Elevated Returns (ER), a financial group focused on digitizing traditional financial assets, today announced that it has selected Tezos as the blockchain on which it will offer ER’s fully compliant tokenized real-estate offerings to qualified investors. ER has a pipeline of real assets in excess of USD $1B targeted for these future token issuances.
Best known for its tokenization of the St. Regis Resort in Aspen, which raised USD $18 million through tokenization, ER is a leader in security token issuance. While the St. Regis offering was issued on Ethereum, the team is switching to Tezos, seeing it as a superior blockchain for asset tokenization, future-proofing ER’s offering and offering a greater focus on smart contract security.
Securitize, ER’s compliance partner and the leading compliance platform for digitizing securities on blockchains, will add support for Tezos to ensure ER’s compliance with securities laws and regulations. This will ensure that ER can continue to tokenize and issue compliant assets on the Tezos blockchain in regulated markets worldwide.
“We are thrilled to select Tezos to provide investors with the highest security and compliant tokenized real estate offering experience possible. 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.”
Tezos is a self-amending blockchain and smart contracts platform that allows organizations and individuals to transact in digital assets using its native digital currency (XTZ). To assist with its switch to Tezos, Elevated Returns is working with the Tocqueville Group (TQ), an NYC based organization that works to facilitate the growth of a robust, high-functioning Tezos ecosystem by supporting individuals and companies building on Tezos.
“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.”
“After successfully upgrading Elevated Returns’ Aspencoin token to the Securitize DS Protocol, we are extremely proud to expand our partnership to include many more tokenized real estate projects in the future. 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.”
As a part of ER’s expansion, it recently announced the 21 percent acquisition of Bangkok-based Seamico Securities (BKK: ZMICO) giving it access to regulatory licenses and distribution capability in Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia, a region which has been at the forefront of regulations for digital assets.
In the coming months, ER will focus on educating the Thai market about ER’s product suite, beginning with a large event in Bangkok on March 11th. The conference will be a convening of banks, insurance companies, asset managers and regulatory bodies and focus on the future of token standards and opportunities in Southeast Asia.
Through this collaboration, ER expects to launch products in the Thai market in Q2 or Q3 of 2019 while looking at additional acquisitions in other regulated markets throughout Asia.