Proofworks, the leading digitalisation platform for the spirits industry and SegMint, the digital assets management platform recently launched by VanEck , today (31st October) announce a partnership to bring shared digital ownership to the luxury cask spirit sector.
To launch the partnership, the team has made available a rare 2008 Linkwood Scotch whisky cask on SegMint, opening the doors for anyone, from whisky connoisseurs to curious newcomers through to crypto enthusiasts and collectors, to now own a part of this luxury cask through to its bottling in 2026.
This one-of-a-kind Linkwood cask, which originates from the highly-regarded, Diageo owned, Linkwood Distillery in Speyside, is digitally divided into 100 ‘keys’ of ownership and held in a secure digital vault allowing users to buy, collect and trade. The keys are available now, priced at 0.142 ETH (approximately £300), with each key representing two highly-prized bottles of this luxury spirit, redeemable in two years when the whisky has matured to 18-years. Each bottle features exclusive artwork created by renowned photographer and whisky enthusiast Ernie Button. The beautifully ethereal image is a photograph of crystalised remains of the liquid, taken from a sample from the cask.
The whisky has been carefully selected by experts for this listing for its distinct flavour of ripe orchard fruits, sweet spices of cloves, whilst soft grassy and biscuity aromas provide depth and balance to leave a clean, lingering freshness. It is stored in secure, bonded facilities, and tracked on the Proofworks distillery and warehouse management platform. Once bottled, owners can take physical delivery of their bottles, each one numbered and embedded with an NFC tag, allowing the owner to ‘tap’ into the bottle to verify authenticity and discover its unique product journey and brand story.
This partnership marks a significant milestone for both companies as they move forward together to develop this exciting, new approach to digital spirits ownership. The SegMint platform has already seen significant interest in Europe and Asia and been recognised for building a more inclusive and user-friendly digital asset ecosystem. At the same time, Proofworks’ technology has been widely acknowledged for transforming spirits’ supply chains across Europe, the UK and US, enabling a new way for producers and brands to bring their physical assets to market through digitalisation, using blockchain technology.
Technologies like blockchain – and with it tokenisation – provide the opportunity to create new forms of ownership by digitalising physical assets, often referred to as real-world assets (RWAs), allowing brands to reach new audiences, enhance liquidity and enable faster and more transparent transactions.
Beyond ownership, this new model utilises Proofworks’ blockchain-backed supply chain platform to deliver full transparency and authentication of the physical cask, which brings much needed accountability and trust to cask ownership for producers and consumers alike. The Proofworks platform allows producers to create ‘born-digital’ products where each asset is assigned a unique digital identity and is tracked throughout its lifetime – from the very first ingredient, through to the final bottle.
Rob Hollands, CEO of Proofworks, says, “The pace of change is greater than ever before. Spirit producers and brands are looking for innovative solutions to deliver improved supply chain transparency, unlock new models of ownership and to meaningfully connect with consumers with verified and authentic experiences.
Our solutions are connecting every stage of the product journey from creation, right through the supply chain and into the homes and hands of the consumer.
This exciting partnership with SegMint brings together two progressive platforms to revolutionise ownership of luxury and rare spirits, making it simpler and more accessible for existing and new audiences.”
Matt Bartlett, Head of Web3 at Vaneck and CEO & co-Managing Director at SegMint GmbH, says, “At SegMint, we’re building a marketplace that combines the accessibility of platforms like eBay with the exclusivity and unique offerings you’d expect from Sotheby’s. We welcome collectors of all kinds and aim to be the go-to platform for connecting them with rare and premium items across global markets. Our goal is to make high-value collectibles more accessible, bringing unique opportunities to collectors everywhere.
“The coming together of our technology platforms opens up exciting possibilities, and we see many benefits for collectors and spirits brands as we get ready to launch more unique sales together in the coming months.”
Further details of the sale can be found here https://www.segmint.io/vaults/base/0x4098b877632c08df0f1E970D97Af3Db8D96E7F7c
