Litepaper

Abstract

This litepaper provides an overview of the Montro Collectibles platform, a decentralized NFT marketplace for fractionalized luxury watches. Montro Collectibles leverages blockchain technology and smart contracts to enable fractionalized ownership of high-end timepieces in a secure and transparent way. This document outlines the way Montro Collectibles is structured, how it works, the DAO lifecycle, a brief technical outline, and future developments. It provides a summary overview of the technical implementation, including its web registration API and describing its use of off-chain data and metadata. The Montro Collectibles platform aims to revolutionize the luxury watch market by enhancing trust, authenticity, and accessibility for buyers and sellers.

1. Introduction

The luxury watch market is known for its exclusivity, craftsmanship, and high value. However, it often lacks transparency and faces challenges related to authenticity and accessibility. Montro Collectibles addresses these issues by leveraging blockchain technology to provide a decentralized asset-backed Non-Fungible Token (NFT) market for fractionalized luxury watches. By utilizing smart contracts and NFTs, Montro Collectibles ensures data integrity, immutability, and trust in every transaction.

2. Blockchain Registration

Montro Collectibles operates from a publicly known blockchain account address. This account serves as the foundation for conducting transactions and storing data related to the Montro Collectibles platform.

Each luxury watch and its associated sale contract are represented by a dedicated smart contract. These smart contracts utilize the ERC721 interface to manage the ownership of part tokens. Montro Collectibles also provides an exchange facility within the smart contracts to trade ERC20 tokens for parts and vice versa.

3. How it works

The initial offering is the process by which luxury watches are made available for sale on the Montro Collectibles platform. All NFTs assigned to the owner account are listed for sale at either a fixed or variable price during the initial offering.

3.1 Curated by Experts

Montro Collectibles ensures that only high-valued vintage watches are offered for fractional ownership. We curate our selection based on historical pricing data and market trends. To guarantee the exclusivity and rarity of the watches, we set a minimum sell price of $100,000. All watches available for fractionalization are sourced from brand-accredited retailers, ensuring their authenticity and quality.

3.2. Co-own a Rare Timepiece

Montro Collectibles takes the selected pre-owned watch and divides it into different parts through the creation of a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Each part is minted as an asset-backed NFT. By purchasing one or more asset-backed NFTs, you become a fractional owner of the vintage watch and gain participation rights within the DAO.

3.3. Vote & Hold

While the vintage watch is securely stored in the vault of our retail partners, the asset-backed NFT holders have the opportunity to vote on the duration for which the watch should be held. During this agreed-upon duration, you are free to trade the asset-backed NFTs on Montro Collectibles or secondary NFT marketplaces. Your personalized dashboard on collectibles.montro.com allows you to track and manage your collections.

3.4. Claim Your Share

Once the contract duration expires, the vintage watch is listed on Montro for sale. In special cases, Montro Collectibles and the DAO may decide to auction the watch. As an asset-backed NFT holder, you have the right to redeem your NFT for its proportionate share of the sale proceeds in USDC. Alternatively, you can choose to keep your NFT as a non-asset-backed artwork collectible, showcasing your ownership and participation in the Montro Collectibles community.

4. The DAO lifecycle

Diagram that shows the lifecycle visually

4.1 Vault and mint

The process starts with the careful selection and market-accurate pricing of a rare collectible watch. This watch is then serviced, photographed, and turned into a collection of individually drawn component images by Montro Collectibles’ team of watch experts and graphic designers, assisted by a drafting technician. After this process, the watch is moved to a secure location (vault), and we set to work creating the asset-backed NFT collection (mint).

4.2 NFT sale

Once the mint is complete, the asset-backed NFTs go up for sale on collectibles.montro.com. Here you are able to purchase one or more NFTs from a watch sale at fractional prices of the underlying asset. Practically speaking, purchases are made in USDC from a coupled Metamask wallet.

All USDC will come into the immediate possession of the legal owner of the asset—one of Montro's sub-merchants—who will immediately transfer all proceeds to their fiat currency of choice (typically EUR or USD) as payment for the price of the underlying asset. Thus transferring the proportional asset value to the purchaser of the NFT.

Once you become the owner of your NFT(s), you are free to trade them at secondary marketplaces such as OpenSea.

NFTs are transferred to buyers. Asset-backed NFTs are made available for sale through collectibles.montro.com immediately after the mint (step 2: NFT sale). Once acquired through Montro Collectibles, these may then be traded further on secondary marketplaces such as OpenSea.

