Jade City, a company at the forefront of jade tokenization, has successfully completed a pre-seed funding round of $300,000 and is now embarking on a seed round with a target of $1.2 million. The company plans to launch its real-world asset platform later in 2024, which will offer the first global marketplace for jade-backed digital assets.
Jade, a precious stone revered in Asia for thousands of years, has seen a significant increase in demand, with prices rising tenfold since the early 2000s. The jade jewelry market in China is currently valued at approximately $50 billion, surpassing the size of the diamond market in the country. Despite its high value, jadeite has traditionally been accessible to a limited audience and has faced issues related to black market activity, poor mining practices, and political challenges. These issues have led to the near depletion of Burmese jadeite and a consequent global supply shortage.
Jade City aims to democratize access to the jade value chain by leveraging blockchain technology. The company has established processing and distribution partnerships in China to facilitate this mission. Founded by James Bowater, Jade City is led by CEO William Ralston Saul and CTO David Atkinson. Saul, a seasoned builder of mining companies and a cryptocurrency expert, founded InCrypto Hub and conducts blockchain boot camps. Atkinson is a tech innovator and co-founder of several technology companies, including Holochain and Rain.
Jade City has partnered with the owners of the world’s largest jadeite mine in Kazakhstan through its sister company, Jade Vault. Jade Vault has raised $2 million to help put the mine into production and secure a substantial jadeite inventory. The mining operation benefits from the expertise of Kevin Foo, who has had a 50-year career in the resources industry and has successfully developed mines across five continents. Foo was formerly the Managing Director of Celtic Resources, which was sold for $360 million in 2007.
Will Ralston Saul, CEO of Jade City, commented on the fundraising efforts, stating, “The current fundraising follows two years of meticulous planning and preparation and will allow us to build out the platform as we look forward to token generation and going live later this year. These are really exciting times for Jade City, and we’re seeing strong interest from within the crypto world and beyond as we unlock the power of these real-world assets.”
About Jade City
Jade City is a real-world asset platform designed to democratize the jade value chain through decentralized finance (DeFi) and tokenization. The platform opens up the highly lucrative $50 billion jade market to a global community. Co-founded by the owners of the world’s largest jade reserve, Jade City focuses on monetizing access to this unique asset to generate revenue. Profits generated by the platform will be used to buy and burn tokens, channeling value directly back to token holders.
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