As the first Nordic medium, Kaupr published an article on Wednesday about an ambitious Norwegian real estate project, ISON, which will raise USD 150 million in new capital through so-called tokenization of real estate. But the questions are many.
These are among the questions that Kaupr asks: Where are the properties located in what is referred to as the “Oslofjord Project”, what kind of project are we talking about, who is behind as the owner of the properties today, where are the properties located, who is the developer, how will the project be marketed and sold?
Anders Dybvik, director of the English-registered company Norwegian Holding Ltd, which is behind the development project, told Kaupr that we will have all our questions answered as soon as the last commercial pieces have fallen into place.
Kaupr is an online newspaper that publishes news and produces video and events about the future internet and the future financial system, including based on web3 technology, cryptocurrencies and digital assets. We are, as far as we know, the only independent publication in the Nordic region that has this as its primary focus area and which is edited after the Editor poster. We therefore consider that we have a duty to inform both the industry itself, nearby industries such as banking, finance and Fintech, crypto investors as well as traditional investors and the wider public, where it is natural.
It has therefore been very natural for us to dive into the launched real estate project, and seek to find answers to questions that we have asked ourselves: What is this project, where are the properties located, who is behind it and how will the project be marketed and sold? Anders Dybvik says that they will soon release more information, and that what is published as press releases, web pages or social media posts is only advance information, without being direct marketing or selling tokens. Dybvik assures that Kaupr will receive full information both about where the properties are located, who are the developers of the project, and about the more commercial conditions related to the sale of tokens. When all the pieces have fallen into place.
We have also been in contact with Frode van der Laak, founder and former CTO of Reltime, but who according to himself now works at NTNU. Van der Laak emphasizes to Kaupr that Reltime is a pure technology partner and has nothing to do with the real estate project itself or its commercialization to investors. Reltime, however, is the sender of the press release that has been sent out globally.
For the record, we reproduce the introductory points of the issued press release
Title: “ISON Launches €150M Tokenized Real Estate Investment in Norway with Reltime AI and Blockchain Technology.” Ingress: “Reltime, a leader in Web3 and blockchain technology, is partnering with Norwegian Holding Limited's ISON project to bring a groundbreaking €150 million real estate initiative to life. This collaboration will tokenize four major construction projects, allowing people worldwide to invest in high-value real estate easily. First is the Oslofjord Project.”
The contact persons stated in the press releases, other than Anders Dybvik, are CEO Marlene Julo at Reltime and Vice President of Marketing Jay Smitten at ISON. However, neither Julo nor Smitten have responded to our inquiries. The name Jay Smitten is also not a well-known marketer either within the real estate or tokenization industries. From what we learn, this is crypto journalist Julius Munkfunkel.
According to a post on X/ Twitter before the weekend, the “Oslofjord project” has now been launched as OsloFjord Marina: “We Have Officially Launched! We're thrilled to announce that Big House is now live! Dive into the future of real estate investing with our innovative, blockchain-powered platform.”
However, both OsloFjord Marina's Twitter account and the corresponding accounts on Linkedin, Reddit and YouTube are completely newly created and either lack content or have only a handful of followers.
So why has Kaupr not waited to publish anything until we have had answers to our questions? Among other things, because the EUR 150 million that is scheduled to be raised is both a large amount in itself and is also a high amount within the new tokenization industry. We have also noted that the press release has been distributed globally and has also been reproduced by a number of digital media within real estate and crypto. Of course, it is also particularly interesting for Kaupr that the initiators behind it are Norwegian, that the real estate project is located in Norway and that the technology behind it is developed by a Norwegian company.
We emphasize that the project, despite the unanswered questions, may well be 100% legal. Token-based real estate projects, for example, are making rapid progress in Europe, the United States and Asia. This involves offering customers to buy assets in an underlying asset, in this case real estate, through the purchase of a digital asset, i.e. a token. Token-based real estate projects are included in what is now referred to as the “tokenization of Real World Assets (RWA). RWAs can be many different types of assets, both traditional stocks, bonds, precious metals or, as in this case, property. Yes also stablecoins, which are growing strongly internationally, are a sort of representation of a “Real World Asset”, in this case a traditional currency like USD, EUR etc.
The underlying technology behind tokenized RWA projects is based on the blockchain, which can be easily described as a decentralized, web-based and global database, openly accessible to anyone via the internet. Unlike traditional databases, which are controlled by a centralized company, information and data on the public blockchains (there are also private blockchains) are open and accessible to others. This allows the data to be “interoperable”, i.e., it can flow freely and automatically between different applications. Blockchain technology is still new, but in a rapid development, unlike the traditional legacy systems on which traditional banking and finance are based, and where the core technology can be both 40 and 50 years old.