4.3 Voting on the contract duration

Once most NFTs have been sold, asset holders can bring forth a voting proposal. Currently, Montro Collectibles supports one type of voting proposal: the holding duration of the asset. Once a voting proposal has a quorum of participants, each holder is able to vote on the proposal at collectibles.montro.com. Eligible voting proposals will be announced via our various communication channels.

Future collectible DAOs may allow for additional voting proposals to be brought forth, such as whether to sell the watch for a fixed price or sell it at auction, as well as the minimum sale value. The terms for each DAO will be presented on collectibles.montro.com.

4.4 Duration ends

Once the duration ends, the treasurer of the asset will be instructed to list the asset for sale on montro.com at a fair market price.

4.5 The physical sale

The physical watch sale will be facilitated initially on montro.com. Any sales are guaranteed to happen at arm's length with a price at a fair market value. Currently, this will happen at the discretion of the treasurer; but in the future, these will be based on a voting proposal by the NFT holders.

The fair market value of the watch will take into consideration that it is a Collectibles exclusive watch, and will include a hardware ledger that will contain the private keys to the wallet to which all redeemed NFTs will be transferred.

Deposit of the proceeds
Once the physical asset as well as the hardware ledger are sold, the custodian of the watch will convert the proceeds into USDC and transfer these to the appropriate DAO wallet.
Watch handover
Once the sale has been completed and proceeds deposited, the physical watch and the hardware ledger will be handed over to the new owner of this rare and unique timepiece.

4.6 NFT redemption

Participants will now be notified, and NFTs may be redeemed for their proportional size of the deposited proceeds. All redeemed NFTs are transferred to the wallet of which the hardware ledger is now owned by the purchaser of the physical watch.

Holders of NFTs may also choose not to redeem their NFTs and retain or trade them indefinitely. A mix of redeemed and unredeemed NFTs add value for both redeemed and unredeemed NFTs; as all NFTs continue to relate solely to the one physical watch, despite losing their asset backing.

NFTs exchanged for physical sale proceeds
Once the DAO has moved to the NFT redemption phase, after the physical sale of the watch, the then-holder of the NFT may redeem it for a proportional share of the physical sale proceeds.
NFTs transferred to the hardware wallet of the watch buyer
These are then transferred into the hard wallet awarded to the buyer of the physical watch.

4.7 Redemption period ends

The redemption window automatically closes after six months following the physical sale. At this point, NFTs can no longer be redeemed with the DAO for the physical watch sale proceeds. All unclaimed proceeds are transferred to Montro Collectibles.

4.7 Redemption period ends

NFTs lose asset-backing and become artwork collectibles only
From this point on NFTs are no longer asset-backed. Nonetheless, all assets from this point onwards can continue to be indefinitely held and/or traded on secondary marketplaces. And some holders, as well as the physical owner of the watch in possession of the hard wallet, may choose to continue trading such non-asset backed NFTs for their remaining intrinsic value relating to its artwork and enduring connection to the watch for which they were made.

5. Technical outline

Each Watch is deployed as a Collectibles DAO smart contract. Whose deployment is initiated through a Google Cloud KMS based API which interacts with the CollectiblesSale.sol smart contract. Montro's API service additionally processes blockchain events and tallies confirmations in order to determine which NFTs are available and which sold; and can confirm the successful sale of a particular NFT.

5.1 Don’t trust, verify

Montro's first DAO was launched on the Ethereum Mainnet on June 13th at 12:05:59 UTC and its smart contract is processing events @0x1D9bD2379123CFdd19210AafC670b067A3FFf04f . Solidity source code of all relevant smart contracts has been made available on Etherscan and may be viewed here.

5.2 NFT asset metadata

Each individual NFT is made available via IPFS. Montro’s first DAO assets are immutably linked to each Watch DAO and may be viewed here: https://ipfs.io/ipfs/bafybeihvftlbrvzuvovcotbj32wmvz7sytu5bdyvxsgw6ydz3ptbhllifq/ NFT image assets are similarly immutable and individually referenced within each JSON metadata file; e.g. part-000, part-001 etc.

6. Security and Trust

Montro Collectibles prioritizes the security and trust of its users by implementing various measures within the platform. These measures include:

6.1 Blockchain Technology

Montro Collectibles leverages blockchain technology to ensure transparency, security, and immutability of transactions. By utilizing a decentralized network of computers, the platform eliminates the need for intermediaries and central authorities, reducing the risk of fraud and tampering.

