TM2 Offers New Investment Market for Tradable Technology Metals

Q: What is TM2’s role in metal trade and what value do you offer investors looking for the best options?

A: In all the places we have worked, a certain amount of raw material is exported through typical trading and brokerage and processed elsewhere.  As a result, we are building a primary and secondary market metal exchange, which is based on physical metal. Effectively, we are a traditional physical metal exchange that allows trading. We also plan to enter the derivatives market. However, our main goal is to create an investment market. There is no market anywhere in the world where physical metal is traded and spot prices are created, which is what we seek to achieve. In recent decades, trade has followed the producer-broker-final supplier model. We are creating a democratized, transparent and reliable market in which all metals can be traded. We trade metals like stocks. That is the opportunity we offer. We expand the investment universe by creating a new form of investment for liquid, tradable, technology metals.

Q: What are the benefits of having trade deals physically backed and how does this compare with new investment alternatives like cryptocurrencies?

A: Having a trade that is physically backed is completely different from cryptocurrencies. The ability to invest in any asset class will be in constant demand over the long term. We are in a 100-year super-cycle, where there is more demand for physical metal than supply. As a result, these assets will increase in value. This is a unique opportunity.

While crypto and physically-backed trading are different, we really like crypto’s liquidity. We are working to allow the crypto universe to invest in our products. People can take a 100 percent backed product and put it in a tokenized form and sell it on a crypto exchange.

Q: How is NASDAQ’s cloud-deployed matching process providing investors with real-time prices?

A: The NASDAQ name is known worldwide as a second-to-none market systems provider. They have been reliable and have powerful systems. As a result, we have been able to achieve both the type of footprint and the scalability that we expected. It has been a great relationship; we call them our big brothers because they work with us on so many different levels. Not only regarding technology in the market distribution of our products and prices but in our general marketing as well.

Q: How does TM2 work on data extraction of metal prices?

A: The process is accomplished in two ways. First, in the primary market, the gateway is when a product goes to a physical custodian. Second, a process then starts where the supplier on the TM2 platform lists prices directly. Effectively, prices come from the primary source of supply when the product arrives on the market. In the secondary market, where NASDAQ provides the technology, we have something called price discovery, where buyers meet sellers, and soon after a pricing process takes place. What we end up having is really the most transparent form of pricing that can happen. Our main objective at the moment is to increase our liquidity to reflect that even more. When you have buyers meeting sellers in a neutral way, that is when you get the truest reflection of the price.

Q: What are some mistakes that investors and metal counterparties still make in a metal trade?

A: TM2 seeks to educate people about metals because many times what readers learn about the industry comes from newspapers and often reflect a journalist's interpretation. It takes more than one article to really understand investing. It is an ongoing education. If we can provide better information, people will be able to make their own decisions and understand why they are making them. Since most things need metals, it is important to understand the value of these resources and their future potential.

Q: What are the key aspects investors are looking for in a trade?

A: The No. 1 priority for investors is not to lose money and this can be achieved by being informed. The main element to understand is the lack of supply that exists in the market. By understanding the value of metals and their production, people can understand how supply and demand dynamics work. Investors should think about products they use in their lives, since everything is connected to a technological metal. Each metal has its supply chain and most of them have a demand 10 to 20 times greater than the supply available. Understanding the dynamics of the market is the most important factor for investors.

Q: What metal is positioned as the metal of the future?

A: It really depends on the type of future you are envisioning. If you take the periodic table, there are at least 20 metals that will fuel the 21st century. The key metals will be those necessary for energy production. For example, metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium will be key in the automatic catalyst process. Meanwhile, cobalt, graphite and vanadium will be very important on the electric vehicle side. In the aerospace and defense sectors, there will be other metals, such as rare elements, that will be essential. All metals for these industries have different dynamics of supply and demand; therefore, there are both advantages and disadvantages. What matters is to invest in metals that will be required in three years. If you are successful, you will have a good return on investment.

Q: What opportunities do you see in rising metals like silver?

A: Silver has many investment opportunities due to many factors but the main reason is the increasing demand for the metal for industrial use. If you can manufacture more investment products from silver, we can open up investment opportunities for an even wider audience. At TM2, investors are confident that they have physical backing. Here we offer a broader form of silver investment product, which is one to one. We believe that silver has great opportunities because it is a commodity that will increase in value due to the expected demand.

Q: How will this impact metal trade and the mining industry?

A: We see more demand for most of the metals TM2 trades than supply, so prices will go up. In addition, shipping issues have exacerbated the problems related to these metals, so there will be more friction in the supply chain and, therefore, prices will continue to rise.

Q: What goals does TM2 aim to achieve in the Mexican market?

A: First, we want to understand what we can offer the Mexican mining market. Second, we will determine the best way to enter the market and find Mexican allies. We have several objectives. One is that we want to become a great, honest, fair and transparent partner in distributing supply democratically across the world. We want to support the capacity and offer of the broker, but also be the market, which is there to package investment products.

In regard to the distribution of our products, we plan to carry out retail campaigns. We would love to work with Mexico and open opportunities to everyone. Our clients do not have to be millionaires; people can invest a few hundred dollars and still be able to buy platinum from us and benefit from demand growth. Also, for those who want to invest larger amounts, we have specific ways of approaching them.

The other business area is trading and we would like to speak with the brokerages that are offering other investments to Mexican investors. We want to have a relationship with the largest commodities exchange in Mexico and supply more of our metals into that exchange.

I think Mexico is a potential world pioneer. COVID-19 caused a change in structures and a mega-acceleration, especially in the adaptation of new technologies. I believe that Mexico can make great strides in its transition if it is empowered. The supply must be shipped to locations other than the end user. There must also be a greater quantity of product that is shipped and sold in an investment market. If we can realize those two improvements, I think we can do many things.

Technology Metals Market is a global issuing and trading platform for technology metals. It connects institutional investors, industrial hedgers, physical markets, proprietary traders and retail investors with metal issuers, miners, refiners, recyclers and mints.