Blockchain technology, initially introduced as the underlying technology for the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, has evolved into a revolutionary innovation with applications far beyond digital currencies. It is a decentralised and distributed ledger system that allows data to be stored across multiple nodes, ensuring transparency, security, and immutability of information. As Blockchain gained popularity, its potential for disrupting various industries became evident.
Tokenisation, in the context of Blockchain technology, refers to the process of converting real-world physical assets into digital tokens that represent ownership or rights to those assets. These tokens are then recorded and traded on a Blockchain network. Each token is unique, indivisible, and tamper-resistant, making it a secure and efficient way to represent ownership of physical assets.
Advantages of tokenisation over traditional ownership models
In addition to Blockchain’s generic advantages, such as enhanced transparency, security, global accessibility, cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and investment diversification, tokenisation addresses specific challenges faced by physical assets through:
Increased liquidity: tokenisation unlocks liquidity for traditionally illiquid assets, allowing investors to buy and sell the assets quickly and easily. This increased liquidity provides investors more flexibility to manage their portfolios without the constraints of traditional lock-in periods.
Fractional ownership: tokenisation allows for fractional ownership of high-value assets. This means that more investors with smaller capital can participate in assets that were previously accessible only to high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) or institutions, also resulting in more liquidity.
Programmable assets: asset-backed tokens can be programmed with smart contracts, enabling the automation of certain processes, such as defining minimum price, ownership constraints, etc. These programmable features provide greater control and flexibility to asset owners and issuers.
Examples of tokenisation of real-world assets
Real estate
Traditional real estate investments require huge initial costs and liquidity issues when selling them. Several real estate tokenisation projects have demonstrated the viability of this approach:
Aspen coin
The St. Regis Aspen Resort in Colorado was tokenised through the Aspen Coin project. Investors can purchase tokens that represent fractional ownership of the luxury resort, giving them a share of the property’s revenue and value.
A luxury apartment building, East Village in New York, was tokenised on the Ethereum Blockchain and sold in the form of security tokens.
RealT, USP, Ripple Labs, SolidBlock, and many other platforms allow investors to buy and trade tokenised shares of rental properties, earning proportional rental income in return.
These successful examples illustrate tokenising real estate assets can transform the real estate market.
Precious metals and commodities
Several examples demonstrate the efficacy of tokenising precious metals and commodities:
Paxos and Tether platforms have issued PAX Gold and Tether Gold tokens representing ownership of physical gold bars stored in vaults. Each token is backed by one troy ounce of gold (approximately 31 grams). Similarly, Kinesis Money is a monetary system based on Blockchain technology that tokenises various precious metals.
Komgo is a platform facilitating a digital ecosystem for commodity traders, banks, and other stakeholders to conduct transactions more efficiently and transparently.
Like traditional ETFs these stablecoins solve storage issues for individual investors but additionally provide global accessibility and charge lower fees.
Artwork and collectibles
The entry cost for premium art and collectables investment and other challenges like authentication and transaction complexity are very high. Several platforms solve these through tokenisation, creating new opportunities for artists, collectors, and investors.
Artwook and Maecenas are platforms that tokenise high-value artworks, enabling fractional ownership. Investors can buy and trade tokens, representing a share of the artworks listed on the platform, increasing accessibility by lowering the barrier of entry to fine art investment.
Artsted is another platform for art investment, providing comprehensive artwork and artist analytics to predict forthcoming value and furnish valuable prospects for profitable investments.
Challenges and risks
Legal and regulatory considerations
Tokenising physical assets involves intricate legal and regulatory issues. Cross-border compliance is complex due to conflicting international regulations. Platforms must comply with AML and KYC regulations by implementing robust identity verification processes to prevent illicit activities.
Security concerns
Despite their efficiency, smart contracts can have exploitable vulnerabilities, requiring thorough security audits and testing. Blockchain networks are susceptible to cyber threats like hacking, phishing, and malware.
Market liquidity and valuation issues:
Tokenisation can boost liquidity but remains subject to demand and trading activity, affecting price stability. Valuing tokenised assets, especially illiquid ones like real estate or collectables, demands robust price discovery mechanisms and reliable data sources. In this nascent market, speculative behaviour can trigger price swings unrelated to asset value, requiring a cautious, fundamentals-based approach. It is crucial to address these issues through strong legal frameworks, secure protocols, and transparent market practices.
The future of tokenisation
Asset tokenisation holds the potential to revolutionise the global economy in several ways by unlocking trillions of dollars in asset value. It could reshape how asset ownership is managed, eliminating intermediaries, reducing costs, and increasing transparency. As technology evolves, the potential use cases continue to expand. Intangible assets such as intellectual property royalties could also be potentially tokenised and traded on Blockchain, unlocking new investment opportunities and transforming various industries.
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