(10 March 2022 – Global) Santander has joined forces with Agrotoken to develop loans for farmers in Argentina that are secured by tokens related to agricultural products.
A pilot has already been carried out with local producers, enabling them to access finance against products such as corn, soya beans and wheat.
Each token represents one tonne of grain sold and delivered by the farmer to a wholesaler. In addition, these tonnes of grain are also validated through a Proof of Grain Reserve certificate, a system that the partners say is transparent, secure, decentralised and auditable.
Once the farmers have their digital assets, the agrotokens can be used to carry out various transactions, taking into account the three price indices set in aggregate with the Matba Rofex group, which reflect in real time the value of the grains.
This is the first time that a financial services platform has used blockchain and crypto assets technology to expand the agricultural credit market and unlock the farmer’s business potential,” says Fernando Bautista, head, agribusiness, Santander Argentina.