Tokenized Trade & Settlement Platform — Business Plan (UAE, 2025)

Executive summary

Build a tokenized trade and settlement platform for UAE logistics and commodity flows, starting with bitumen shipments, that delivers on-chain escrow, digitized cargo ownership tokens, and embedded compliance. Designed to monetize quickly with low-friction enterprise pricing, the MVP targets $25–50M monthly settlement volume within 12 months, focusing on immediate B2B revenue streams rather than launching a full exchange.

Focus: on-chain escrow Tokenized cargo (NFT) UAE-ready compliance Fast B2B monetization

Why this, why now

Industry pull: Shippers and traders want faster settlement, reduced financing costs, and transparent ownership transfer.
Regulatory fit: UAE frameworks support digital assets and enterprise pilots without building a full consumer exchange.
Capital efficiency: MVP delivers high-value features under a $500k cap with partner-led KYC/AML.

Product overview

Core modules

Tokenized cargo registry: Each shipment is an NFT with immutable ownership and status history.
On-chain escrow: Conditional release on delivery documents and milestone verification.
Settlement rails: Corporate wallets and compliant stablecoin rails with multi‑sig controls.
ERP/TMS integrations: Connect BL, invoices, and delivery milestones for automation.
Compliance layer: Embedded KYC/AML via partners; auditable logs for institutions.

Value to customers

Faster cash cycles: Reduce settlement time and financing overhead.
Risk reduction: Escrow conditions enforce delivery, lowering counterparty risk.
Transparency: Real-time cargo ownership and status audit trail.
Plug‑and‑play: Minimal change to existing operations via API adapters.

Design choice: start permissioned or L2 with enterprise-grade controls; avoid exchange-style consumer licensing in phase 1.

Faster revenue streams

Escrow fee per transaction: 0.15%–0.30% of settlement value, billed to buyer or split.
Enterprise subscription: $2k–$5k per client/month for dashboards, APIs, and SLA support.
Integration fee: $10k–$25k one‑off for ERP/TMS connectors and workflow setup.
Document digitization add‑on: $1k–$3k/month for BL/invoice validation and audit exports.
Priority settlement tier: +$0.05% premium for guaranteed time‑to‑cash SLA.
Cargo-backed finance facilitation: 0.5%–1% fee on financed amounts via banking partners.

Go-to-market (UAE, 2025)

Pilot-first: 2–3 anchor shippers/traders in bitumen and related commodities.
Partner-led compliance: KYC/AML vendors, legal advisory, and local banking corridors.
Regional focus: Dubai/Abu Dhabi industrial clients; Arabic/English collateral.
Outcome-selling: Case studies on reduced settlement time and lower financing cost.

Financial model (3 years)

Assumptions

Initial capex: $500k max (MVP build, compliance, infra, GTM).
Monthly settlement volume: Yr1 Q2: $5M; Yr1 Q4: $25M; Yr2: $50M; Yr3: $75M.
Escrow fee: 0.20% effective blended.
Enterprise clients: 8 by end of Yr1, 20 by end of Yr2, 35 by end of Yr3.
Subscription: $3k/client/month average.

Revenue projection (illustrative)

Year	Volume / mo	Escrow fee	Subscription	Integrations	Total / year
Yr1	$25M avg H2	$600k	$288k	$120k	$1.01M
Yr2	$50M	$1.20M	$720k	$200k	$2.12M
Yr3	$75M	$1.80M	$1.26M	$250k	$3.31M

Integrations taper as initial backlogs clear; subscriptions scale with client count.

Cost structure (Yr1 under $500k)

Category	Budget	Notes
Product & dev (MVP)	$220k	Backend, smart contracts, frontend, QA
Compliance & legal	$70k	Advisory, policies, filings (non-exchange scope)
Infra & security	$55k	Cloud, nodes, monitoring, pen-test
KYC/AML vendors	$35k	Per‑check pricing; min bundle
GTM & pilots	$60k	Sales, collateral (EN/AR), pilot support
Contingency (10%)	$45k	Buffer for overruns

Direct answer: ROI path

Breakeven: Achievable in Yr1–Yr2 transition if monthly volume sustains ≥$25M and ≥10 clients.
Cash efficiency: Low fixed costs; variable fees scale with volume.
Upside: Priority tiers and finance facilitation lift ARPU without heavy capex.

Team and roles (lean setup)

Head of product/CTO (1): Owns architecture, delivery, and partner alignment.
Blockchain engineers (2): Smart contracts, token registry, node ops.
Full‑stack/integration (2): Frontend, ERP/TMS connectors, APIs.
DevOps & security (1): Infra hardening, observability, pen‑tests.
Compliance lead (1): KYC/AML processes, audits, SOPs.
B2B sales (1): Anchor pilots, enterprise accounts, EN/AR collateral.
Ops/CS (1): Pilot onboarding, documentation, SLAs.

Leverage advisors part‑time (legal, banking, shipping) to keep burn low while accelerating approvals.

Roadmap (12–18 months)

Phase 0 (0–4 weeks): Scope MVP, compliance setup, identify 2 pilots.
Phase 1 (Month 1–4): Build registry, escrow, wallets, ERP/TMS adapters.
Phase 2 (Month 4–8): Go‑live pilots, priority settlement tier, EN/AR support.
Phase 3 (Month 8–12): Scale to 8–12 clients, add finance facilitation.
Phase 4 (Month 12–18): Advanced analytics, add markets beyond bitumen.

Regulatory & compliance posture

Scope discipline: No consumer exchange; B2B settlement and tokenized cargo registry.
Policies: KYC/AML, sanctions screening, audit logs, data retention.
Banking rails: Work with UAE corridors and compliant stablecoins via partners.
Documentation: SOPs, client onboarding playbooks, risk matrices.

Risks & mitigations

Regulatory change: Mitigation: advisory retainers; modular scope to pivot.
Adoption friction: Mitigation: integration playbooks, pilot subsidies, outcome KPIs.
Security incidents: Mitigation: audits, pentests, multi‑sig, vendor due diligence.
Liquidity constraints: Mitigation: priority tiers; partner finance facilities.

Pricing tiers (enterprise)

Tier	Monthly	Settlement fee	Features
Core	$2,000	0.25%	Registry, escrow, dashboards, standard SLA
Growth	$3,500	0.20%	API integrations, audit exports, Arabic support
Priority	$5,000	0.20% + 0.05%	Time‑to‑cash SLA, dedicated support, finance facilitation

Conclusion

This plan prioritizes rapid, defensible B2B revenue through escrow fees, enterprise subscriptions, and integration services, while staying under a $500k initial investment cap. By avoiding exchange complexity and focusing on tokenized settlement for real shipments, the platform delivers tangible ROI and scalable upside within 12–18 months.