Watr, a blockchain platform designed to bring commodities on-chain, has announced it would be partnering up with Avalanche (AVAX) and migrating to an Avalanche Layer 1 (L1) blockchain, as per the most recent info shared with Finbold on Thursday, April 3.
The main goal of the partnership is to digitize commodity trading and financing, including metals, fuel, food, etc.
On-chain commodity trading
Many sectors of the commodities industry are known for limited liquidity and profitability.
Watr seeks to address such issues by integrating decentralized identity, traceability, and smart contracts to create a simplified gateway for bringing commodities closer to Web3.
The company was founded by veterans with experience working at Shell, BP, and J.P. Morgan, including Maryam Ayati, the leading figure behind origination and investment at Shell Trading and one of the most influential women in the energy sector.
The partnership thus combines Watr’s expertise in commodities with Avalanche’s blockchain technology to build an interoperable, compliant, and capital-efficient market infrastructure spanning everything from mining operations and agricultural production to global finance.
Laying the foundation for the partnership is Avalanche’s customizable L1 architecture that allows Watr to create specialized blockchains for each commodity and counterparty while ensuring regulatory compliance and institutional-grade performance.
Maryam Ayati also added that Watr can shorten development cycles and enjoy increased security by building on Avalanche.
Water stack and WatrMrks
Watr relies on a suite of technologies designed to bring transparency, security, and liquidity to commodity markets.
For example, the WatrMrks technology ensures full traceability by recording the origin, certifications, and custody of each asset throughout its lifecycle.
Already tested with some of the leading mining and automotive companies, the WatrMrks tech is now set to go live on Watr L1 and the broader Avalanche ecosystem.
Next, WatrIDs introduce decentralized identities for professional, business, and institutional clients alike, following W3C and KERI (Key Event Receipt Infrastructure) standards and acting as portable ID cards that give users access to applications not only on Watr but on other networks as well.
In addition, NeoReserves, developed in partnership with Neo, will operate liquidity pools for new commodity financing contracts in order to generate fresh capital flow and allow for new contracting structures.
Finally, VentureStream will function as a launchpad and investment hub for commodity-tech startups.
