From: thepipeline_xyz
Sky trade is developing a marketplace that enables the monetization of airspace [03:14:17]. The company aims to secure and monetize unused air rights, turning them into a source of passive income for landowners [03:14:49].
Problem & Solution
In jurisdictions like the US and UK, landowners are the rightful owners of the airspace above their property, typically up to 500 feet [03:15:11]. This asset often remains unused. Sky trade offers a solution to monetize these air rights through controlled and lawful use [03:15:15].
How it Works
Landowners can register their airspace on the Sky trade platform, complete Know Your Customer (KYC) verification, and begin to monetize their air rights [03:15:25]. The platform digitizes air rights, making the process quick and cost-effective using web3 technology [03:17:01].
Use Cases
Real Estate Development & Preservation
Real estate owners can utilize the platform to view their buildings and surrounding neighborhood air rights [03:15:36]. This enables them to purchase air rights to:
- Increase the potential floors of their buildings [03:15:43]
- Preserve existing balcony views, preventing others from building in front of their property [03:15:48]
For instance, a hotel owner could buy air rights from a neighboring land owner to ensure no similar building obstructs their guests’ views [03:19:58]. The platform streamlines this process, allowing users to buy desired airspace with a click, bypassing the need for physical meetings, notaries, or direct contact with multiple owners [03:20:26].
Drone Operations
Drone operators face legal limitations, often having to fly under 400 feet, which can lead to overlapping into private airspaces [03:15:55]. Through Sky trade, drone owners can rent tokenized airspaces, enabling them to legally fly over private land by paying rent to the landowner [03:16:09].
Technology & Operations
Sky trade is currently live on Solana, where its tokens are minted [03:16:31]. The company plans to scale and migrate to other EVM-compatible blockchains, including Monad, leveraging their speed and scalability [03:16:35]. The tokenization process involves mapping tokens to underlying digital assets, then bridging these tokens to other blockchains for trading while preserving the integrity of the original digital assets [03:16:42]. Each air right address, such as that of a building, would be represented as its own token, like a compressed Non-Fungible Token (cNFT) on Solana or an NFT on other blockchains [03:21:11].
Market Opportunity & Business Model
The US air rights market is substantial, with few businesses currently tapping into its potential [03:17:12]. Sky trade identifies itself as having no direct competitors, though some companies are building segments of their service [03:17:22].
The business model includes:
- Charging a commission on air rights rental leases and sales [03:17:30].
- Offering priced APIs that landowners can use to monitor their airspace [03:17:34].
- Generating revenue through its tokenomics model [03:17:42].
Partnerships & Milestones
Sky trade has secured partnerships with various local governments, including the Utah Department of Transport, to monetize highway airspace [03:17:54]. They also work with real estate companies, tokenizing their properties for monetization [03:18:07]. Other partners include Safe Helipads, providing drone infrastructure, and Partiel Lives, which offers real estate data for pricing in the US [03:18:12].
The company has completed a pre-seed fundraise, backed by several venture capitalists and angel investors [03:18:22]. Their targeted milestones include:
- Listing 50,000 real estate air rights in the marketplace [03:18:37].
- Scaling to other EVM-compatible blockchains like Monad [03:18:40].
- Achieving 1,000 paid transactions [03:18:43].
- Tokenizing the highway airspace of Utah [03:18:48].
- Planning multiple token generation events [03:18:50].
Initially, Sky trade will focus on the US market due to existing regulations, with plans to expand to other countries like the UK where similar regulations are in place [03:19:06]. They manage entry into different states by working directly with local government entities to ensure compliance [03:19:18].