Valereum PLC (AQSE:VLRM) CEO Gary Cottle speaks to Proactive about the company’s role in a major infrastructure tokenisation project in Central America. Learn how sovereign-grade projects like COINGT are shaping the future of real-world asset investment.
Proactive:
This sounds like a groundbreaking project. Can you explain in simple terms what COINGT is and why it matters?
Gary Cottle:
Hi Stephen. So COINGT is the entity that's been set up by the government, so it's government infrastructure. The easiest way to explain it — it's a government-led infrastructure project that sits alongside the Panama Canal. So it offers an alternative transportation route. It's relatively groundbreaking, certainly for the Guatemalans. It opens up an alternative route for freight and transportation from one side into the Pacific and into the Atlantic.
It's a very large infrastructure. It ticks a big number of boxes. It's a multi-billion-dollar deal when you roll it up. This is the first slice of it. So it's a fabulous deal, certainly for us to be involved in, but also just in terms of sovereign-grade clients and infrastructure. It's a big, marquee deal for us.
Proactive:
Yeah. As you said, the interoceanic corridor of Guatemala is being called a new Panama Canal on land. How big a deal is this project for the region, but also for Valereum moving forward?
Gary Cottle:
Well, it's certainly a big deal for the region. I think just in principle, it lights the fuse for what we say are sovereign-grade infrastructure projects. As you well know, the way we’re domiciled — Valereum Markets is domiciled in El Salvador — they're a market leader in tokenization, and more broadly in the crypto space. They're very big influencers in what happens in the Americas, particularly in Central and South America.
So it's a pretty big project. It’s a multi-billion dollar project. It’s a big deal for us. I wouldn’t say it’s the biggest deal we’re involved in — we’ve got another couple of multi-billion dollar deals that we’re involved in either directly or indirectly via our investee companies — but it’s a huge deal. I think it’s transformational for the real-world asset tokenization space as well in terms of what can be done.
Proactive:
Gary, tokenization is still a new concept for many investors. What makes COINGT’s listing on Valereum Markets different from traditional infrastructure investment?
Gary Cottle:
It’s a different form of financing, is probably the best way to put it. This type of financing wouldn’t otherwise typically be made available. Historically, large-scale infrastructure financing has been kept tightly constrained within banks, big institutions, and pension funds. These can now be sliced down into tokens — maybe not the tens of thousands, but probably around that — allowing distribution to a completely different group of investors.
That’s what tokenization really is, and what we’re likely to see over the next four or five years. It’s really just another form of secured financing. For infrastructure projects, these will be very appealing because of the effectively risk-adjusted return. You could argue this is like a risk-free rate because this is sovereign grade. But it’s a different form of financing, aimed at a different investor base, outside of what we’ve seen for the last 15 to 20 years.
Proactive:
Finally, what does this listing say about Valereum’s broader strategy? And where do you see the biggest opportunities in real-world asset tokenization next?
Gary Cottle:
Well, I think for us, we've had a lot of press today. We've signed a number of strategic agreements with big players, like ZIGChain. There are a few more to come in the next couple of weeks. People are labelling this as an inflection point for the company.
We did a soft launch several months ago. We were treading very lightly and focused on getting the structuring right. We very much focused on the issuance side rather than the distribution side.
For us, this is validation. We set our stall out very early in tokenization, particularly real-world assets. I don’t want to say it’s transformational for the company — I’ve spoken about this before — but I think the company will be transformed in the coming months. We've built an eclectic group of holdings focused on tokenization, particularly real-world assets and other asset classes.
We’ve had a lot of press today, and people are defining it as an inflection point in who we are and what we do. So we’re very encouraged by that.
Proactive:
We hope you continue to keep us updated with your progress. Thank you very much for taking the time today.