Over the past few years, the cryptocurrency market has experienced several downturns, and the bitcoin exchange rate is attracting more and more attention every day, especially with the volatility and decline in global markets.

Now that we are in a bear market, many companies have exited the market, the industry has formed its own leaders, and large institutional investors and funds have entered the market.

Few companies manage to operate and develop successfully in a difficult and unstable market situation. But there are projects and teams that are launched and plan to revolutionize even in the coldest market times.

One such example is Web3Eco - the project offers investors the opportunity to invest in ecology by purchasing Paulownia trees in the form of NFTs in various countries, including Uzbekistan and Turkey, starting at $49. The purchase is made through an NFT, which is linked to a specific plot of land and the trees on it.

Paulownia plantations in Uzbekistan

We spoke with Philipp Bolotov, a serial entrepreneur and founder of the Paulownia Tokenization Project in Uzbekistan. We discuss his background, the project's business model, and future plans.

We will also learn how the Web3Eco team plans to realize their ambitious plans and revolutionize the agricultural sector.

1. Philipp, how did you come up with the idea of the project on tokenization of Paulownia in Uzbekistan?

After the successful sale of Smile, a large internet provider in the Moscow region, which was bought by Richard Branson, we caught fire with the idea of building a large-scale, tangible project that would bring financial benefit to investors and make a meaningful difference in the world. Ecology is one of the most pressing issues facing humanity, and we decided to make it our goal.

That is how my partners and I came up with Web3Eco. In a nutshell, we are building a project that will allow anyone to invest in ecology, to make a contribution - to buy a plot of paulownia plantation in Uzbekistan and Turkey in the form of NFT tokens for only $49.

We have identified two main objectives that are at the heart of the project and are the driving force behind its implementation:

• The ability to address environmental issues, carbon sequestration and deforestation at scale.
• To build the system so that everyone has the opportunity to contribute to improving the environment in the most transparent way possible.

Our investors are solving world-class problems to improve the environment, investing in NFT trees and making a profit. We are confident that Web3Eco will become one of the key players in eco-investing and help make the world a better place.

2. Please tell us a bit about your background. We know that you and your partners sold the company for a large sum of tens of millions of dollars, is this true? How do you plan to build a large company?

For many years in business (more than 12 years) I have managed to build several multi-million dollar projects. I am not intimidated by the size of projects, on the contrary, I am energized to achieve my plans.

Philipp Bolotov - Founder of Web3Eco

I started my business career in telecommunications in 2010 by scaling up the family and partners company Smile, which by 2015 had become the largest private telecom operator in the Moscow region. In 2016, the company was acquired by Richard Branson's Virgin Connect Group. We cannot disclose the exact amount of the transaction, but we can say that it was a favorable decision for both parties. As a result of the acquisition of our company, Virgin Connect's revenues increased by more than one billion rubles in 2016.

 3. Tell us on a simple user level, what is your project now and what problems does it solve?

Web3Eco is a regular business where we sell Paulownia (Kiri) trees. We differ from our "colleagues" in the business sphere only in the way we attract investments by implementing the tokenization of real assets (in our case, trees and by-products produced during the plant's growth cycle) using blockchain technologies.

Our project today is a contribution to the environment, where we provide the fastest and highest quality air purification and give investors the opportunity to multiply their capital many times over.

Let me tell you a little bit about how it all started. In 2022, we managed to get a 620-hectare plot of land in Uzbekistan. We began to plant trees - paulownia. We chose it because this species cleans the air of carbon dioxide 10 times more effectively than "competitors". And its unique ability to grow faster after being felled and its high price on the premium timber market made the project both environmentally and financially beneficial.

When people ask me what Web3Eco is, I usually answer that our project is a bridge between real world assets (RWA) and digital assets of Web3. We have come up with a model of RWA tokenization (RWA - real world assets), thanks to which an investor can centrally invest in ecology and have a legal right to receive were.

4. The main goal of the project is to restore ecology and let everyone earn money using blockchain technologies. How will an investor make money with green investments?

