So you want to buy or sell with the Mattereum Protocol. Here are some useful tips!
Mattereum has been delivering live Asset Passports and enabling clients to create Real World Asset Tokens for five years. In this time, we’ve worked with a diverse array of clients and asset classes. Having been at this for quite some time, we’ve gotten a good sense of some of the most common points which are especially useful to know for anyone buying or selling goods using the Mattereum Protocol.
Some of what is below are simply frequently asked questions or concerns raised by buyers or sellers of Real World Asset NFTs. Other points are pitfalls which enough past clients have stumbled into to merit identifying them so that future projects don’t get snagged on them. Either way, we hope that this will be useful for anyone looking to work with us in the future.
For Sellers
Data is key
A Mattereum Asset Passport is only as good as the breadth and quality of the asset information put into it. Assembling this information is no small task, and in the past projects have been delayed when Issuers underestimated the time and effort necessary to put together what was needed for MAPs of their desired specification.
As early as possible, you should have a clear idea of what information about your assets you would like to be showcased, and begin compiling this information to submit to Mattereum’s Ontology Team. Our Asset Officers are experienced in knowing how best this information will be presented in the MAP, so there’s no need to be overly concerned about that unless you have a particular preference yourself.
Similarly, we will assist you in dividing this information up into the appropriate types of warranties. So, unless you have clear ideas about this from the start, we can work on that together while the MAP is being built.
This level of data organisation at the start is particularly important when large numbers of assets are being onboarded as part of a single project. No doubt companies working with us have in-house databases where important product data is kept, and much of this data will be valuable in the MAP. In cases where these databases are organised in such a way as to be compatible, we will work to engineer a port of your database straight into Mattereum’s tooling. However, please understand that often it will be required that this data will need to be converted into Mattereum’s ‘house style’ in order for MAPs to be efficiently produced from it. Our Asset Officers will work with you to make this conversion as smooth as possible.
Third-Party Certifiers
The warranty structure which underlies the Mattereum Asset Passport enables a system where individuals providing information for a MAP are legally responsible for that information’s accuracy. Thus, a mantra frequently heard uttered to clients by our Ontology Team is ‘Don’t put anything into the MAP that you’re not willing to be on the hook for.’
One of Mattereum’s innovations is the ability for external third parties, which we call Certifiers, to provide information for a MAP. This means that you do not have to overextend liability by making assertions about an asset that you may not be fully comfortable making.
While in the future we envision a thriving Mattereum ecosystem where freelance experts can search for assets in their domain and provide warranties independently, at the moment clients are responsible for seeking out any third-party Certifiers that they want to contribute to the MAP. This may take some time, especially if those experts will need to be made familiar with the Mattereum Protocol before they can begin to coordinate with Mattereum to make their contribution. So, if you anticipate working external Certifiers into your MAP, it is best to reach out to them and bring them into the process as early as possible.
Vaulting Arrangements
One of the benefits of having passported assets paired with a Real World Asset Token is that this token can be bought, sold, and otherwise transferred an infinite number of times while the asset itself remains securely vaulted to ensure its safety and integrity. It ensures that, provided the asset has never left the vault while the token has been in circulation, the tenth buyer can be as confident as the first that what they are buying is exactly what is detailed in that asset’s MAP.
For some classes of asset, vaulting is a presumed necessity, in which case making arrangements for this won’t be any bother at all. However, for other clients this may be their first time having to think about vaulting of assets. Mattereum’s Ontology Team has a clear understanding of the vaulting requirements for a wide variety of asset classes, so while vaulting arrangements are the responsibility of the client, they can provide some guidance to assist your search.
Once again, setting up vaulting accounts can sometimes be a process that may take some time. Once this is set up, arrangements will then have to be made for the vault to receive the assets (typically you can either deliver them to the site in-person, or teams are available to collect from a place of your choosing). Since the MAP cannot be launched until Mattereum has confirmation that the assets are safely vaulted, this is not a step that should be left to the last minute. Mattereum makes sure to bring the matter of vaulting to your attention at the outset of a project, so we encourage you to start seeking out suitable arrangements at the very start so that everything is in order early and does not delay the launch of the project.
For Buyers
Vault Fees
When you purchase a Mattereum Real World Asset Token, the physical object to which it corresponds will remain safely in vaulted storage until you, or a later owner, choose to take custody of it.
While in many cases a certain period of storage time will be paid for in advance by the seller as an added enticement, after this period has elapsed the payment of storage fees becomes the responsibility of whoever currently owns the token. If payment is not maintained, the consequences can range from the vault refusing to release the asset until back payments are made, up to the vault selling or otherwise disposing of the asset to recoup costs and free up space for paying clients.
It is essential that token owners retain a way for the vault or Mattereum (if acting on behalf of the vault) to reach them with invoices and other messages related to the storage of their assets.
Collecting an Asset
Token owners wishing to take custody of their physical asset can do so by following a simple procedure.
First, you must contact Mattereum and inform them of your desire to collect your asset. Mattereum will then need to verify that you are indeed the legitimate owner of the token.
Next, Mattereum will liaise with the vault to determine whether or not there are any outstanding fees or related matters which might prevent them from releasing the asset.
If all is in order, Mattereum will instruct the vault that they may release the asset into your custody and place you in touch with each other so that you may coordinate either in-person collection or delivery of the asset.
While we recognise that privacy is an important factor to some, and Mattereum will take care to ensure that privacy is maintained as much as is possible while ensuring the safe transfer of the asset out of the vault, there will be a certain degree to which token owners will have to make themselves known to Mattereum and the vault to allow for a smooth delivery of their goods.
Re-Listing an Asset That Has Left the Vault
Once an asset has been removed from the vault, its Real World Asset Token is frozen to prevent any further transfers.
Asset owners have the option of re-activating the token if they choose to re-sell the asset. However, several steps must be taken before this is possible.
First, you will need to create a new warranty in the Mattereum Asset Passport giving an updated condition report of the asset. This ensures that if anything has changed about it since it has been out of the vault (wear, damage, repair etc.) is accounted for.
Next, all of the other warranties in the MAP must be reviewed by those who provided them. Certifiers can either confirm that they are satisfied that the information they provided still holds true, edit them to reflect the current state of things, or choose to invalidate their warranty. If a Certifier invalidates a warranty, that warranty will remain in the MAP as a matter of record, but future buyers will no longer be able to subscribe to it, and an added note will indicate at what point it was declared invalid.
Finally, the asset must be placed back into a vault. Once Mattereum has been notified of this, our team will be able to unfreeze the token so that it can circulate and be traded once more.
This process can recur indefinitely throughout the life of the asset, ensuring not only that it can continue to change hands as often as wished even if it has spent time in someone’s custody, but also that the current state of the asset is continually updated in the Mattereum Asset Passport so that future buyers know exactly what they are getting.
Working with any new technology or process will inevitably involve surprises. In the last five years, Mattereum has discovered many of these right alongside our clients as we blazed trails into new asset classes and new applications for the Mattereum Protocol. Although every project is unique in some way and may hold its own surprises to navigate, we hope that calling attention to these perennial points will help anyone looking to use the Mattereum Protocol to navigate their voyage with us smoothly.