Tokenization thus poses an enormously large business opportunity, but also a threat to traditional banking, finance and traditional financial technology. Larry Fink, the head of the world's largest asset management company, then also believes that in principle all existing financial and investment solutions will eventually be tokenized, and that tokenization of financial assets may come to be a giant industry, at 10 “trillions of dollars“(in Norwegian: trillion).
So what do we know now about ISON, the Oslofjord project and the OsloFjord Marina? According to Anders Dybvik, the Oslofjord project is a development and development project located by the Oslo Fjord, which is located by the Oslo Fjord and which will mainly consist of apartments. On the new website there are now also several illustrations of the planned apartments.
However, Dybvik will not yet say where the properties are located, who owns it today or which developer will develop the project. Dybvik says that they are in the process of putting together the final details of the commercial part of the token project, and that Kaupr will then get answers to our questions. Dybvik also says that a video published on the project's website is not a video of the project itself, but a general video of Norwegian coastal nature, in order to give international investors who do not know much about Norway a little insight into Norwegian nature and coastal properties.
Although there is no prospect yet, the new website goes a long way in promoting the project. Under the heading “Guaranteed Value Doubling”, it says, “Each token is guaranteed to double in value within three years, right after the project's completion.” This is illustrated, among other things, through a graph of expected returns over three years (see image). The aforementioned illustration image also has a caption indicating 26.6% in annual return. The website's disclaimer states: “ISON does not guarantee any investment performance, outcomes, or return of capital for any investment opportunity posted on this site.”
How, then, is this new area dealt with legally and fiscally? In Europe, including in Switzerland and Luxembourg, many token-based real estate projects rooted in MiFID are now facilitated i.e. “Markets in Financial Instruments Directive”. This is a regulatory framework that was first established in 2004, i.e. long before both cryptocurrencies and tokenization were invented. A key point of MiFID is that some types of projects can only be marketed towards professional investors with sufficient capital or knowledge.
The new regulation for crypto currencies MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation), which came into force in the EU in July, but where there is no clarification as yet regarding Norway from the Financial Supervisory Authority, may apply. Whether a token-based real estate project should be based on MiFID and/or MiCA will depend on how the project is structured. Within token-based real estate projects, for example, it is common to pool the properties themselves into a separate real estate company, and so tie the offered tokens to the real estate company, not to the properties directly.
We will update these websites about ISON and OsloFjord Marina as we gain access to new information.
As the first Nordic medium, Kaupr published an article on Wednesday about an ambitious Norwegian real estate project, ISON, which will raise USD 150 million in new capital through so-called tokenization of real estate. But the questions are many.
These are among the questions that Kaupr asks: Where are the properties located in what is referred to as the “Oslofjord Project”, what kind of project are we talking about, who is behind as the owner of the properties today, where are the properties located, who is the developer, how will the project be marketed and sold?
Anders Dybvik, director of the English-registered company Norwegian Holding Ltd, which is behind the development project, told Kaupr that we will have all our questions answered as soon as the last commercial pieces have fallen into place.
Kaupr is an online newspaper that publishes news and produces video and events about the future internet and the future financial system, including based on web3 technology, cryptocurrencies and digital assets. We are, as far as we know, the only independent publication in the Nordic region that has this as its primary focus area and which is edited after the Editor poster. We therefore consider that we have a duty to inform both the industry itself, nearby industries such as banking, finance and Fintech, crypto investors as well as traditional investors and the wider public, where it is natural.
It has therefore been very natural for us to dive into the launched real estate project, and seek to find answers to questions that we have asked ourselves: What is this project, where are the properties located, who is behind it and how will the project be marketed and sold? Anders Dybvik says that they will soon release more information, and that what is published as press releases, web pages or social media posts is only advance information, without being direct marketing or selling tokens. Dybvik assures that Kaupr will receive full information both about where the properties are located, who are the developers of the project, and about the more commercial conditions related to the sale of tokens. When all the pieces have fallen into place.
We have also been in contact with Frode van der Laak, founder and former CTO of Reltime, but who according to himself now works at NTNU. Van der Laak emphasizes to Kaupr that Reltime is a pure technology partner and has nothing to do with the real estate project itself or its commercialization to investors. Reltime, however, is the sender of the press release that has been sent out globally.
For the record, we reproduce the introductory points of the issued press release
Title: “ISON Launches €150M Tokenized Real Estate Investment in Norway with Reltime AI and Blockchain Technology.” Ingress: “Reltime, a leader in Web3 and blockchain technology, is partnering with Norwegian Holding Limited's ISON project to bring a groundbreaking €150 million real estate initiative to life. This collaboration will tokenize four major construction projects, allowing people worldwide to invest in high-value real estate easily. First is the Oslofjord Project.”
