The Zoniqx Origin Story

The team at Zoniqx, are true pioneers in real-world asset tokenization. The company's origin traces back to a simple yet profound observation: how to solve the limitations of traditional asset ownership. Zoniqx has evolved into a comprehensive architectural solution for tokenizing real-world assets, providing a powerful way to unlock value from traditionally illiquid assets.

Founders Prasanth Kalangi and Sanjeev Birari are driven by a shared passion for democratizing access to investment opportunities. Early on they recognized the challenges faced by investors seeking to participate in asset classes that have long been restricted to institutional or high value individuals. These assets, often requiring substantial capital to invest, limit participation to a select few. Moreover, they understood that the complexities of traditional ownership models, which require long maturation periods and strict regulatory guidelines, create hurdles for investors that want greater flexibility in the management and liquidation of their holdings.

Inspired by the potential of distributed ledger technology (DLT), Zoniqx set out to address these challenges. Sanjeev and Prasanth envisioned a future where assets could be fractionalized and represented as digital tokens which could then be easily bought and sold, making them more accessible to a wider range of investors. By leveraging the transparency, security, and efficiency of DLTs, Zoniqx aimed to revolutionize the way assets are owned, traded, and managed.

At the heart of Zoniqx's vision was the belief that tokenization could unlock a wealth of benefits for both investors and asset owners. For investors, fractional ownership would provide unprecedented access to high-value assets, allowing them to diversify their portfolios and potentially earn higher returns. Additionally, these tokenized assets would give investors the freedom to buy and sell their holdings more easily, reducing the risk of being locked into illiquid investments.

For asset owners, tokenization offered the opportunity to raise capital more efficiently and attract a broader investor base. By dividing assets into smaller, more marketable units, asset owners could attract a larger pool of potential buyers that would include not just institutional investors, but also smaller retail investors. Furthermore, tokenization could streamline the asset management processes, reducing administrative burdens and improving transparency.

The Zoniqx team recognized that making their vision a reality would depend on a solid technological infrastructure. They wanted to develop a platform that would not just securely create, manage, and trade asset tokens, but would also be highly scalable, capable of handling large-scale projects, and be compliant with any and all regulatory requirements – no matter where in the world these projects were to take place. Additionally,

Armed with this vision, Zoniqx went full steam ahead in building what would become their Tokenization Platform as a Service (TPaaS).

Go to Market Success

The company's initial efforts focused on developing and bringing to market a secure and efficient, yet simplified tokenization process that would enable an organization to be productive, regardless of their level of familiarity with distributed ledgers or web3 technology.

They also made sure that the TPaaS could easily integrate with existing financial systems, to satisfy their commitment to supporting the compliance needs of their customers.

Then, in 2020, Zoniqx secured their first success, tokenizing a $50 million rental property portfolio for a San Francisco based real estate investment group. This group, while having expertise in acquiring, renovating, and reselling traditionally illiquid assets, sought to leverage tokenization as a way to increase the liquidity of their portfolio and attract new investors.

By tokenizing their portfolio, ownership was divided into smaller, much more accessible units, allowing individuals to invest as little as $10,000. This democratized access to their portfolio, enabling a broader range of investors to participate in the potential returns from the rental properties. Additionally, these tokenized assets were able to be traded on secondary markets, providing greater flexibility in how long any investor wanted to maintain ownership of their piece of the portfolio.

The group’s decision to tokenize their portfolio unlocked massive opportunities, including the potential to raise additional capital for future acquisitions, improve asset management efficiency, and enhance transparency for investors. Zoniqx's TPaaS played a crucial role in facilitating the tokenization process, providing the necessary infrastructure for increasing liquidity for platform users by delivering the ability to create, manage, and trade their own asset tokens.

