A 316-year-old Stradivarius violin belonging to Russian Empress Catherine the Great is now a non-fungible token held by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP. Last year, the violin's current owner, Hong Kong-based entrepreneur/investor Yat Siu, bought the violin at auction for over $9 million. Now, both the violin and its NFT are being used as collateral for a multi-million-dollar loan to Siu.
This marks the first time a violin has been tokenized in such a manner to make its value more accessible. According to its website, Galaxy Digital said the action "can enhance liquidity significantly" and guarantee bullet-proof record-keeping for the ownership of such a historic instrument.
More than that, "blockchain technology can merge the physical art world with the digital world, opening up new possibilities—from trading to lending, from asset management to fractional ownership of real-world assets." This would mean, in the future, others might invest in part of the violin, although no formal plans have been put in place. The violin will be stored safely in Hong Kong.
Yat Siu has a profound background in music. Born in 1973 in Vienna, his mother was an orchestral conductor, and his father, was a musician. Siu studied cello, flute, and piano at the Music and Arts University of Vienna (formerly the Conservatory of Vienna).
Although he later on veered into a technology career, Siu has remained connected to the world of music. He sits on the advisory board of the BAFTAs and is a director of the Asian Youth Orchestra.
"As a technologist with a background in classical music, this is a very special moment for me. The 1708 Empress Caterina Stradivarius violin is the first instrument of such storied origin to undergo tokenization.
"I am thrilled to help trailblaze this new economic model for unique assets while at the same time preserving and sharing a precious piece of history."
What Siu accomplished with the tokenization of this Stradivarius is a standout accomplishment in itself, but there's a lot more history to the violin than to Siu himself. The 'Empress Caterina' is a 1708 Antonio Stradivari violin, created during what has since become known as his 'Golden Period'.
According to 19th-century luthier Alfred Hill of the W.E. Hill & Sons workshop, this violin can actually be traced back to Russian Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, who then bequeathed it to Catherine the Great. It has now come to bear her name.
Several Russian aristocrats, European violinists, a coffee impresario, a radiologist, and a tropical fish expert successively owned it before Siu acquired it at the Tarisio auction house.
With the making of this historic violin into an NFT, Siu and Galaxy Digital are showcasing new potentials for the way we can own and trade valuable assets, with a blend of the past and cutting-edge technology.
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