The total worth of assets in the world is estimated to be more than USD 250 trillion. Everyday, people all across the globe invest in these assets. However, the processes used to trade them are often outdated and could be more efficient. Transactions take considerable time to complete and may include paperwork, intermediaries, and geographical limitations.

While credit and debit cards enable money to change hands digitally, they still rely on central authorities, like banks. Besides, users are subject to high transaction fees, especially across borders. That is when the tokenization of assets plus the advantages of the blockchain come to save the day, making these processes easier for investors.

Tokenization is essentially the process of representing real-world assets on the blockchain using digital tokens. It allows ownership rights and benefits to be transmitted and traded on digital platforms which make it possible to reduce the burden of paperwork and to have a more reliable record-keeping.

It’s no coincidence that many experts agree that asset-backed tokens are the next step in the decentralized financial system.

Thus, tokenized assets become more engaging for investors, because of the benefits granted by the blockchain technology, such as the transparency, the effectiveness, the reduction of the presence of intermediaries, the speed and the possibility to divide the tokens into fractions, among others.

In that way, investors have more access to real-world assets, even to those that are difficult to find, such as gemstones, and keep a true value by holding the tokens, besides having a greater confidence when taking an investment decision. That is why it’s no coincidence that many experts agree that asset-backed tokens are the next step in the decentralized financial system.

GEMERA and the Colombian Emeralds Tokenization

GEMERA is a good example of this new tendency of tokenization of assets. This project has the purpose of strengthening the Colombian emerald production chain by connecting more directly the producers and the investors through the issuance of crypto-tokens backed by Colombian emeralds.

In that way, it is possible to eliminate intermediaries and procedures, which permits the producer to obtain more profit from its product sale, and the investor to hold a token managed by blockchain that represents the value of the emeralds, with the additional benefit that it can be used as a store of value, traded in exchanges or redeemed for the very emeralds they represent.

In other words, GEMERA is a tokenization project that will transform the Colombian emerald industry for the better and will provide investors a more democratic, transparent and accessible way to invest in a scarce and desired asset such as the mythical green gemstone.