M2i Global signs tokenization deal with Aurica, eyes gold-backed digital asset ramp

M2i Global Inc (OTC:MTWO) said on Monday it had signed a Letter of Intent with Aurica Tokenization Inc, a Nevada-based commodity tokenization company, to develop a physically-backed gold token platform that the companies expect to expand into other strategic minerals.

Under the agreement, Aurica will issue digital tokens backed one-to-one by hallmarked gold, with the company acquiring metal at a 3% discount to prevailing spot prices through supply arrangements currently in advanced negotiations with several gold mining and processing companies.

Aurica plans to begin processing $40 million of hallmarked gold in its first month of operations, scaling by $2.5 million per month until reaching a sustained run rate of $80 million per month in month 17, for cumulative first-year processing of approximately $645 million.

The company will retain 17% of all minted tokens in its corporate treasury as a permanent gold-backed reserve, with the remaining 83% available to qualified investors and decentralized finance liquidity venues.

M2i will receive the right to purchase up to 30% of Aurica's common equity for $20 million, exercisable for six months. Upon completing that investment, M2i would receive approximately 6 million Aurica-bearing coupon tokens annually for five years, to be carried at fair value under FASB token accounting rules effective since 2025. At current gold spot prices, each coupon token carries an intrinsic value of approximately $2,500, though the actual trading price will be determined by the market.

"Tokenization, which transforms ownership of physical, illiquid strategic minerals into digital blockchain tokens, allows for fractional ownership, bringing much-needed liquidity to commodity markets," said Major General (Ret) Alberto Rosende, CEO of M2i. "We believe actively tokenized high-grade domestic critical minerals will strengthen national defense supply chains and bypass reliance on foreign sources."

The partnership is initially focused on gold, with plans to expand to copper, silver, zinc, tin, lead, and rare earths using the same physically-backed framework.

M2i, which is under a definitive agreement to merge with aviation technology company Volato Group, Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:SOAR), said the US critical minerals market represents an opportunity it estimates exceeds $320 billion annually.