With a little more than one week before the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation's (MiCA) stablecoin rules take effect, one real-world asset (RWA) platform sees a way to offer an asset-backed toke: issuing a gold-backed NFT.
Berlin-based Swarm Markets is planning to let individuals purchase NFTs that represent ownership of physical gold, according to a release shared with the block. The gold bars undergirding the tokenized assets will be held in a London-based Brink's vault.
Users will be able to swap the NFTs on a peer-to-peer basis via Swarm's decentralized over-the-counter (dOTC) platform after passing know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) processes.
"We think that NFT innovation has been overlooked thanks to the hype cycle witnessed in the last crypto bull run," Swarm Co-Founder Timo Lehes told The Block. "Many equate NFTs with monkey-based JPEGs that were sold for millions of dollars, when in actual fact they have the means of onboarding billions of dollars of real and tangible assets onto blockchain."
"NFTs give token owners unmatched levels of transparency and through this structure people can benefit from the fluidity of DeFi whilst tapping into the value and liquidity of TradFi. Swarm intends to expand the asset universe on chain and tokenized gold is just the first step in its commodities journey. Market participants can expect more from Swarm in terms of base metals and currently unregulated markets, like carbon credits," Lehes added.
Swarm maintains over $14.6 million in total value locked on its protocol, according to the firm's website. In addition to gold, the platform offers tokenized public company stocks and United States Treasury bonds.
Swarm asserts that its tokenized gold will not face forthcoming Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) regulation, as "this regulation should not apply to crypto-assets that are unique and not fungible with other crypto-assets, including digital art and collectibles," according to the official MiCA text.
The European Union first passed MiCA in mid-2023 to regulate the digital asset marketplace and eradicate its associated money laundering. MiCA will fully go into effect by the end of 2024, The Block previously reported.
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