New financial products are coming to tezos (XTZ), one of a handful major proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains up and running today.
On Thursday, crypto startup Amun AG launched the Amun Tezos exchange-traded product (ETP), tracking the tezos cryptocurrency under the XTYZ ticker on the SIX Swiss Stock Exchange, according to a statement.
Zurich-based Amun’s Tezos ETP is the firm’s ninth crypto-based ETP issued to date on SIX and the firm claims to have some $70 million in assets under management. The product’s underlying asset will be held by Coinbase Custody, Amun said.
As a PoS chain product, Amun’s newest ETP will also issue staking rewards – termed “baking” in the Tezos system – by Coinbase, which will be automatically reinvested into the holder’s ETP shares. In other words, the longer you hold the product, the larger your underlying share becomes.
“Some staking services initially began as being secluded to a specific blockchain,” Amun CEO Hany Rashwan said in the statement. “Via our ETP, [investors can] participate in the associated rewards for contributing to the security and stability of the Tezos blockchain – without the need to ever have to set up a crypto wallet or taking care of a private key.”
Why Tezos?
Amun and others choosing of tezos speaks to the underlying asset’s stability, according to data provider Messari research analyst Wilson Withiam.
“Tezos is quietly becoming a viable option for the issuance of tokenized securities. There’s a growing confidence among security token issuers that tezos can provide the tools and security necessary to facilitate similar efforts,” Withiam said.
Tezos’ edge comes down to its consensus mechanism, Withiam said. While other cryptos are transitioning to PoS, Tezos’ protocol is up and running. For example, Alliance Investments recently employed Tezos for tokenizing real estate contracts amounting to nearly $650 million this October.
Ethereum is slated to transition to PoS in its next iteration, Ethereum 2.0, in Q1 2020, as is blockchain platform Cardano. How capital will flow onto the newly transitioned PoS platforms is a story yet to be told, however.
“Tezos’ on-chain governance also gives it an interesting dynamic. Security token issuers can participate first hand in the future direction of the protocol,” said Withiam.
Amun CEO Hany Rashwan image via Amun