Wine Vault - blockchain powered fine wines fund (CORK)

TRON Hackathon Hackathon Season 4
1

Project Name: Wine Vault - CORK

Project Track: NFT

Team Name: Wine Vault

Team Member(s): 3

Dorahacks Project Link: Dorahacks Project Page

Project Goal: Wine Vault is a blockchain-powered platform that simplifies fine wine investing through tokenization

Think index investing (like S&P500) but for fine wines. You buy the token, Wine Vault takes care of the rest.

Project Info:

Wine Vault is a company that aims to simplify fine wine investing through a blockchain-powered, ETF-like wine fund. By utilizing blockchain technology, the company aims to lower transaction costs, improve accessibility, and increase market liquidity. Their goal is to make fine wines a top asset class for investors worldwide.

Wine Vault offers a unique digital stablecoin called CORK, which is fully collateralized by a diverse portfolio of fine wines. The value of each CORK token is tied to the market value of the collateralized wines, and as the value of the wines increases, so does the value of the CORK tokens.

Wine Vault offers its members the unique option to exchange their CORK tokens for NFTs representing specific wines in our cellar, allowing for targeted investments. By acquiring the NFT, you secure the wine at the current price while it remains stored safely with Wine Vault. You have the flexibility to sell your NFT at any time or choose to have the actual bottle delivered to your home. NFTs provide a convenient way to invest in particular wines, catering to your personal preferences and interests, while still benefiting from Wine Vaultā€™s storage and expertise.

By investing in Wine Vault, investors can diversify their portfolio, benefit from expert knowledge in the fine wine market, and access rare or allocated wines that may not be available to individual collectors. Furthermore, the platform offers greater liquidity and convenience compared to building and managing a private wine collection.

The CORK tokens are tradable on multiple exchanges and can be bought directly from Wine Vault. The company also partners with LIV-EX to provide real-time data on market pricing for their wine portfolio.

Screenshot 2023-04-16 at 1.09.16 PM

Key Features:

  1. Innovative Blockchain-powered Wine Fund: Wine Vault leverages the power of blockchain technology to create an ETF-like wine fund called CORK, a digital stablecoin fully collateralized by a diverse portfolio of premium wines. Experience the best of both worlds with the potential for impressive returns and the stability of a digital asset.

  2. Members can exchange CORK tokens for NFTs representing specific wines, enabling targeted investments, flexible selling options, or bottle delivery, while still enjoying Wine Vaultā€™s storage and expertise.

  3. Expertly Curated Wine Portfolio: Wine Vaultā€™s knowledgeable team carefully selects and manages a diverse range of high-quality wines from prestigious producers and regions worldwide. Benefit from expert insights and enjoy exposure to rare, allocated, or exclusive wines typically reserved for trade clients.

  4. Increased Accessibility and Liquidity: By tokenizing fine wine investing with CORK, Wine Vault democratizes the market, making it accessible to wine enthusiasts and investors alike. Enjoy unparalleled liquidity in an otherwise substantial but stagnant market, thanks to Wine Vaultā€™s innovative approach and presence on multiple exchanges.

  5. Real-time Data and Transparency: Wine Vault partners with industry leader LIV-EX to provide real-time market pricing data for its wine portfolio. Embrace the transparency of the blockchain as all token transactions and mints are publicly auditable.

  6. Convenience and Security: Invest in Wine Vault with ease and confidence as their platform takes care of sourcing, purchasing, storage, and management of the fine wines. The wines are stored and insured by CORKā€™s partnering trade houses, ensuring your investment is always safe and secure.

Wine Vault Comparison
Wine Vault Comparison885Ɨ536 42.9 KB

Why invest in fine wines?

Fine wine investing offers a unique and rewarding opportunity for investors seeking to diversify their portfolio with a historically stable and high-performing asset class. With fine wines demonstrating an average annual return of 18% since 2004, investors can capitalize on this lucrative market while also benefiting from its tangible and luxurious nature. The increasing global demand for fine wines, coupled with climate change impacting production, creates a compelling case for investing in exceptional vintages now. Wine Vault harnesses blockchain technology to make fine wine investing easy, accessible, and transparent, ensuring you can fully embrace the potential of this promising asset class.