6.2 Smart Contracts

The sale contracts and part contracts on Montro Collectibles are implemented as smart contracts, which are self-executing agreements with predefined rules and conditions. These smart contracts ensure that transactions are carried out transparently, without the need for intermediaries. The use of smart contracts adds an extra layer of security and trust to the platform.

6.3 Secure Storage

Montro Collectibles ensures the secure storage of physical watches through partnerships with trusted retail partners. The vintage watches are stored in secure vaults.

6.4 Authenticity Verification

Montro Collectibles guarantees the authenticity of luxury watches by sourcing them from brand-accredited retailers. Each watch undergoes a thorough verification process to ensure its legitimacy and quality.

6.5 Immutable Audit Trail

Every transaction and activity on the Montro Collectibles platform is recorded on the blockchain, creating an immutable audit trail. This audit trail enables users to track the entire history of an NFT collection, including its ownership, transfers, and voting decisions.

6.6 Secure API Access

The Montro Collectibles web registration API is designed with security in mind. Access to the API is protected through authentication and authorization mechanisms, ensuring that only authorized users can retrieve data and perform actions. Strict use of closely guarded whitelists on address values further enhances the security of the API.

7. Future Developments

Montro Collectibles is committed to continuous improvement and innovation. In the future, the platform aims to introduce the following developments:

7.1 Expansion of Watch Selection

The platform plans to expand its curated selection of vintage watches, offering a wider range of prestigious timepieces for fractional ownership. By collaborating with additional brand-accredited retailers and watch experts, Montro Collectibles aims to provide a diverse collection to cater to the preferences of watch enthusiasts.

7.2 Enhanced DAO Governance

Montro Collectibles intends to enhance the governance capabilities of its decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). This includes introducing additional voting proposals to empower asset-backed NFT holders in decision-making processes. The platform will provide a seamless and user-friendly interface for voting and participation, ensuring the active engagement of the community.

7.3 NFT Marketplace

Montro Collectibles' asset-backed NFT collections are unique and do not fit other existing NFT marketplaces. Unlike traditional NFTs, which represent purely digital assets, Montro Collectibles’ asset-backed NFTs are linked to physical luxury watches. These watches are curated based on their historical pricing data and market trends. Each watch is then divided into different parts, and each part is minted as an asset-backed NFT. By purchasing one or more asset-backed NFTs, users become fractional vintage watch owners and gain participation rights within the DAO.

The exclusive nature of these asset-backed NFT collections makes them difficult to list on traditional NFT marketplaces. By launching its own marketplace, Montro Collectibles can ensure that its asset-backed NFTs are traded in a secure and efficient manner, while also enhancing liquidity and accessibility for its users. Montro Collectibles' marketplace will provide a dedicated platform for trading asset-backed NFTs, ensuring that these unique collections are marketed and traded appropriately.

Conclusion

Montro Collectibles revolutionizes the world of vintage watch ownership by offering fractionalized ownership through asset-backed NFTs. With our curated selection of rare and trending vintage watches, collectors can co-own prestigious timepieces and actively participate in the decision-making process through DAO governance. By leveraging blockchain technology, we ensure transparency, security, and immutability throughout the fractional ownership journey. Join us at Montro Collectibles and embark on a new era of shared ownership and appreciation for timeless horological treasures.

Disclaimer

The following litepaper provides information about the Montro Collectibles platform and its features. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information presented, it is important to note that the whitepaper is for informational purposes only.

The content in this litepaper should not be considered as financial, investment, legal, or any other form of professional advice. The information provided does not constitute an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy, sell, or invest in any assets, including but not limited to luxury watches or cryptocurrencies.

The Montro Collectibles platform operates in a rapidly evolving and dynamic industry. Therefore, the information contained in this litepaper may be subject to change without prior notice. The development and implementation of the platform's features, functionalities, and services are at the discretion of the Montro Collectibles team and are subject to regulatory and legal considerations.

Participating in Montro Collectibles platform carries inherent risks. Users should conduct their own research, seek professional advice, and carefully consider their personal circumstances before making any decisions. The litepaper does not guarantee any specific outcomes or returns.

The Montro Collectibles team and its affiliates shall not be held liable for any direct or indirect losses, damages, or expenses incurred as a result of using the information provided in this litepaper or participating in the platform. Users are solely responsible for their actions and assume all associated risks.

This litepaper may include references or links to third-party websites, resources, or content. The Montro Collectibles team does not endorse or take responsibility for such external sources' accuracy, legality, or reliability.

By accessing and reading this litepaper, you acknowledge and agree that you have understood and accepted the disclaimer and will use the information provided at your own risk.