For the first time on Medium, we are introducing the Millennium Sapphire Security Token Offering (STO).
WELCOME to our page!
We are here to give you the lowdown about this project as we answer the question: is the Millennium Sapphire STO worth your investment?
What is the Millennium Sapphire?
Imagine a sapphire carved with the faces of earth’s greatest creative geniuses! That is the Millennium Sapphire (MS)! Each period in time is represented by a prominent figure, making the Millennium Sapphire a tribute to these great minds.
“Beginning with a base of human figures supporting the four elements — air, water, earth, and fire — the carvings then wind upward in a spiral depicting more than 134 figures that each represent a great mind, inventor or creator throughout recorded history,” Brecken Branstrator wrote in a 2018 article on the National Jeweler. “Each carving has an accompanying three-dimensional figurine in lapis.”
The carvers practiced each design on lapis lazuli before carving the sapphire.
The Background
It all began in the 20th century, 1995 to be exact, on an island off the southeastern coast of Africa. Imagine a lovely day in Madagascar. The sun was out, the sand was gleaming, and the ocean was a majestic blue color. A group of miners were going about their day as usual when one of them unearthed a huge blue gemstone. It was heavy, 39 pounds, and the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.
The sapphire was bought from the miner and shipped to Bangkok in Thailand where the Asia Institute of Gemological Sciences (AIGS) examined it. The Institute issued the gemstone with a certificate of identification.
Furthermore, the Gemological Institute of America and other distinguished labs and gemologists certified the then un-named rough gem as a natural sapphire. They also praised it as follows.
“This crystal is the largest single piece of gem-quality sapphire that I know of. It is very rare to see such a large piece of such good color,” said Marcus McCallum, FGA, London.
Garry Du Toit, from the GIA in Bangkok, stated: “It is definitely gem-grade sapphire, a fine gem blue color. Other famous blue sapphires cannot compare in terms of size, weight, and quite possibly color.”
Christian Dunaigre, previously with the Gubelin Gemological Laboratory in Switzerland, observed: “This sapphire is everyone’s dream.”
Other Details
- Owner: Millennium Fine Art, Inc. (MFAI) owns 100% of the sapphire through its wholly-owned subsidiary MS Token LLC. The company is based in Wyoming, US
- Original size carats: about 90,000
- Current size carats: 61,500
- Current weight: 12.3 Kg (27 pounds)
- Weight lost during carving: 5.6 Kg (12 pounds)
- Storage: the sapphire is stored in a bank vault in an undisclosed secret location in the United States for safety reasons
- Recent valuation: $150 million
- World records broken: 3
- The Carvings: some of the historical milestones carved on the sapphire include the Pyramids of Giza, Mayan hieroglyphic writing, and the Great Wall of China. Also, the sapphire has paid tribute to Mother Theresa, Albert Einstein, Louis Armstrong, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michaelangelo, Mozart, Christopher Columbus, Confucius, among others.
The Journey of a Natural Wonder
Below are the historical highlights of the Millennium Sapphire.
- 1998: under the leadership of Daniel McKinney, a consortium acquired the rough sapphire. The consortium then commissioned award-winning Italian artist and designer, Alessio Boschi, to direct the design and carving of the sapphire. Mr. McKinney is an entrepreneur, investment banker and the CEO of MFAI.
- 2000: Boschi completes the carving work.
- 2001: The Guinness Book of World Records certifies the Millennium Sapphire to be the largest carved sapphire in the world.
- 2002: Millennium Sapphire makes an appearance at the Oscars.
- 2003: John B. Robinson publishes a book titled “The Sapphire Sea.” It is a gemstone thriller inspired by the discovery of this sapphire.
- 2004: Millennium Sapphire appears at the maiden voyage of the Sapphire Princess cruise liner in Seattle.
- 2013: The MS resurfaces temporarily after a decade away from the public eye as the Consortium looks for a buyer.
