The developer

Exotic Vaults is actively being developed by Konvi, who also happens to be the first custodian to create vaults on the protocol.

Founded in 2020, Konvi enables fractional ownership of exotic assets. The company focuses on enabling retail investors to purchase fractional ownership in luxury items & other alternative/tangible assets such as high-end watches, fine art, and even fossils, selected through its network of buyer-seller agents. This innovative approach has not only democratised access to investments traditionally reserved for the top 1% of society for a broader audience, but has also introduced an unprecedented level of liquidity to the sector.

Since its inception, Konvi has rapidly grown to serve a user base of over 80,000, currently boasts more than $5M in AUM, with >$100M in supply capacity annually. Konvi's success is marked by its ability to secure partnerships with world-leading buyer/seller agents, suppliers, and experts who meticulously curate and manage the purchase and sale of all assets on the platform.

Why did Konvi develop $XVAULT?

Investors on the Konvi platform, as well as those in the broader market for exotic assets, face significant challenges due to the absence of a liquid trading venue for their investments. These assets, highly prized for their rarity and natural potential for appreciation, traditionally require long (5-20 years) holding periods. This forces investors to wait decades before realising any return or having any true visibility around the asset’s real market pricing, regardless of the inherent increase in the asset's value over time. Such a market structure severely restricts liquidity, making it difficult for investors to exit positions on a continuous basis for financial gain or adjust their investment strategies in response to changing economic conditions or personal financial needs.

Currently, solutions in the exotics and fractional investment market operate akin to bulletin boards, and at best, manage liquidity through infrequent trading windows. This setup often creates negative downward pressure on asset prices at times when investors require urgent liquidity. The natural disadvantage of the bulletin board model stems from its inherently passive trading environment, where liquidity is sparse and price discovery remains opaque. This often leads to inefficient trading conditions and unfavourable pricing, primarily due to the inability to accurately match buyer and seller interests in the bulletin board model.

Recognising this critical gap, Exotic Vaults will transform this market by building the first "global by default," decentralised (DEX), and highly liquid exchange for physical Real World Assets. This groundbreaking approach will enable immediate and continuous trading opportunities, providing investors with the flexibility to instantly buy and sell fractional ownership in their assets at market-responsive prices.

With the use of blockchain technology, the platform will ensure secure, fast, cost-effective, transparent, liquid, and efficient transactions, thereby broadening market participation and making exotic asset investment more accessible and adaptable to a diverse investor base.

To address the existing market inefficiencies, Exotic Vaults will operate a decentralised system of “Vaults”. The purpose of a Vault is to pool liquidity from various investors (liquidity providers) alongside a variety of assets that exhibit similar characteristics such as brand, provenance, and condition. Assets within these Vaults are then automatically tradeable as a collection. This approach will offer private markets the same advantages public markets have had for decades. Looking at the effects liquidity providers had on public markets, we can expect a dramatic increase in trading volume due to the enhanced attractiveness of the asset class.