Wine yield
Wine yield2490Ɨ1191 200 KB

If you would have started to invest in the Liv-ex 1000 (the S&P 500 of wines) in January 2004 and made a $100 investment every month, today you would have $98 000. Would you have chosen to invest that same money in an index fund following the S&P 500, youā€™d have $34 000.

Project Website: Wine Vault Website (OLD) - Wine Vault Website (NEW)

Project Test Instructions:

Project Details: Telegram Channel & Twitter

Smart Contract links: TRONSCAN | TRON BlockChain Explorer | ę³¢åœŗåŒŗå—é“¾ęµč§ˆå™Ø

Project Milestones:

  • Initial mint of CORK tokens (DONE)
  • Launch CORK token (DONE)
  • New website (DONE - www.joinwinevault.com)
  • Design the NFTs (DONE)
  • Produce fist cellar contents report (DONE)
  • First reserve audit, wine cellar holdings (DONE)
  • Social media channels for community building (DONE)
  • dates for completion of milestones can be found in the discussion below

Wine Vault FAQ:

1. What is Wine Vault, and how does it work? Wine Vault is a blockchain-powered fine wine investment company that simplifies investing in fine wine through its digital token, CORK. It functions like an ETF for fine wines and aims to make fine wine investing accessible to a broader range of investors. Wine Vault utilizes blockchain technology to lower transaction costs, improve accessibility, and increase market liquidity.

2. What is CORK, and how is it related to Wine Vault? CORK is a digital token fully collateralized by a diverse portfolio of fine wines, stored with reputable fine wine brokers worldwide. As the market value of the collateralized wines increases, so does the value of the CORK tokens. Investing in CORK allows investors to easily invest in fine wines without the complexities of traditional wine investments.

3. How do I start investing with Wine Vault? To invest in Wine Vault, you will be able to buy CORK tokens directly from Wine Vault or through selected decentralized exchanges. Hold onto your tokens, and as the value of the collateralized wines increases, your investment grows.

4. How does Wine Vault ensure the security and safety of my investment? Wine Vault stores and insures the wine collection through its partnering trade houses, ensuring that your investment remains secure. The blockchain technology also allows for transparent and auditable transactions, providing a high level of trust and security for investors.

5. What are the advantages of investing in Wine Vault over a private wine collection? Investing in Wine Vault provides diversification, expertise, access to rare wines, convenience, and liquidity compared to maintaining a private wine collection. With Wine Vault, you can benefit from the knowledge of experienced professionals and easily buy and sell your investments on secondary markets.

6. How does Wine Vault ensure transparency for token holders? Wine Vault is committed to transparency and has partnered with LIV-EX, a fine wine market data provider, for real-time market pricing information on the wines in the portfolio. The blockchain technology enables public auditing of all token transactions and mints, ensuring full transparency for token holders.

7. How does Wine Vault address liquidity in the fine wine market? Wine Vault addresses the liquidity issue by keeping 15% of its total assets in exchange liquidity pools, ensuring that the market for CORK tokens is always open. Tokenizing fine wine investments also expands access to a wider range of wine enthusiasts, bringing unparalleled liquidity to the fine wine market.

8. What are the potential returns on my Wine Vault investment? The potential returns on your Wine Vault investment are tied to the appreciation of the fine wines collateralizing the CORK tokens. As the value of the wine portfolio increases, so does the value of your CORK tokens. According to the Liv-ex 1000 index, fine wine investments have historically offered an average annual return of about 18% since 2004.

9. How does climate change affect the fine wine investment market? Climate change may have significant effects on wine production in renowned wine regions. As some regions struggle to survive, the demand and prices for exceptional vintages are likely to increase, making it an opportune time to build a wine portfolio.

29 Likes
2

Oh great we have another real life investment opportunity here. Great job and welcome.

We had one in our 1st season #VersacBricksquad from @TuruGlobal where you get the opportunity to invest in real estate.

