Draft:Origyn

Origyn is a non-profit foundation    headquartered in Neuchâtel (Switzerland) , initiated in 2019 by Gian Bochsler, Vincent Perriard, and Mike Schwartz.

This foundation's mission is to identify, authenticate, and ensure traceability, identity, and proof of ownership of objects, individuals, or intellectual property, thereby combating counterfeiting, theft, and identity theft. To achieve this, it relies on its proprietary protocol, utilizing blockchain technology to issue digital authentication certificates in the form of NFTs through the Internet Computer blockchain developed by Dfinity.

The company has 70 employees.

History
In 2019, during the Decentralized Cloud Conference in Zurich, Gian Bochsler (Swiss entrepreneur working in real estate and fintech, founder of Bochsler Finance) met Vincent Perriard (former leader of watch brands and strategic advisor to several luxury brands), and Mike Schwartz (former head of Digital Ventures at Boston Consulting Group). Together, they initiated the founding of Origyn.

Origyn was co-founded in 2020 by Gian Bochsler, Mike Schwartz, and Vincent Perriard.

Origyn initially had six employees based in Neuchâtel.

Origyn develops a protocol to ensure authentication, traceability, and certification.

Origyn generates a biometric digital certificate for each product, associating it with a unique and tamper-proof NFT through the blockchain.

The initial application tests were launched in 2021.

In 2021, Origyn raised $20 million from various investors, including Table Management, Polychain Capital, Coinko, Vectr Ventures, Carter Reum, Divyank Turakhia, GD10 Ventures, and others. This round of funding valued the foundation to 300 million francs.

By June 2022, Origyn made its token, named “OGY”, available to the public on a trading platform, enabling accessibility for everyone. OGY tokens grant access to protocol governance and are also utilized in the creation of digital certificates.

Simultaneously, Origyn forged partnerships in art, jewelry and with foundations such as UEFA. Origyn partnered with the UEFA Foundation for Children as part of the “NFTs for Good” initiative.

When the UEFA Foundation for Children offered physical objects, Origyn created their digital counterparts in the form of NFTs. Additionally, Origyn embarked on the development of three Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) “For Good” in 2022: the first dedicated to the protection of childhood, the second for the preservation of fauna and flora, and the third for art and culture.

In the same year, Origyn showcased its advancements at the Reluxury exhibition.

In December 2022, Origyn’s technology was used in a world first by the Yumi.io marketplace which splits a physical painting by the painter Julian Opie into digital distinct elements.

At the onset of 2023, Origyn decided to reallocate its resources towards the NFT protocol. During the spring, the foundation launched its initial certificates that necessitate the use of the OGY token.

In March 2023, Origyn addressed the Italian Senate in Rome, with support from parliamentarian Gianpietro Maffoni. On this occasion, Origyn announced its intention to issue certificates for 7,000 brands associated with the FederItaly association, a group dedicated to safeguarding the “made in Italy” designation.

In October 2023, Origyn entered into a partnership with the Swiss company Cyber, one of the largest diamond certification organizations. High-definition images and videos of certified diamonds are stored as NFTs, enabling specialists to verify that the diamonds align with the provided certificates. Each NFT certificate integrates eight PDFs of information.

During the same year, Metalor, the global leader in refined gold, adopted Origyn’s technology to generate NFT certificates for gold. Origyn initiated a project facilitating the creation of ownership certificates for physical gold, tradable at the current spot price. In December 2023, the Gold DAO project utilized gold certificates to establish fungibility, leading to the introduction of the GLDT token (1 gram of gold equivalent to 100 GLDT).

Origyn Protocol
The Origyn protocol enables the generation of certificates affirming the authenticity, origin, and ownership of assets. Each digital certificate is comprehensively stored on the blockchain, ensuring its security, transparency, and incorruptibility. These certificates encompass data, images, documents, multimedia, marketplaces, and applications.

OGY Utility Token
The OGY utility token serves a dual purpose, being utilized for both the creation of Origyn certificates and the facilitation of transactions within the Origyn protocol. Fees associated with these processes are paid in OGY. The mechanism involves burning more tokens as additional certificates are created, resulting in fewer tokens circulating, and thereby, Origyn follows a deflationary economic model.

OGY holders also have the option to lock their tokens, thus generating voting power to participate in governance. In return for their participation, they receive additional OGY tokens.

Structure
Origyn is a Swiss non-profit foundation,   audited and controlled by the FINMA (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority) a regulatory body, established in October 2020 in Neuchâtel. Its stands as the primary contributor to the Origyn protocol, developing tools and solutions on an open and decentralized platform named “the Origyn Protocol”. This platform is specifically designed to safeguard real-world assets by employing Origyn’s next-generation NFT standard.

These assets include precious stones, precious metals, luxury goods, works of art, intellectual properties, proof of personal identity, digital assets, and more.

The Origyn Foundation supports the development and the evolution of the protocol and supervises development activities related to NFT certificate technology.

Direction
Origyn is directed by founders Gian Bochsler, Vincent Perriard and Mike Schwartz.

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