-based Archax back in October to cross-list digital securities across US, UK and European markets.
What’s interesting to me is the timing. Tokenized securities are seeing increased institutional interest, with tokenized money market funds alone hitting $7.4 billion this year – that’s an 80% increase. Big names like BlackRock and JPMorgan have been rolling out products in this space, so tZERO probably wants to capitalize on that momentum.
Earlier this month, they launched crypto and stablecoin funding through a partnership with zerohash, allowing investors to deposit digital assets that convert to dollars in their brokerage accounts. They also operate one of only two US broker-dealers approved to custody tokenized shares directly on blockchain, which gives them a regulatory advantage.
Traditional Finance Background
Diedrichs brings twenty years of capital markets experience, which might be exactly what tZERO needs as they bridge traditional finance with digital assets. He started his career at GFI Group, where he co-built a natural gas desk that generated $8 million to $11 million in annual brokerage revenue. His team was voted top natural gas desk by Risk Magazine for four consecutive years.
Later roles included managing a structured credit desk at Tradition North America and working at TP ICAP, where he apparently doubled the client base by onboarding more than 50 institutional clients. Before Bosonic, he spent nearly two years at HyperTrader as Chief Operating Officer and Head of Business Development, where he claims to have tripled the addressable market and increased monthly revenue by 30%.
In his new position, Diedrichs will work alongside Evangelos Tzoulafis, Senior Vice President and Head of Execution, to advance partnerships tied to tZERO’s strategy around tokenization, trading and connectivity. Alan Swimmer, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategic Relationships Officer, will oversee Diedrichs’s team.
The hire signals that tZERO is moving from building mode to selling mode, which feels like a natural progression for a company that’s been developing its infrastructure. Whether this translates into the revenue growth they’re hoping for remains to be seen, but bringing in someone with Diedrichs’s track record suggests they’re serious about making that transition.