Swarm, a platform for real-world asset tokenization, will list its SMT token through Uphold’s market. Trading will start on May 16. 

🚀🚀It’s official – $SMT will be listed on @UpholdInc 🚀🚀From 4pm UTC on Thursday 16 May, Uphold’s 10 million users can buy $SMT.Read the 🧵 below for more information. pic.twitter.com/ZyGk0wAqKu

— Swarm (@SwarmMarkets) May 13, 2024

Swarm Market launched its asset tokenization tools in 2019 and is now returning for the renewed RWA tokenization trend. Swarm Market aims to offer a mix of decentralized trading and tokens based on real-world value. The partnership comes at a time when regulators are tightening rules on crypto trading, token issuance, and ownership. The Swarm-Uphold partnership service offers regulated opportunities and various forms of custody.

The Uphold listing happened just days after the project’s treasury distributed additional SMT tokens to users. 

Today marks the final day of the $SMT distribution! All $SMT holders are eligible to claim from our 20% Treasury Distribution Pool. ➜ https://t.co/lgYRWYSQ2rClaiming Window closes in 12 hours. pic.twitter.com/AiWtczkCfy

— Swarm (@lcx_swarm) May 14, 2024

Swarm Market aims to boost SMT, while also offering exposure to real-world stocks and businesses. Interest in RWA rose in 2024, getting a boost even from the gold market. Swarm offers diversification, tapping into multiple asset classes, and manages to appeal both to crypto natives and to mainstream investors. 

Swarm Market Brings Earnings from NVidia, BlackRock and More

Tokenized assets means anyone with a wallet can gain exposure to the shares of global companies, without the need of a stock broker. On Swarm, tokens can represent companies like BlackRock, Coinbase, or NVidia, tapping some of the latest trends on the stock market.

Here's how we are setting the gold standard for tokenization:• Our underlying RWAs are held by institutional custodians.• Tokens are redeemable for the underlying asset.• We give you full control of your assets.You won't believe what else we got for you👇 pic.twitter.com/nOPj1sCauH

— Swarm (@SwarmMarkets) May 14, 2024

Swarm Market is powered by Polygon, a L2 blockchain that has proven its scalability. Pricing information to redeem tokens is supplied through Chainlink oracles. The underlying assets are also verified and held by institutional- grade partners, before the final tokenization puts the user in control of the assets. 

The RWA on Swarm Market are fully asset-backed, and are not just empty tokens to bet on the price of an asset. This sets out Swarm as a more regulated and secure project, especially in a market where most tokens have no forms of backing. At the same time, all tokens are held in the user’s wallet with full self-custody.

SMT Tokens Aim for Price Recovery

SMT tokens traded at $0.54 after the news of the partnership. SMT peaked in early April, trading above $1.17, an all-time high value. SMT is a relatively late arrival, launching trading just at the tail end of the 2021 bull market. The token drifted for years before reaching a new peak and trading records in 2024. 

SMT is yet to gain exposure, as it is still outside even the top 500 tokens by market capitalization. But the Swarm Market experience with regulated trading is making the project stand out and gain the valuable partnership, despite the low token price. SMT token trading is also relatively slow, turning over 0.63 of the supply. 

The Uphold listing aims to compensate the fact that SMT still relies on small exchanges and an Uniswap decentralized pair. The fact that SMT is a Polygon-based token means the asset is relegated to less liquid trading. 

SMT is considered a growth asset with a risky future but significant potential upside. The token is still held in just 6,692 wallets on the Polygon blockchain, awaiting much wider distribution after the Uphold listing. 

Uphold Offers Vaults for Secure Storage

While Swarm Market relies on self-custody, Uphold takes the opposite approach. The platform has built a transparent vault to store users’ crypto assets, recently adding a Bitcoin vault. Uphold is a part of the infrastructure that connects traditional finance and blockchain assets. 

Custodians are key for some forms of regulated trading, offering tools for mainstream investors to get exposed to crypto assets without the need to secure their own wallet. 

Uphold also actively selects and lists digital coins and tokens, while linking to 28 other trading venues, including decentralized exchanges. Uphold also carries L2 assets and rollups. The end goal is to offer custody and crypto trading that is fully transparent and compliant with US financial regulations.