MERJ, the national stock exchange of Seychelles, has entered into a partnership with CurioInvest, an Ethereum-based tokenization platform, to create digital tokens representing shares in "supercars" such as the Ferrari, CoinDesk reported.
In an online post, CurioInvest describes asset tokenization as "a process where a new type of crypto asset is created and directly backed by a physical asset such as a car."
Consider a limited-edition supercar worth $800,000. Most people would not be able to afford it but if 10,000 investors will combine their resources and each of them will invest $80, the car could be purchased. Asset tokenization offers tons of benefits including liquidity, diversification, lower cost, and faster settlements.
MERJ is now listing tokenized collectible cars worth $200 million, which will be open to both retail and institutional investors. The exchange will list Ferrari F12tdf which is worth $1.1 million as its first car with plans to add up to 500 vehicles in the future.
With this listing, more people will get to invest in luxury cars, which is largely inaccessible to most investors.
“With the partnership, we are creating an access point for these investors that is compliant through the full cycle of exchange, clearing, settlement and registry,” said Jim Needham, head of digital strategy at MERJ Exchange.
MERJ is licensed by the Indian Ocean nation’s Financial Services Authority as a securities exchange, clearing agency and securities depository. In August, it listed a tokenized security and said that it will use the Ethereum blockchain to record the share register ownership. In the following month, it launched its own digital initial public offering (IPO), which was said to be the first-ever blockchain-based IPO.
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