When a group of people share a common interest and decide to pursue that interest together, you have a community. And today, there is an unprecedented level of participation and engagement made possible in communities through tokens.
Over the weekend we connected with Murshida and Zeal, amazing entrepreneurs from Singapore and Malaysia, who have a vision of a sustainable community of inspired and like-minded conscious entrepreneurs, very much like the vision of Montalut Creative Communities. They’re the husband-wife team behind Love and Respect: Coaching for Change. And what’s amazing is that they’ve already covered two big steps in their project: acquiring the land, and building the community of like-minded entrepreneurs who want to do good.
The resonance was so strong in listening to them share about their project, and we very clearly saw how they could superpower their community by tokenizing it.
The idea was new to them, and we were very happy to share our experience about it in the simplest way possible.
Disclaimer: I am not a tech or legal expert, and ideas shared here are from a conceptual point of view, meant as a basic start to a deeper dive into tokenization.
What is Tokenization?
Let’s define some terms first.
Blockchain
There’s no talking about tokenization without talking about blockchain.
When I first “met” blockchain in 2017, I was blown away by the possibilites of a distributed, transparent, and immutable system of exchanging value, such as money. Blockchain is a technology, like the internet, that creates a public ledger or recordbook with a touchmove feature: once a record is made, there’s no editing it. What does this mean? It’s a reliable way to keep important records, such as financial transactions (payments, investments) and contracts, such as buying and selling assets like art, property, even gaming assets.
What are the features of Blockchain?
Transparent Records
Records are kept in a shared aka distributed network of computers scattered all over the world, that crosscheck each other.
Direct Transactions
No more middleman (bank, government, etc.) to make transactions. Anyone on a blockchain can directly transact with others on the blockchain, aka peer-to-peer (P2P).
Immutable
Permanent, historical records that cannot be edited.
Use case of blockchain technology: Tokens
Tokenization is a phenomenon that grew out of blockchain technology.
Real-world assets, like company shares and real estate, can now be given a digital value in the form of tokens. The real magic sauce here is that tokens can be bought in bits and pieces, what’s called fractional ownership. What does this mean? You don’t need to buy big to be able to participate in a project. If you see something that resonates or interests you, you can support and benefit from it with a low entry cost.
Here’s an example: I’ve been brokering real estate for over 20 years, and for many, the golden goal is to acquire commercial property that earns rental income. That’s a big amount of capital we’re talking about before you can participate in the gains. With tokenization, an asset like a commercial building worth 1M can be tokenized for let’s say 1,000,000 tokens, with each token representing one of a million or .000001% share in rental income. This allows up to 1,000,000 individuals to buy tokens and enjoy the benefits of their investment. A real estate investor today can easily go in and out of property investments all over the world, at a fraction of the cost and without having to deal with administrative and legal hoops, by buying and selling tokens of tokenized real estate.
Tokens for Communities
So how does this apply to communities?
1. Tokens allow participation in the mission
For this alone, I will stand by the benefits of tokenizing a community.
When I first dreamt of a creative community, I was a lone believer. Then I started talking about it to as many people as possible, and everyone I talked to felt the passion and determination I had for it. Those who were deeply moved by it asked how they could support it, or contribute to it, and almost always these conversations ended with “let’s see what happens”. I just didn’t have any means of welcoming them into the party in a concrete way, even if they loved the vision and wanted to support it.
A tokenized community can let anyone have a stake in the project through the token. The beauty here is that these token holders are curated investors who believe in your cause and who will be your natural community or project ambassadors.
2. Tokens are built for borderless connections
Even from day one, the vision I had for Montalut was to create a model that would be replicated in many parts of the world. Tokens can be used as the currency of the community that can be used in any location, without friction cost of conversions, transfers, etc. It is a unit of trust that’s being passed around within the community.
Because tokens are borderless, your audience also becomes borderless. A real estate community project in Singapore can easily attract entrepreneurs in Minsk or Istanbul. What does this mean? Borderless marketing, borderless offers, borderless possibilities.
3. Tokens are customizable
Whether the token translates to rights to make decisions or rights to a share in the profits entirely depends on you and how to design your token. Tokenization can be designed according to any business model, and is especially suited for those that work as a community or ecosystem.
Any feature you want in your token, you embed in its smart contract on the blockchain, so token holders are also fully aware of the benefits that they can expect from having your token.
On our LEADIA ecosystem, for example, we designed tokens as a complement to the idea of bringing together 1) successful tech companies from Eastern Europe that have maxed out their existing markets, 2) small businesses and professionals in Southeast Asia who would benefit from these tech tools to optimize operations and profits, and 3) investors who want to support this project and ride on the growth journey of these tech companies. The LEADIA Token, $LFT, is the magic that brings all these pieces together in a quantifiable, fluid, and borderless way.
Tokenizing a Farming Community
Back to Murshida and Zeal’s project. Top of mind, here are possible ways of tokenizing a farming community:
| Traditional Way | Tokenized | Benefits of Tokenization | |
| Real Estate/Land Ownership | Subdividing the land for traditional titled land ownership for each home/family | Tokenized ownership of the land | Unlimited and fractional owners |
| Raising Capital | -Founding members to fund it or seek out traditional investors/VCs to develop the farm -Lumpsum investments | -Tokenized ownership of the animals + farm plots -Fractional investments | -Faster Fundraising and wider community engagement -Progressive inflow of funds (i.e. you can start your project with one small investor with just one cow and grow from there) |
| Income Streams | -Harvest -Membership approach, like a timeshare -Renting out built housing or commercial units -Renting out the land | Tokens with rights to harvest/rental income | Distributed profits |
These are just initial ideas we bounced off them, and they are of course subject to laws and regulations in the jurisdiction of the intended community.
Final points
Possibilities are endless on how tokens can superpower a community! The ideas of distributing entry point, entry cost, share in the gains, and even decision-making–they are all aligned with what most communities do in the first place.
- Tokenization is a powerful tool in supercharging your community.
- CAVEAT: Not every project can benefit from being tokenized, especially since there are costs to being on the blockchain.
- It’s important to first pin down the architecture of your community to see how tokens can come into the picture.
- Also understand your tokenomics: How will your token flow in and out of your community? How will this flow balance the supply and demand for your tokens?
If you have a community project in mind and are considering tokenizing it, let us know how we can support you on your journey. We would be glad to see more and more people understand and use this superpower so that more good can come out of this amazing technology.