The Zoniqx TPaaS at a Glance

While initially focused as a solution for real estate investment, Zoniqx's Tokenization Platform as a Service (TPaaS) has evolved to become a comprehensive solution for any party that is looking to tokenize real-world assets (RWA). As mentioned, the platform is designed to streamline the entire tokenization process, from issuance and distribution to secondary trading and asset retirement. One of the key advantages of the platform is that it is chain-agnostic. This is important to the success of bringing RWA tokenization to the mainstream as it enables seamless integration with various DLT networks, including both EVM and non-EVM compatible chains. This flexibility makes it possible for issuers to choose the most suitable DLT for their specific needs. It also allows Zoniqx to totally abstract the technical complexities to make adoption much easier.

A key part of the Zoniqx platform success was the development of their “DyCist” token. DyCist, which stands for Dynamic Compliant Interoperable Security Token, is a proprietary protocol developed by Zoniqx to simplify the tokenization of real-world assets. DyCist provides several important benefits. First, it is able to ensure regulatory compliance by incorporating standards for different jurisdictions, simplifying the process for issuers operating in markets all over the world. Second, it allows for seamless cross-chain transactions, allowing tokenized assets to be traded on various exchanges and platforms. Finally, the protocol supports reusable on-chain IDs, streamlining KYC/KYB processes and enhancing user experience.

By combining these features, the Zoniqx platform offers an ideal solution for RWA tokenization.

Why Hedera?

Zoniqx's decision to build on the Hedera network was driven by a combination of technical and business considerations. From a technical perspective, Hedera's strong ecosystem offers seamless compatibility with Zoniqx's existing infrastructure, especially in terms of EVM and non-EVM interoperability, enabling efficient integration of Zoniqx's tokenization solutions with other Hedera technologies.

Also, the Hedera network's high throughput, low latency, and low transaction fees align perfectly with Zoniqx's need for scalable, cost-effective tokenization. This is important as keeping costs low is going to be critical to platform adoption. From a security standpoint, Hedera's consensus mechanism is able to provide bank-grade security as well as total fairness of transaction order, which is critical for maintaining the integrity of tokenized real-world assets.

From a business standpoint, Hedera's governance structure was very attractive. Made up of enterprise organizations across multiple industries around the world, the Hedera governing council offers Zoniqx access to innovative businesses that are actively exploring digital asset technologies. Also, Hedera's strong focus on sustainability and ESG initiatives complements Zoniqx's upcoming projects in carbon credits and green energy, providing a solid foundation for these ventures.

The network's dedication to being regulatory compliant and its adoption by financial institutions make it an ideal choice for Zoniqx's security token offerings, ensuring compliance across various jurisdictions. By working with Hedera, Zoniqx is able to position itself as a leader in real-world asset tokenization.

What’s Next for Zoniqx?

Zoniqx's roadmap is focused on expanding the capabilities of their platform. A key initiative is driving adoption of "SecureConnect", which is a proprietary connector designed to easily and efficiently bridge the gap between token issuers and investors, enhancing liquidity in the tokenized asset market.

The company is also set to expand globally, with projects launching in Germany under BaFin regulations, as well as in London, and Dubai, alongside their established presence in the US market.

Zoniqx is also venturing into ESG-focused tokenization, particularly in carbon credits and green energy. A flagship project in development with Hedera is the tokenization of a $1.5 billion private equity global green energy AI data center fund. Furthermore, Zoniqx is strengthening partnerships with major financial firms like PwC and Deloitte to offer tokenization solutions to their clients, potentially accelerating adoption in traditional finance sectors.

All of these initiatives are positioning Zoniqx to be a true leader in the RWA tokenization space, and Hedera is excited to be a part of their future.

About Zoniqx
Zoniqx ("Zoh-nicks") is a global fintech leader headquartered in Silicon Valley, specializing in converting real-world assets into Security Tokens. It offers an interoperable, compliant infrastructure for the RWA tokenization market, enabling global liquidity and DeFi integration through its end-to-end ecosystem of SDKs and APIs. Zoniqx pioneers on-chain, fully automated RWA deployment on public, private, and hybrid chains. To explore how Zoniqx can assist your organization in unlocking the potential of tokenized assets or to discuss potential partnerships and collaborations, please visit their contact page.