Today UNION is announcing its partnership with Mattereum, the Ethereum-based digital provenance platform of physical goods. As part of upcoming work together, Mattereum will provide asset protection to Mattereum Asset Passports, an authentication mechanism that will initially verify the authenticity of physical memorabilia, collectibles, and other goods requiring blockchain-based provenance tracking.
UNION will allow for future asset protection for NFTs issued on Mattereum that will protect purchasers from issues of provenance and authenticity associated with the underlying real-world goods asset passports represent. Potential underlying protection coverage includes rare art, antiques, and other high-value objects that are vulnerable to risks associated with physical good custody.
“We’re excited at the opportunity to be working with the Mattereum team to bring our work in DeFi risk modelling and coverage to address protection requirements for physical items and services on the Mattereum platform. Mattereum is a talented and pedigreed team in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space, and we are looking forward to helping them address the needs of their community, ” said Michael Beck, UNION’s project lead.
Protection pools will also encompass indemnification/liability protection for parties assessing the value of covered goods on Mattereum — providing tiered coverage for appraisers with liquidity sourced from UNION protection pools.
Buyers of physical items on Mattereum can interact directly with the UNION pool contract by tendering stablecoins for uUNN, where uUNN policy tokens are dispersed explicitly as the NFT of the item purchased. Liquidity providers interact with UNION by tendering stablecoins for pUNN benefit pool tokens, which will be accompanied by an NFT commemorating the occurrence.
“A truly blockchain-native digital asset protection protocol is going to change the world. It will open up a gigantic spectrum of new transactions for the blockchain. The real world is a place where things can go wrong, UNION protection products will allow Mattereum’s customers to cover the gaps between what is happening on the blockchain, and what is happening in the wineries, gold refineries, and vaults of the world, enabling handling those risks in a way which is as decentralized as our protocol,” said Vinay Gupta, founder and CEO of Mattereum.
UNION’s extension of protection coverage to the authentication process of real-world valuables represents a decisive step towards its vision for cyber-physical finance (CPF). Conceptualized as a feedback loop between TradFi and DeFi, CPF sources DeFi liquidity to back real-world risk, and vice-versa. For UNION, principles of CPF are being investigated to apply project work to addressing issues associated with political risk, transport/storage, and more.
At a high level, UNION’s work in CPF seeks to provide non-correlated returns to DeFi participants by bridging them to real-world exposure. Moreover, UNION can serve as the connection for traditional risk underwriters to benefit from DeFi exposure.
