Digital asset and art specialists Sygnum and Artemundi have jointly tokenized the painting "Fillette au béret" by Picasso. For the first time, ownership of a work of art has been transferred from a regulated bank to the blockchain through tokenization.
The Swiss digital asset bank and art investment pioneer have teamed up to fragment the ownership rights to Picasso's painting "Fillette au béret" into so-called Art Security Tokens (ASTs). According to Sygnum, tokenisation has the potential to create transparency and democratise the US$60 billion annual art market.
With the issuance of 4,000 tokens by the regulated Sygnum Bank, investors will be able to purchase a share in the artwork, which is valued at CHF four million. The tokens can be subscribed directly through Sygnum's e-banking platform. The minimum subscription is CHF 5,000 and transactions will be settled in Swiss francs. Sygnum's digital CHF stablecoin (DCHF) will be used. The tokens are tradable on SygnEx, the trading platform for digital assets.
Tokenisation enables fractional ownership
The art market is complex and often requires deep technical knowledge, personal connections and millions of dollars to enter. Tokenisation, which creates digital representations of financial and real assets on the blockchain, enables fractional ownership, lowers financial barriers and democratises access to pieces of art history. This innovative technology has the potential to open up the global art market, which is worth US$60 billion annually, to a wide range of new investors.
The tokenisation of Fillette au béret represents two further breakthroughs for the art market. By turning art into a tradable, bankable security on the blockchain, liquid secondary markets such as SygnEx, can connect buyers and sellers directly. This eliminates the need for middlemen, reducing transaction costs and providing much needed transparency in the industry. Picassos have a proven track record for continued value growth. Fillette au béret has undergone a rigorous vetting process by Artemundi, which is based on more than 30 years of experience in art investment.
"In my 37 years of collecting art, I never imagined this could happen. Artistic, cultural objects of universal appeal, once reserved for an elite group of collectors or the museums, can now be safely and directly owned without the burden of high entry barriers, such as information, knowledge, connections, and capital. The art market is absurdly opaque and inefficient, but these traits will soon be relics of a bygone age." - Javier Lumbreras, co-owner and CEO of Artemundi
Recognised under Swiss law
The significance of this tokenisation project also lies in the legal security of ownership that the issued tokens provide. Direct ownership of the artwork - not a fund or investment vehicle holding the painting - is tokenised. These tokens are recognised under Swiss DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) law, with transactions on the blockchain considered legally binding. As such, ownership rights are protected and investors can invest with full confidence.
As a regulated bank, Sygnum applies a robust legal framework to all token issuances on its platform, while providing a seamless end-to-end solution - from primary issuance to settlement, custody and secondary trading. This allows the full benefits of a token ecosystem to be realised. Sygnum continues to create new and unique investment opportunities in the Art & Collectibles, Venture Capital, Mid Cap and Real Estate sectors.
"It has been Sygnum’s mission from the start to empower investors with more direct access to ownership and value. The tokenization of the Fillette au béret exemplifies how we bring our mission to reality, unlocking a universe of unique investment opportunities that can be made accessible to many." - Mathias Imbach, Co-Founder and Group CEO of Sygnum Bank
About Fillette au béret
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) painted Fillette au béret in 1964, oil on canvas (65 x 54 cm). The artwork shows a bust of a girl in the center of canvas, over a yellow background that degrades from left to right. The strong colour palette of green, red, black, yellow, and blue shown in Fillette au béret evokes a fulfilling yet intensive and powerful time in the artist’s life. The painting has been exhibited in museums worldwide such as Galerie Beyeler in Switzerland, the Moderna Museet Museum in Sweden, the Kunsthalle Nurnberg in Germany, the LACMA and Phoenix Art Museum in the USA. This artwork has been subject to Artemundi’s proprietary examination protocols tested throughout 32 years and an independent third-party valuation was obtained. The physical artwork is stored in a high-security specialised storage facility.
Source Articleimage: Picasso on the Blockchain out of the Pressrelease of Sygnum
