Bed Bath & Beyond Makes Real World Asset Tokenization Move, Acquiring Tokens.com

In brief

• Shares in Bed Bath & Beyond are up about 5% on Monday amid news the firm is leaning into tokenization.
• The firm entered into an agreement to acquire Tokens.com to build out a personalized finance platform.
• It’s also partnered with publicly traded Figure Technologies to power real-estate tokenization on the platform.

Shares in publicly traded consumer brand Bed Bath & Beyond are up about 5% on Monday following an announcement that the firm is acquiring Tokens.com to expand its blockchain efforts, with a renewed focus on tokenization.  The firm’s acquisition is expected to create a “critical foundation” for a personalized investment platform that consolidates fragmented real-world markets. The platform will use infrastructure from partners like publicly traded blockchain real estate firm Figure Technologies, tokenization company tZERO, and artificial intelligence firm ShyftLabs. “Tokens.com is being built as modern financial infrastructure that coalesces fragmented asset classes and financing needs to create a new user experience and unlock liquidity trapped in asset silos,” the firm wrote. 

Among the tokenized real-world assets it aims to support are public and private securities and asset-backed financing, like home equity solutions and refinancing. It will rely on artificial intelligence for asset analysis.  “Providing responsible, compliant liquidity pathways for homeowners and real-world asset holders is our strategy and long-term vision,” said recently appointed Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Marcus Lemonis, also executive chairman, in a statement.  No details on the financial terms of the deal were provided, but the firm expects the platform to be ready by July 1. A representative for the firm did not immediately respond to _Decrypt’s _request for comment.  According to the firm, the efforts will expand its blockchain focus beyond a strategic investment basket, which includes tZERO and GrainChain, a blockchain project that focuses on solving problems within the agriculture supply chain.

“With Figure’s market-leading tokenization technology and platform, Tokens.com can help unlock the trillions of U.S. home equity and crypto assets, bringing consumers liquidity and spending power,” said Figure CEO Michael Tannenbaum, in a statement.  Last year, the blockchain lending firm completed its IPO, raising nearly $8 million and notching a valuation of more than $5 billion.  Shares in BBBY recently changed hands around $6.22 and are up about 6.68% in the last month. The firm hopes to become the “everything home company” under Lemonis’ leadership, with “blockchain services” acting as a core pillar of its strategy moving forward.