Critical minerals have moved from the industrial backwaters to the centre of economic security policy — and now two US firms want to give the market the digital plumbing to match. Datavault AI has unveiled plans for a strategic collaboration with Patriot Strategic Metals (PSM) to co-develop what the pair call a Strategic Materials Acquisition Platform.

The pitch is institutional-grade digital infrastructure for an asset class that still runs largely on paper and bilateral trust: a system to finance, tokenise, settle and manage strategic minerals such as copper, lithium and cobalt, whose demand keeps climbing on the back of AI infrastructure, chipmaking, defence, robotics and electrification.

Digital rails for a physical asset class

The proposed platform is designed to cover the entire lifecycle of eligible minerals — acquisition, storage, transport, certification, insurance and distribution — rather than just the trading layer at the end of the chain.

Technically, the venture would fuse PSM's integrated strategic metals business with Datavault AI's stack: real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation, AI-enabled infrastructure, blockchain-based settlement and enterprise software. RWA tokenisation turns physical or conventional financial assets into digital tokens on a blockchain — the same underlying technology as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin — which here functions as a sophisticated way to track and manage minerals digitally from mine to end user.

PSM brings the physical breadth: its platform spans mining interests, long-term offtake agreements, refining operations, strategic stockpiles, commodity trading and wider supply chain functions. Managing Member John K. Park describes the tie-up as the technological foundation for modernising how critical minerals are financed and moved, via RWA infrastructure, digital settlement and institutional trade finance.

The money behind the memorandum

The financial architecture is substantial, if still framed in conditional language. The partnership contemplates an initial Phase I programme of up to US$700m, covering institutional trade finance, digital settlement, technology integration, compliance and deployment.

Within that envelope, roughly US$62m is earmarked for technology integration tied to Datavault AI. The economics extend beyond one-off fees: alongside reshaping procurement, the model is built to throw off software-driven revenues, with Datavault AI in line for 25% of net distributable platform profits — the companies' route to diversified, recurring income from institutional platform services.

The venture also connects to PSM's broader procurement ecosystem, including a structured revolving procurement facility of up to US$20bn operating through the International Elements Exchange. Datavault, for its part, arrives with recent form: earlier this year it deepened its work with IBM's watsonx platform, tokenising data at the point of creation and converting raw inputs into authenticated, tradable digital assets in real time.

Why supply chains need this now

The timing is no accident. The IEA has flagged critical minerals as a frontline issue for energy and economic security, with rising geopolitical tensions and a string of export controls on key materials and technologies driving supply risk higher.

Concentration is the core problem. According to the IEA, China accounted for around 60% of global mining output in 2024 and dominates midstream and downstream battery supply chains, with shares above 80% across many segments. Set against surging demand from semiconductors and electric vehicles, that leaves chief procurement officers with limited room for error — and it is precisely this audience the platform is meant to serve, helping CPOs harden supply chain resilience through a period of instability.

Offtake agreements get particular emphasis. These contracts, in which a buyer commits to purchasing a defined share of a producer's future output, are the workhorse of mineral supply security — and a natural candidate for the digitised financing and settlement the platform promises.

The framework pairs physical strategic assets with cyber-secure, institutional-grade digital infrastructure — modernising how strategic commodities are financed, settled and managed. — On the logic of the partnership

Procurement's AI-shaped future

The deal lands amid a broader technological reshaping of procurement itself. Deloitte has observed that generative AI can reinvent operations, sharpen sourcing strategies and enable more proactive procurement while lifting efficiency benchmarks — a shift the minerals market has been slower to absorb than most.

For Datavault AI CEO Nathaniel T. Bradley, combining PSM's critical minerals platform with his firm's patented RWA technology creates a framework to modernise how strategic commodities are financed, settled and managed. Park frames the ambition in national terms: a scalable platform reinforcing resilient supply chains for AI, semiconductor manufacturing, defence, energy and advanced manufacturing — and positioning the US as a leader in strategic metals infrastructure.