How is this going to work, I mean the packages involved? For instance #VBS fractionalized the real estate into bricks so you can be a fractional owner

4 Likes
3

Bienvenido a este S4, el proyecto que estƔ presentando recuerdo haberlo visto hace sobre 2 aƱos, anunciando la venta de su token, eran ustedes o es otro proyecto que se creo con anterioridad.
Gracias.

1 Like
5

Hi, no Wine Vault is a completely new business. There are other types of wine projects but not any operating with a fund structure (at least to my knowledge).

1 Like
6

Wine Vault operates as a ā€œfine wine fund,ā€ purchasing and occasionally selling wines. As the value of the wines appreciates, the portfolioā€™s value increases. The CORK token is backed by the wines held by Wine Vault but is not tied to any specific wine in the portfolio. However, CORK tokens can be used to purchase Wine Vault NFTs that represent specific wines.

For example, upon launching 200,000 CORK tokens at $1 each, the collateralized cellar value would be $200,000. As the winesā€™ prices increase, the collateral value rises, causing the value of the CORK tokens to grow.

The classification of wines as commodities (not securities) presents a unique opportunity to create an investment product like Wine Vault.

4 Likes
7

Gracias por la aclaraciĆ³n.Suerte en su proyecto

1 Like
8

Welcome to Grand hackathon season 4, wish you all the best :handshake:

2 Likes
9

Wine investment is slept on and one of the best performing asset overtime irl, bringing wine investment into web3 is intriguing to say the least. As this isnā€™t my first encounter with this topic, Iā€™d like to know;

How would the team outsource the wines to be stored in the cellar? From retailers or producers?

How will the team Incentivize users to continually use the platform?

How will the Wine Vault project ensure that investors receive returns through wine appreciation and price appreciation?

2 Likes
10

thank you so much for the explanation.
Keep building

1 Like
11

Hi @manfred_jr, thanks for the great questions!

How would the team outsource the wines to be stored in the cellar? From retailers or producers?
We collaborate with some of the worldā€™s leading wine traders to source our wines. Our wines are either acquired 1. directly from the producer or 2. purchased from other traders or collectors.

  1. Approximately 60% of the wines in our current portfolio come directly from the producers. Having been in the business for almost a decade, we have established a solid relationship with top manufacturers and secured a significant amount of annual allocations. About 70% of the wines we buy directly from the producers are ā€œEn primeurā€ (a method of purchasing wines early while still in the barrel), while the remaining 30% consists of later vintages released by the producer.

  2. The remaining 40% mainly comprises later vintages that we buy from other investors and traders.

All wines are stored with professional trade houses to ensure proper storage and insurance.

How we incentivize users to continuously use the platform?

Wine Vault is designed as a set-and-forget platform, primarily focusing on managing a fund rather than relying on massive transaction volumes. CORK serves as an ETF-like investment instrument for those looking to diversify their investments into fine wines. As the value of the wines in our cellar appreciates, the tokenā€™s value increases as well. Similar to an ETF or any investment, many members have expressed interest in making monthly investments ($10, $100, or $1000 per month), and CORK enables us to easily implement such mechanisms.

How will the Wine Vault project ensure that investors receive returns through wine appreciation and price appreciation?

Our strategy involves integrating with the Liv-ex wine market API to provide token holders with real-time insights into the cellarā€™s market valuations. This enables members to determine if the portfolio is undervalued or overvalued compared to the token price. This data serves as the foundation for market-making and offers attractive arbitrage opportunities for interested parties. Arbitrage will be the natural mechanism for maintaining the token priceā€™s stability.

3 Likes
12

Thanks for taking time out for explain, I canā€™t help but get excited reading through them. But Iā€™ve further questions;

How will you incentivize users to continue investing in CORK after the initial investment? Will you offer any loyalty or referral programs, or provide any exclusive access or benefits to long-term investors?

How will you ensure the accuracy and reliability of market valuations provided through the Liv-ex wine market API? Will you conduct any independent audits or verification of the data?

Can you provide more information on how the arbitrage opportunities will work? How will you balance supply and demand to maintain the token priceā€™s stability?

2 Likes
13

Thanks for the follow up questions!