The NFT tree costs only $43-$49. The price is so low only now, at the beginning of our first sales. In general, the market value of each tree is at least $100, and even in this case, the approximate annual yield will be 10% - which shows that our offer is already one of the best on the market. Due to the high value of paulownia, if you buy trees now at the beginning, the percentage of annual yield is from 35 to 45%. At the same time, starting in the 2nd or 3rd year, we generate additional profit for our investors from Paulownia by-products.

Let's say a person invests in 100 trees - it costs $4,699. His total profit will come from the sale of seedlings, paulownia honey, biomass, extracts, carbon credits, and most importantly, the sale of timber. I am enclosing a table with approximate projected calculations, which have been confirmed by leading specialists in the paulownia market.

For a complete growth cycle of the tree, the investor will receive a capital growth of about 300%. This is one of the best offers in the field of RWA projects today.

5. That is, the project will be implemented through NFTs issued by a Swiss company? Is it legal on the territory of Uzbekistan? Maybe there are confirmations from representatives of the Ministry?

Yes, It's absolutely legal. We even have a deputy minister of agriculture on our team. The project has been officially approved by our company from Switzerland.

We have developed a system that is easy for everyone to understand. It is that the trees are officially registered in the cadastre of Uzbekistan, and our company in Uzbekistan grows them and produces timber, which is delivered to the Swiss company, which already issues a NFT giving the right to profit from each tree.

6. What legal rights and protections does an investor have when purchasing NFT trees?

Security and legal rights for investors are Web3Eco's priority. For this purpose, we officially register the project in Switzerland - the safest jurisdiction for investments. There is a strict offering agreement created according to the Swiss regulator. Secondly, our project is not an investment token disguised as a utility, as many projects are. The company's NFT trees are an official security that gives the right to receive profits.

Each investor enters into an offer contract with the project, in accordance with the regulatory rules in Switzerland. This contract gives the investor the right to profit from the ownership of the NFT trees.

7. How can you confirm that you own the trees? How can an investor know that his investment is safe?

We officially register the ownership of trees in the cadastre of Uzbekistan, and the land is acquired through an official state electronic auction, so our investors have nothing to worry about.

This information is completely open - anyone can come and make sure that the plantation really belongs to our company.

https://e-auksion.uz/auction-result?lots_id=1595278

8. How is Paulownia's tokenization business model structured? Could you describe the revenue streams and how the project generates profits for investors?

First of all we will sell wood. The average price of 1 cube of material from Paulownia in Europe is 400-800$. We guarantee investors 0.5 cubic meters from each tree, which is about +- 150$ profit.

In addition, we will generate additional income for investors through related products in the form of honey, carbon credits, leaf pellets and seedlings. By 2024-2025, the tree will be stronger and ready to generate additional profit.

From the second year, we plan to generate 3-7% annualized returns for our investors and up to 350% core returns at the end of the cycle. Buying a tree from $49, according to current calculations, an investor will receive at least $150 for the entire growth cycle of the tree (about 6 years).

Paulownia plantations in Uzbekistan

9. What factors affect the profitability of a project and how does that affect an investor's return? What are the risks and how do you minimize them?

It is important to note that our business model and the investor's profit are already calculated taking into account such risks as a decrease in demand / cost per cube of wood, difficulties in import/export of trees from the Republic. These are the main risks in the realization of the project.

Web3Eco undertakes the whole cycle of tree growing - from sowing to processing. The rest of the work is done by nature. In addition, in case of an emergency, the company will replace the tree with a living one. Since the plan is not to tokenize all trees, but only about 30% in the end

Our mission is first and foremost to preserve the environment, so we grow many more trees than we tokenize.

10. What is the current demand for paulownia in the local and global market? How will the tokenization of trees help meet the existing demand?

The paulownia market is relatively young and just beginning to take off. The tree now accounts for the majority of the more than $10 billion market in the United States and Europe. In China, more than 2.5 million hectares of paulownia are planted each year.

Photo of mature Paulownia trees

We estimate that the market size of Paulownia will reach several billion dollars by 2030, and that the demand and uniqueness of the wood will grow worldwide, especially in China and Japan. Moreover, we do not base our calculations and profit forecasts on unique and expensive products made of Paulownia, but on common materials made of traditional wood - carriages, furniture boards, other finishing, construction, furniture materials, for which the market is huge, and Paulownia surpasses ordinary wood in all qualities, including beauty.

