The Rust Belt, which holds an important place in the economic history of the United States, has been the center of the country's industrial power for many years. Factories in cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland have shaped both the region and the national economy through steel and automotive production. However, since the second half of the 20th century, this region has faced serious economic challenges due to increased foreign competition, technological changes, and the outsourcing of production.

Today, the opportunities offered by blockchain technology provide a promising new model for the revival of the Rust Belt. At the center of this model is the Lumia platform, which enables the tokenization of real-world assets (Real World Assets - #RWA ).

The Story of the Rust Belt from the Past to the Present

The Rust Belt was the heart of industrial production in the United States in the 20th century. America, which was a world leader in steel production, made hundreds of millions of dollars in profit annually with giants like Bethlehem Steel. However, structural changes in industries from the 1970s onwards led to the region's economic decline. With automation, the need for labor decreased, factories closed, and cities began to struggle with economic crises.

This process has caused deep disruptions in the social and economic structure of the Rust Belt. The infrastructure in the region has collapsed, unemployment has increased, and many residential areas have been abandoned. Traditional capital markets have not invested sufficiently in small and medium-sized production enterprises in the region.

Lumia and the Tokenization of Real World Assets

$LUMIA is a blockchain platform that converts real-world assets into digital tokens, allowing for ownership in small shares by breaking them down. This way, tangible assets such as factories, machinery, land, or infrastructure can be represented in the digital world, enabling the participation of many investors.

For example, let's consider a production facility worth 10 million dollars. Thanks to Lumia, this facility can be divided into 100,000 tokens. Token holders can participate in profit distribution according to their ownership share, vote on investment decisions, and have other rights related to the asset.

Innovations Provided by Lumia

Lumia not only offers tokenization but also provides a comprehensive infrastructure capable of managing critical processes such as legal compliance, identity verification, decentralized governance, and liquidity end-to-end. Thus,

  • Physical assets can be easily tokenized.

  • The number of investors can increase indefinitely.

  • Transactions are carried out securely and transparently via smart contracts.

  • Tokens can gain liquidity in centralized or decentralized markets.

  • Management processes become democratized through community votes.

The system offered by Lumia transforms the relationship between investors and businesses while providing direct benefits to local economies.

A Real-Life Application: Lumia Towers

The Lumia Towers project, carried out in Istanbul, is one of the successful real-world applications of the Lumia platform. This real estate project, valued at 220 million dollars, has provided investors the opportunity to own a piece of it through tokenization. Thus, investments that are difficult to access through traditional methods have become accessible to small investors.

This example shows that similar methods can also be used to revitalize old industrial areas like the Rust Belt. For instance, it may be possible to tokenize an abandoned steel factory in Ohio and restart production with the participation of local investors.

A New Financial Model for the Rust Belt

For many production facilities in the Rust Belt, traditional capital sources are either inaccessible or not attractive enough. Banks and large investors do not look favorably upon small-scale production areas due to high risk. Lumia's tokenization model:

  • Enables direct participation from local people, diaspora investors, and compliant capital.

  • Offers financing opportunities for the revival of production facilities.

  • Supports the production of next-generation products like electric vehicle parts.

  • Facilitates the renewal of public assets like municipal infrastructure.

This model allows for a healthier and more sustainable relationship to be established between investors and local businesses.

Community Management and Smart Contracts

Tokens owned on the Lumia platform not only grant investment rights but also provide a say in the management of production facilities. For example, a community in the city of Erie in Pennsylvania can purchase an old industrial site, organize management together with token holders, collectively finance machinery investments, and share profits.

Smart contracts allow these processes to be carried out automatically, transparently, and securely.

The Future of the Rust Belt is Shaped by Blockchain

What is needed for the revival of the Rust Belt is not large investments from a single central source, but the establishment of a sharing and collaborative ecosystem where local and global communities come together and pool their resources.

Lumia lays the foundation of this new financial ecosystem by enabling the tokenization of real-world assets on the blockchain. Many tangible assets, from steel plants to water infrastructure, from machinery parks to real estate, are thus meeting investors in ways that were previously impossible.

As a result, unique opportunities for economic revival and sustainable growth arise in industrially depressed areas like America's Rust Belt thanks to the digital infrastructure provided by Lumia.