Securitize and Elevated Returns to Tokenize $1 Billion of Real Estate Assets on Tezos

Securitize and Elevated Returns have collaborated to transition Aspencoin— a security token representing property ownership— to the Tezos blockchain. Both parties claim that with high valued assets already in the pipeline, the collaboration will result in $1 billion worth of tokenized assets.

Aspencoin’s Transition to the Tezos Blockchain Explained

Elevated Returns is behind the world’s first tokenized real estate offering. The SEC compliant Reg D 506(c) offering of Aspencoin was originally issued on Ethereum last year. Aspencoin is a security token which represents fractional ownership of the St Regis Aspen Resort, a luxury property in Aspen, Colorado.

After a reported valuation of $18 million, Aspencoin recently switched to Securitize and their Digital Security (DS) Protocol. Securitize is a compliance platform for digital securities, which aims to ensure regulatory compliance for the life-cycle of digital assets.

Now, Aspencoin is transitioning from Ethereum to the Tezos blockchain. The team behind Elevated Returns believes it to be far better suited for asset tokenization.

Elevated Returns President Stephane de Baets described the reasons why the switch is taking place:

“Having worked closely with regulators and local authorities around the world, we understand the need for the highest security and compliance features. There is no better solution than working on a Tezos-based token implementation. We have a number of very high-profile deals lined up and we could not afford to compromise the technological product. With the Tezos-powered solution and its integration in the Securitize portal technology, we feel we have a total solution.”

How Securitize and Elevated Returns Plan to Tokenize Real Estate

Most notably however, Elevated Returns went on to claim they have a “pipeline of real assets in excess of $1 billion targeted for these future token issuances”. Their plans aim to “tokenize and issue compliant assets on the Tezos blockchain in regulated markets worldwide”.

The name ‘Tezos’ typically stirs controversy however, especially regarding the allegation of its ICO— which raised $232 million— as an unregistered security.

Despite such allegations, which have resulted in several ongoing lawsuits, the Tezos mainnet went live during the fall of 2018.

To help with the transfer to Tezos, Elevated Returns is turning to the Tocqueville Group (TG).

TG President Alison Mangiero described the high potential of blockchain technology integrated with real estate:

“We are extremely excited to assist Elevated Returns with the groundbreaking work they are doing to tokenize real assets. Tokenized real estate is a strong use case for Tezos and a real-world example of what is possible with blockchain technology.”  

Securitize CEO and Co-Founder Carlos Domingo explained how the new deal will positively impact the future operations of his enterprise:

“The addition of Tezos and adoption of our DS Protocol as a defining standard for the Tezos blockchain is not only great news for global real estate, it also cements Securitize’s leadership in the market.”

Domingo is also a managing partner of SPiCE, the world’s first tokenized venture capital (VC) fund. The project is backed by the founder of Mozilla and the CEO of Brave.

In November 2018, the SPiCE VC security token was the first compliant security token to be transferred on a public blockchain.

Securitize participated in the historic event.

It’s precisely this type of innovation which Domingo aims to bring to tokenized real estate, which already includes a Manhattan condo as well as a REIT in South Carolina.

What do you think about the potential of tokenized real estate? Will real estate feature the first asset class where security tokens see success? We want to know what you think in the comments section below. 

Image courtesy of Mountain Getaway.