Swiss digital asset bank Sygnum has launched an 'end-to-end' tokenization trading market, unlocking access to funding for SMEs and enabling fractional trading in high-value assets as diverse as works of art, diamonds and vintage cars.
The offering consist of Desygnate, a primary market issuance platform, and SygnEx, a secondary market trading venue.
Payment and settlement of asset token transactions can be done instantly and directly using Sygnum’s Digital CHF settlement token. Corporate actions and shareholder registry updates will be automatically executed on a distributed ledger, and the ability to issue micro-shares on the blockchain can be used in customer interactions.
Using the platform, issuers can tokenize new or existing financial and real assets.
In this way, Switzerland’s estimated 600,000 SMEs, and the 45,000 new companies founded each year, can now attract a broader network of investors and raise capital by issuing security tokens, which can be securely traded on SygnEx. This solves many of the challenges startups and SMEs face when raising capital in traditional capital markets, such as high costs and extensive listing requirements
Sygnum says similar benefits apply for the CHF60 billion annual global Art and Collectibles market, which can now make its assets more widely accessible, affordable by fractional ownership, and easily tradeable.
The firm has struck deals with a number of companies looking to make use of the platform, including asset management group Azimut, real-estate investment firm InnoZins, electric vehicle manufacturer BAK Motors and wine investment outfit Fine Wine Company.
Mathias Imbach, Sygnum’s group CEO designate, comments: “Empowering both issuers and investors to create and have access to unique, often frontier, investment opportunities has been a core part of Sygnum’s mission since day one. With Desygnate and SygnEx, we bring a blockchain-powered business solution to market which opens up a world of new opportunities for capital market participants to do business.”