11. You mentioned that you want to revolutionize the agricultural sector. That sounds massive! How do you plan to evolve?

Paulownia plantations in Uzbekistan

At the moment we have a clear plan for the next 5 years, but we hope to realize it much sooner. For now, the benchmarks are as follows:

• In 2023-2024 - to plant at least 200 GA of Paulownia in Uzbekistan. At the same time to build 1 thousand GA in Turkey.
• In 2024-2025 - to expand up to 1000 GA in Uzbekistan, up to 5 thousand GA in Turkey, and to open a new market for us - Bulgaria by installing 5 thousand GA. We also plan to build a wood processing plant in Uzbekistan.
• In 2025-2026 - to expand Uzbekistan to 5 thousand GA, in Turkey to 10 thousand GA, in Bulgaria to 10 thousand GA; to open new markets - 5 thousand GA in Spain. And start of construction of a plant in Turkey.
• In 2026-2027 - expansion in Uzbekistan and Bulgaria up to 10 thousand GA. Also start construction of 10 thousand GA in Italy, installation of plants in Bulgaria and Spain.

12. How can potential investors and individuals who want to invest in the environment join the project? Are there any special conditions or qualifications?

You can already buy NFT trees on the OpenSea platform. The number of NFTs available is limited by the number of trees on our plantations. This is probably a disadvantage - only those who manage to buy the asset before it is sold out will be able to become NFT owners. Otherwise, you will have to wait until the new plantations are planted. Every investor will be able to visit our website, read more information about the project and Paulownia in the whitepaper, see the tokenomics, as well as interviews with me and Alisher Turaev.

There are no special conditions - anyone can buy NFT to help the environment. But it's important to note that if you want to enter into a legal contract and document your right to profit, you must not be a US citizen (because of the country's laws).

13. Can an investor come to Uzbekistan to talk to you personally and see the plantations?

Yes, of course we offer our investors the opportunity to visit our plantations to personally select a plot or to verify the authenticity of all documents. This is very welcome and I am always happy when people are inspired by the project after a personal meeting and become our investors. After such moments, we realize that we are doing everything right.

14. You are currently planting over 250HA of land. Where do you get the money? Do you have to invest your personal funds and what percentage do you charge for project management if the investor's return is about 300%?

Yes, right now we have about $1 million invested in the project. And that is just the beginning. According to our calculations, the amount of necessary investments for the whole period of the growth cycle of the first plantation will be about 3 million dollars. At the same time, this year we will start the establishment of a 1000 hectare paulownia plantation in Turkey. According to our calculations, we will need about $12 million for this phase. The figures are huge, but under ideal conditions, from 1250 hectares, the company and investors will receive income of more than 200 million dollars already at the end of the first cycle of tree growth in 2029-2030.

We have studied the project thoroughly and can say that it is a really cool system that not only improves our planet, but also provides "feedback" in the form of guaranteed income for its investors.

NFT trees are already available on OpenSea. For now, we are going to acquire a few hectares of land, because the growth trends of this project are just huge. Think about it - you can become an owner of real NFT trees for less than $50. You will be able to follow their growth, get the latest news about the project and participate in the web3eco investor club events. At the planting stage, the company guarantees each investor a profit at the end of the tree's cycle (in 6 years) and additional income during this period, which will be obtained by selling wood, honey, etc. As if we haven't come across a more reliable and real project yet.

Companies like Web3Eco can become key figures in solving the world's environmental problems and benefit not only investors, but society as a whole. We are confident that the Web3Eco project will become a leader in its niche, because the growth potential is huge and people's interest in this type of investment is growing every year. This means that you should invest in this type of assets so that you don't miss your chance.

Website: https://web3eco.io/index_ru.html

Buy NFT trees on OpenSea: https://opensea.io/collection/web3econft-1

Telegram: https://t.me/web3ecoo

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Web3Eco

CEO Instagram: https://instagram.com/fil_bolotov?igshid=NGExMmI2YTkyZg==

Original interview text: https://vc.ru/u/1008961-bitcoin-bard/781224-kak-zarabotat-na-pokupke-nft-v-2024-godu-web3eco-tokenizaciya-nedvizhimosti-ot-predprinimatelya-kotoryy-prodal-kompaniyu