One of the world’s most exclusive asset classes is set to become accessible to investors worldwide thanks to a partnership between hybrid exchange MERJ and supercar tokenization platform CurioInvest. The listings could bring up to 500 tokenized cars worth over $200 million onto MERJ, which is compliant with the highest international regulatory standards. An affiliate member of the World Federation of Exchanges, MERJ Exchange expects the buying to be led by institutional investors and regions with restrictions on auto imports such as China.
Supercar Tokens
As an asset class, rare and luxury cars have consistently been among the world’s best performers, beating not just traditional asset classes such as commodities and equities but other collectibles such as fine wines, watches, and jewelry. Over a five- and ten-year period, vintage cars have outperformed all other collectible assets with returns of 91% and 288%, respectively. Average returns for the past decade have been 334%, according to the latest Knight Frank Luxury Investment Wealth Report. Up until now the exclusive preserve of the world’s super-rich, CurioInvest’s listings will be investable with one dollar.
Stored and maintained in a vault in Stuttgart, the first supercar to be tokenized will be a $1.1 million Ferrari F12tdf. Ferraris currently account for 60% of cars sold for over USD $5 million.
Operating to IOSCO standards, MERJ Exchange is creating a bridge between digital and non-digital securities by providing all investors with a fully regulated and licensed trading platform, with all of the hallmarks of traditional markets, such as a familiar ISIN code.
“Right now, MERJ Exchange is the only regulated market globally that can support digital securities from end to end. CurioInvest has identified pent up demand from institutional investors such as hedge funds and wealth managers. Through its partnership with MERJ Exchange, we are creating an access point for these investors that is compliant through the full cycle of exchange, clearing, settlement, and registry.”
– Jim Needham, Head of Digital Strategy at MERJ Exchange
By listing on MERJ Exchange, CurioInvest is able to reach a broader base of both retail and institutional investors, while reducing costs and creating a more efficient process for buying and selling in what has traditionally been a niche and illiquid asset class.
“For years, many investors have had to sit and watch as rare and elite asset classes outperformed equities and bonds. Now we have created a way for all institutional and retail investors to gain access to this booming asset class. In this era of ultra-low interest rates, it seems likely that demand for collectibles will continue to grow. CurioInvest and MERJ Exchange offer investors a unique combination of old-world assets, tokenized on a distributed ledger, but now made available on traditional securities markets infrastructure. This is the best of all worlds and ensures that as wide a group of people possible is reached.”
– Fernando Verboonen, Founder and CEO of CurioInvest
With a passion for vintage cars and an aspiration to democratize ownership, Jim Needham and Fernando Verboonen determined to apply Distributed Ledger Technology to supercar ownership during a blockchain program at Oxford University.