The Future of Commodity Investing: How Blockchain is Reshaping Access to Real Assets

Over the past decade, we've witnessed two powerful investment trends unfold in parallel: a renewed interest in real-world assets like farmland, metals, and infrastructure, and the rapid evolution of blockchain technology as a trusted digital infrastructure. Today, these two worlds are beginning to intersect—bringing long-term implications for how commodities are financed, traded, and owned.

As the CEO of General Holdings Limited, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely on this convergence. Alongside partners like Raven Resources Corp., NewOak Capital, and Stonehenge Partners, we’re developing a platform—Common Commodities (CMXG)—to explore how blockchain can support more efficient, transparent, and resilient access to essential real assets.

The Role of Real Assets in Modern Portfolios

Commodities and real assets—such as farmland, fertilizer, metals, and water infrastructure—have historically been viewed as stable stores of value and natural hedges against inflation. They are the physical inputs that underpin entire economies, making them especially important in times of geopolitical or market instability.

Traditionally, access to these assets has required:

• Significant capital

• Institutional relationships

• Operational expertise

• Opaque legal and financial structures

As a result, direct investment in essential commodities and infrastructure has remained largely the domain of large funds, governments, and corporates.

What Blockchain Brings to the Table

Blockchain technology introduces several key features that are increasingly being applied to the commodity investment landscape:

Asset Tokenization and Fractional Ownership

Tokenization involves representing ownership of a physical asset—such as a hectare of farmland or a quantity of copper—in the form of a digital token on a blockchain. These tokens can be bought, sold, or used in financing arrangements without requiring the investor to directly manage or store the asset.

This approach opens the door to fractional ownership, meaning smaller investors can participate in traditionally inaccessible markets. It also offers:

• Increased liquidity, as tokens can trade on digital marketplaces

• Real-time settlement and transfer of ownership

• Greater transparency, especially when paired with on-chain reporting

Improved Supply Chain Transparency

One of blockchain’s most natural applications is supply chain traceability. For commodities—especially agricultural goods, metals, and energy—blockchain can record every step from source to end use. This allows stakeholders to verify:

• Ethical sourcing (e.g., conflict-free minerals)

• Environmental and sustainability data

• Quality and origin of goods

Transparency like this can enhance trust and reduce counterparty risk, particularly in cross-border trade.

Streamlined Financing and Settlement

Blockchain enables new forms of digital lending, collateralization, and payment automation. For example, a token representing a warehouse of grain could be used as collateral for a loan issued through a smart contract, with repayments tied directly to commodity sales.

This has the potential to reduce reliance on intermediaries, lower transaction costs, and increase the speed of capital deployment—important benefits for producers and investors alike.

Operational Oversight and Governance

Using blockchain doesn’t just change who can invest—it also changes how assets are managed. On-chain data can support governance tools that give investors and stakeholders visibility into asset performance, costs, and returns. This can be especially useful in decentralized or multi-jurisdictional projects involving farmland, infrastructure, or mineral extraction.

CMXG: A Case Study in Development

At General Holdings Limited, we’re currently in the pre-development phase of CMXG (Common Commodities)—a digital platform designed to enable more efficient and transparent investment in real assets. CMXG focuses on building an ecosystem where:

• Investors can access digitized, asset-backed opportunities across core commodities

• Operators can finance and manage physical assets using blockchain tools

• Payments, collections, and reporting are integrated and streamlined

The goal is not to create a speculative marketplace, but rather a long-term platform focused on essential resources—the kind that underpin food security, energy systems, and infrastructure.

By integrating blockchain with traditional private market financing, CMXG aims to help bridge the gap between institutional capital and the operational realities of managing critical physical assets.

Challenges and Cautions

While the potential is significant, there are practical challenges that must be acknowledged:

• Regulatory clarity: Digital securities and tokenized commodities occupy a legal gray area in many jurisdictions.

• Custodial and audit requirements: Ensuring that tokens are actually backed by real, audited assets is essential.

• Infrastructure maturity: Many blockchain platforms and commodity tokenization systems are still in early development.

• Adoption barriers: Traditional investors may be cautious about integrating blockchain into existing workflows.

As such, platforms like CMXG are being developed with institutional rigor—working with partners who bring both sector-specific knowledge and financial structuring expertise.

Looking Ahead

The intersection of blockchain and commodity investing is still in its early stages, but its trajectory is clear. As financial markets seek more stability, transparency, and access to tangible value, digitizing real assets presents a compelling path forward.

For investors, the emergence of tokenized commodities may offer new tools for diversification and risk management. For operators and asset owners, it could provide greater flexibility and capital access. And for the global economy, it could help re-anchor capital to the physical systems that matter most.

At General Holdings, we’re committed to exploring these innovations thoughtfully—and working with partners and policymakers to ensure that what’s built is both impactful and enduring.

To learn more about our work on CMXG, you can visit www.commoncommodities.com or read our feature on StreetInsider here.