Considering the Selic, basic interest rate of the Brazilian economy, at 2%, the fixed income investments are no longer an attractive option. In this scenario, digital assets offer a high profit opportunity, as explained by Fabricio Tota, Director of New Businesses from Mercado Bitcoin, at the Blockmaster Forum.
One of these assets are the so-called security tokens. They turn real assets into a digital asset whose quotas can be purchased, which is known as tokenization. Investing in a real estate would traditionally require a high initial capital to buy a shed, for example. Then it would be necessary to wait for some company’s interest to sell the property with a profit. However, with the tokenization, it is possible to buy a share of a property for a lower value and then earn gains.
In addition to real estate, various types of assets can be taken to the digital world. From debt to wine and collector’s items, as explained by Tota, who also underlined the liquidity as another advantage of transforming assets into tokens.
Mercado Bitcoin has done some testing to check the feasibility. Government debts and consortium quotas were offered. And the yield was up to 20% per year, well above the 5.96% that the CDI yielded in 2019.
Digital assets offer diversification opportunity
Consequently, they give the small investors the chance to bet on assets previously restricted to institutional investors, such as banks or large funds. And they also offer the possibility of diversifying their investments. This is because they provide options in several areas and represent an alternative to traditional products.
But if there is little talk here in Brazil about security tokens, in the USA this type of product has grown. According to Alex Nascimento, founder of Blockchain UCLA, the expectation is that, in 2021, 10 to 20 ATSs will emerge in the American country. ATSs are a kind of digital market that connects buyers to sellers, without the need to resort to a large exchange.
In his forum talk, Nascimento gave an overview of how the security token market is in the U.S. The St. Regis resort in Aspen, for example, has made a security token offering (STO) to get resources in 2018. On the other hand Nasdaq is now offering complete solutions for STOs.
The current scenario of these assets around the world
Thus, digital assets are consolidating worldwide. According to the expert, the U.S. already considers ICOs tokens (initial coin offerings made by companies to raise funds) as securities. The European Union, for its part, has defined best practices for fintechs. And it applies the rules for cryptoassets regardless of the token issuer’s country of origin. The small Liechtenstein also offers a blockchain-friendly environment. In that country, there are reduced rates for investors, token issuers and ICOs.
