Imagine buying a sports car, like a Ferrari F40, or a hugely expensive watch, like a $195,000 Rolex, but you’re not ready to take on the responsibility of taking care of either item.
Altr, a company aiming to become a hub for buying and selling luxury items verified on the Polygon blockchain with NFTs, thinks it may have the answer. And with the sale of a Ferrari F40 for $2.5 million, the company hopes to have demonstrated how such an expensive transaction, facilitated by Altr, works.
When a luxury item is sold through its platform, Altr said it not only “issues a digital proof of ownership in the form of an NFT” minted on the Polygon blockchain, but also promises to take care of the physical asset until the new owner decides to claim their item.
“All collectibles are securely stored and maintainedd by Altr’s Oracles in secure storage facilities until the NFT holder decides to redeem the physical collectible,” the company said in a statement.
Altr’s governing application Lucidao said the Ferrari sold in less than 48 hours, according to a post on Twitter. Transactions are conducted in USDT stablecoin, the company’s website said.
“The speed at which the car sold is a testament to the trust the community has in Altr and the technology it’s built on,” said Davide Rovelli, who, according to the statement, “is one of Altr’s earliest supporters.”
Rovelli added that he believes “there is a growing market for collectors to purchase physical assets using blockchain technologies, enabling a secure and transparent solution for acquiring, owning, exchanging and storing high value assets.”
Partial ownership and storage
While the sale of the Ferrari appears to be the largest transaction Altr has handled to date, the company says it was not the first sale of a major item. In January, Altr sold a Rolex Daytona for $195,000, according to the statement.
However, Altr did not sell the Rolex to a single buyer, but to a group of buyers. The company has introduced what it calls “fractionated” ownership that entitles aspiring collectors to a piece – essentially a part – of a luxury item. People who own a fraction of an item receive an NFT.
The company’s “Oracles” are used to certify authenticity and protect luxury assets, Altr said. It said “reputable experts” are able to both review and securely store the valuable items sold through the platform.