- 2018: Yulong Eco-Materials Limited announces intention to buy MS in a $50 million deal. However, this deal had to be unwound due to the failure of the Yulong’s former controlling shareholders and management to keep Yulong Nasdaq listed and compliant.
- 2020: In May 2020, GreenPro Capital Corp and MFAI acquire 4% and 96% of the Sapphire, respectively from Mr. McKinney. Greenpro then sold the remaining 4% to MFAI in exchange for MFAI shares.
- 2021: The Millennium Sapphire is in the process of being tokenized through a Security Token Offering (STO), allowing individuals to have fractional ownership in the gemstone.
Bear in mind that all the due diligence documents will be available on the website once it is live. Also, we will add those documents to IPFS.
Enter Security Token Offering
Rather than keep this precious carved treasure to themselves, the MFAI management has created an opportunity for eligible investors to buy fractional ownership in the upcoming STO. Through this offering, investors will purchase the MS Token, which represents ownership of the physical Millennium Sapphire. That means that as a token holder, your ownership is a pro-rata of the valuation of the MS.
We will have tokenized the Sapphire on the Ravencoin blockchain. As a result, you can hold your MS Tokens in any Ravencoin wallet. Tokenization is the digital representation of an asset on the blockchain. The benefits of tokenization are:
- Fractional ownership that enables investors to diversify their portfolios at an affordable cost. Tokenization means that you can spend a minimum of $500 during the presale period and receive tokens that represent ownership in the Millennium Sapphire as opposed to buying the entire piece of art for millions of dollars.
- The tokens will be traded on exchanges, therefore, making this formerly illiquid asset liquid.
- The use of blockchain technology means that no one can steal your token ownership. Also, the public can track the owners of an asset on the blockchain.
- Anyone in the world can invest in the Sapphire despite their eligibility. There are initial plans for US and non-US token issuances at this stage.
- You do not need to physically hold the asset to own it. That means that you do not have to worry about storing, insuring and maintaining it.
The Project
We intend to engage a branding firm to license the Millennium Sapphire name to corporations and manufacturing firms for the branding of their products. These activities should drive the value of our asset upwards.
We will also have a non-fungible token (NFT) series. The NFT series will draw inspiration from the copyrighted digital images of the Millennium Sapphire and the 134 lapis figurine carvings that Alessio Boschi designed.
Returns
The income sources will be the sale of exhibition tickets, licensing, and special events. Token holders will also get the net proceeds of the NFT sales to be distributed pro-rata to their investment.
Investing in the Millennium Sapphire
The most valuable art pieces and gemstones in the world are inaccessible to most people because they cost tens to hundreds of millions of dollars. However, once such an asset is tokenized on the blockchain, it becomes accessible to all eligible investors at a fractionalized cost. Case in point, the Millennium Sapphire was financially inaccessible to most investors. However, through this upcoming STO, people have the opportunity to buy a portion of it for as little as $500.
Additionally, the Sapphire has been kept from the public for years. Now, everyone has a chance to view it during planned physical and virtual exhibitions where it has the potential to generate income. Note that traditionally, art does not produce income for its owners. It is typically a cost center for investors. However, this project aims to have the Sapphire generate an income for token holders.
What else makes this asset worth your investment? The table below has the answers.
If you are a potential investor and an art lover asking yourself the above questions, then you have your answers. In case you have further questions, post them on our Telegram group.
We believe that what we have here is a once in a lifetime project. Over the years, the Millennium Sapphire has made the news in various ways, and it will continue to make the news because it is beautiful, it is now on the blockchain and it has been called priceless.
Therefore, what are you waiting for?
You have a chance to diversify your portfolio and participate in what has the potential to be the biggest art STO in history. So, start preparing now to make your investment because these tokens may sell fast once the token sale begins. Do not say we did not tell you in advance!
[Update: We tokenized the Millennium Sapphire on Ethereum instead of Ravencoin as initially announced.]
MS TOKEN WEBSITE IS LIVE!