The contact persons stated in the press releases, other than Anders Dybvik, are CEO Marlene Julo at Reltime and Vice President of Marketing Jay Smitten at ISON. However, neither Julo nor Smitten have responded to our inquiries. The name Jay Smitten is also not a well-known marketer either within the real estate or tokenization industries. From what we learn, this is crypto journalist Julius Munkfunkel.
According to a post on X/ Twitter before the weekend, the “Oslofjord project” has now been launched as OsloFjord Marina: “We Have Officially Launched! We're thrilled to announce that Big House is now live! Dive into the future of real estate investing with our innovative, blockchain-powered platform.”
However, both OsloFjord Marina's Twitter account and the corresponding accounts on Linkedin, Reddit and YouTube are completely newly created and either lack content or have only a handful of followers.
So why has Kaupr not waited to publish anything until we have had answers to our questions? Among other things, because the EUR 150 million that is scheduled to be raised is both a large amount in itself and is also a high amount within the new tokenization industry. We have also noted that the press release has been distributed globally and has also been reproduced by a number of digital media within real estate and crypto. Of course, it is also particularly interesting for Kaupr that the initiators behind it are Norwegian, that the real estate project is located in Norway and that the technology behind it is developed by a Norwegian company.
We emphasize that the project, despite the unanswered questions, may well be 100% legal. Token-based real estate projects, for example, are making rapid progress in Europe, the United States and Asia. This involves offering customers to buy assets in an underlying asset, in this case real estate, through the purchase of a digital asset, i.e. a token. Token-based real estate projects are included in what is now referred to as the “tokenization of Real World Assets (RWA). RWAs can be many different types of assets, both traditional stocks, bonds, precious metals or, as in this case, property. Yes also stablecoins, which are growing strongly internationally, are a sort of representation of a “Real World Asset”, in this case a traditional currency like USD, EUR etc.
The underlying technology behind tokenized RWA projects is based on the blockchain, which can be easily described as a decentralized, web-based and global database, openly accessible to anyone via the internet. Unlike traditional databases, which are controlled by a centralized company, information and data on the public blockchains (there are also private blockchains) are open and accessible to others. This allows the data to be “interoperable”, i.e., it can flow freely and automatically between different applications. Blockchain technology is still new, but in a rapid development, unlike the traditional legacy systems on which traditional banking and finance are based, and where the core technology can be both 40 and 50 years old.
Tokenization thus poses an enormously large business opportunity, but also a threat to traditional banking, finance and traditional financial technology. Larry Fink, the head of the world's largest asset management company, then also believes that in principle all existing financial and investment solutions will eventually be tokenized, and that tokenization of financial assets may come to be a giant industry, at 10 “trillions of dollars“(in Norwegian: trillion).
So what do we know now about ISON, the Oslofjord project and the OsloFjord Marina? According to Anders Dybvik, the Oslofjord project is a development and development project located by the Oslo Fjord, which is located by the Oslo Fjord and which will mainly consist of apartments. On the new website there are now also several illustrations of the planned apartments.
However, Dybvik will not yet say where the properties are located, who owns it today or which developer will develop the project. Dybvik says that they are in the process of putting together the final details of the commercial part of the token project, and that Kaupr will then get answers to our questions. Dybvik also says that a video published on the project's website is not a video of the project itself, but a general video of Norwegian coastal nature, in order to give international investors who do not know much about Norway a little insight into Norwegian nature and coastal properties.
Although there is no prospect yet, the new website goes a long way in promoting the project. Under the heading “Guaranteed Value Doubling”, it says, “Each token is guaranteed to double in value within three years, right after the project's completion.” This is illustrated, among other things, through a graph of expected returns over three years (see image). The aforementioned illustration image also has a caption indicating 26.6% in annual return. The website's disclaimer states: “ISON does not guarantee any investment performance, outcomes, or return of capital for any investment opportunity posted on this site.”
How, then, is this new area dealt with legally and fiscally? In Europe, including in Switzerland and Luxembourg, many token-based real estate projects rooted in MiFID are now facilitated i.e. “Markets in Financial Instruments Directive”. This is a regulatory framework that was first established in 2004, i.e. long before both cryptocurrencies and tokenization were invented. A key point of MiFID is that some types of projects can only be marketed towards professional investors with sufficient capital or knowledge.
The new regulation for crypto currencies MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation), which came into force in the EU in July, but where there is no clarification as yet regarding Norway from the Financial Supervisory Authority, may apply. Whether a token-based real estate project should be based on MiFID and/or MiCA will depend on how the project is structured. Within token-based real estate projects, for example, it is common to pool the properties themselves into a separate real estate company, and so tie the offered tokens to the real estate company, not to the properties directly.
We will update these websites about ISON and OsloFjord Marina as we gain access to new information.