Credit Suisse is taking part in the tokenization of a Swiss resort using the Ethereum blockchain.
Announced Tuesday via a partnership with Switzerland-based cryptocurrency custody and trading firm Taurus, Credit Suisse has tokenized shares in adventure sports company Alaïa SA, which owns chalets and a hotel in the Crans-Montana Alpine region.
Credit Suisse is working closely with Switzerland-based crypto custody and trading platform Taurus to create tokens in accordance with Swiss CMTA standards. The law in Switzerland was updated in February 2021 so that tokenized securities are allowed to trade on a blockchain with the same legal standing as traditional assets.
“The blockchain is recognized in the law as a valid ledger whereby you can register shares,” said Taurus co-founder Lamine Brahimi in an interview, adding:
“I think that’s a very important move for large regulated institutions because now there’s zero ambiguity.”
The next step for the bank is organizing a private placement for Alaïa tokenized shares. The first quarter of 2022 will see admission of Alaïa shares for trading on the Taurus Digital Exchange (TDX), to provide liquidity to Alaïa investors and employees. (Earlier this year, Taurus received a license from Swiss markets regulator FINMA to run a marketplace for digital assets.)
It’s not the first time the realm of tokenized real estate has played host to blockchain-based shares in a ski resort.
Back in 2018, regulated trading platform Templum touted tokenized shares in the St. Regis Aspen Resort in Colorado, so-called “Aspen coins,” which later found their way onto the Overstock-owned tZero trading platform. More recently, a glamping resort in Indonesia was tokenized and auctioned using non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
“I think what’s interesting is that this project is not just about tokenizing shares and booking them in the system,” Brahimi said. “It’s also making a private placement, i.e. capital increase, based on tokenized securities, with the objective to provide secondary market trading for those. And both the bank and Alaïa are committed to doing so.”