REG your first question: I guess my point earlier was that token holders can be as active as they want. Some want to trade frequently, some just hodl. Fine wines are a great hedge for inflation so it obviously makes sense to buy early and then hodl as long as you can/want.

For the more active wine lovers we are creating the NFT product. This will allow members to buy out individual wines from the portfolio and keep them stored with WV until they are ready to drink. This is a great feature for e.g. restaurants. They can buy en primeur wines but donā€™t have to worry about storing them until they are ready to drink. Many top tier Bordeaux wines take 10 years to mature before they hit peak for serving and can be drinkable for 60 years.

Wine Vault also creates opportunities for individuals to create ā€œsales businessesā€ on top of our platform. A member could check our cellar and start contacting restaurants to sell them the wines in advance and then just mint those bottles theyā€™ve sold into NFTs.

We will have to think about different loyalty or referral programs - the business margins are very small with a fund like Wine Vault, but that was the whole point when creating it. Typically managed fine wine funds have large initial investment requirements ($1000 - $5000), an annual management fee (incl. storage and insurance) and they charge a 20% exit fee if you want to sell any of your holdings.

REG Accuracy of Liv-ex market API - Liv-ex is like the Bloomberg of fine wines, they sit on most market data and there isnā€™t anyone who can really compete with them. Their market data API is what every reputable trader / merchant uses so we will just have to follow the market here.

We will be introducing a cellar audit, to ensure Wine Vault actually sits with the wines it claims but thatā€™s obviously not the same thing.

REG Arbitrage opportunity. In itā€™s simplicity, if you see that price of CORK (token price * supply) is lower than the total cellar valuation, thereā€™s clearly an opportunity to buy a token thatā€™s collateralized by more than itā€™s value. You buy the token and then you can sell it once the price goes up. Wine Vault keeps 15% of itā€™s assets in ā€œmoneyā€ in order to maintain liquidity, AKA to be able to ā€œbuy backā€ tokens if the CORK valuation drops and to be able to pay out to holders who want to sell their tokens. Itā€™s a no brainer for WV to buy itā€™s undervalued tokens because it can re-introduce the supply later at a better market price.

3 Likes
14

Hola, tengo otra pregunta, si ustedes comercian directamente con los productores, cuando alguien quiere realizar la inversiĆ³n se cual sea la cantidad, antes de invertir, Āædispone de una catalogo de vinos?, Āæcon toda la referencia a estos?. Ustedes comentan que compran vinos tempranos que estĆ”n en barrica, ĀæSe tiene en cuenta la aƱada de ese vino? Si fue muy buena, buena, regular, etc.
Gracias.

1 Like
15

Thanks for the clarity

1 Like
16

You invest in the CORK token - this is like a stable coin thatā€™s backed with the whole cellar of Wine Vault. Market cap of token = total cellar value (when token is priced perfectly by the market).

We will provide a detailed list of every wine in the cellar with their individual values which allows you then to mint an NFT (at the cellar value) for a specific wine.

En primeur wines are already priced by the bottle but they just havenā€™t been bottled yet. This is like a ā€œwine futureā€ because even if wine critics have already scored the wines, their rating might still change as the wine continues to age in the barrel. When you buy En primeur you basically buy the bottles before they have been bottled.

17

Welcome to the TRON hackathon season 4 !
Very unique project !
I would like to know more about your wine storage. Will you provide more information of the trade houses ?
All the best for the product launch and hackathon !

1 Like
18

Gracias, por la aclaraciĆ³n, me parece un proyecto interesante.

1 Like
19

We will publish a ā€œcellar content listā€ on the new website which includes every bottle WV has and yes, we will also list the largest merchants. We donā€™t want to list everyone - itā€™s kind of a trade secret :slight_smile: These partnerships are a big part of the secret sauce.

2 Likes
20

Great to know that you will list that largest merchants ! And understandable that you donā€™t want to list every trade house. All the best for the hackathon !

1 Like
21

I really love these kind of ideas that are out of thr box and I will definitely buy one bottle. It will be amazing to order through a NFT. Let me know when you are live I am looking for that bottle of wine :wine_glass:

1 Like