We’ve tokenized currencies, dentistry, even pandas (no, really). What next? Whisky. We all need a drink.
January brought top-end Scotch whisky to the digital world, with the commencement of trading of “southeast Asia’s first digital, whisky-based ABS”.
There are five tokens, all linked to a specific cask of whisky sitting in Scotland.
The group behind this is PrimePartners Corporate Finance, a Singapore financial services group, through a subsidiary called Rare Cask Holdings. The tokens are traded on Hg Exchange, which is a private member-driven securities exchange backed by PhillipCapital, crowdfunding platform Fundnel, blockchain Zilliqa and PrimePartners itself.
The exchange became a member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s fintech sandbox regime in June 2020.
Scotch whisky has historically high yields Investing in whisky, particularly in high-end, exclusive single malt Scotch, instead of simply enjoying a glass has become increasingly popular among wealthy global investors, even more so in a time of lockdowns when digital trading activities are seeing a huge rise. The latest addition is a blockchain-based service for buying and selling high-end bottles of the liquor at Singapore-based private exchange HGX, a trading board for high-value luxury items. HGX in a first for Southeast Asia is now allowing professional investors, as well as wealthy individuals with a net worth of at least two.