You’ve probably heard the term “ICO” which stands for “Initial Coin Offering”. ICOs raised $3.8 billion in 2017. But already so far this year, companies have raised in excess of $12.4 billion. The problem is the unregistered nature of the product with respect to the Securities Exchange Commission that have left a number of ICO investors victims of fraud. There’s a better way, and they’re called “Security Token Offerings”which are gaining popularity as a means to crowdfunding deals. In this podcast, we spoke with Ben Wilkening of Token IQ, a company which provides software as a service for those companies seeking to create their own STO’s as a capital raising vehicle. When you listen to this podcast, you’ll learn with the future of “tokenization” really is and how the potential of STO investing is enormous (as well as some interesting applications of what blockchain technology and smart contracts can bring to just about any industry!)
As you’ll also learn in this episode, a token needs to pass the Howey Test for it to be considered a security token. Tokenization efforts derive their value from an external, tradable asset. Because the STOs are therefore deemed a security, they are subject to federal securities and regulations (and that’s a good thing for investors as it adds a layer of transparency and lessens the chance of fraud). Because Security Tokens are subject to federal security regulations, they are compliant from the first day itself – and with Token IQ, compliance has been the name of the game from the start. Since the assets which are represented by the security tokens already exist in the “real world”, they act like a bridge between the finance world and the blockchain world – which means the opportunity is here today for your company to use these strategies. Contact Ben at LinkedIn and get started with your STO today!
ABOUT OUR GUEST: Ben Wilkening
Ben Wilkening is the Director of Strategic Relationships for Token IQ, Inc, an SaaS blockchain technology which delivers turnkey solutions for securities tokenization and asset-backed investment contracts. Ben is a reformed marketing expert who came across blockchain technology in late 2016 when looking into solutions which could potentially disrupt the renewable energy industry. Through fastidious fundamental research, practical analysis, and feasibility assessment, Ben quickly discovered that distributed ledger & blockchain technology offered the match he was looking for to build a disruptive solution for the energy transmission conundrum (aka ‘The Last Mile’ problem). It also offered the opportunity to help promote and advertise something with high potential to catalyze transparency in the world, for once.
Soon thereafter, his passion for the crypto industry overshadowed that of the fondness Ben had for the energy industry, and he figured his mark could be made in a much more impactful way by focusing on building the “pipes and the wires” first, so that someday this could be approached again. Having had a background which briefly intersected with legal compliance and IP law, the regulatory considerations of the burgeoning industry were the biggest draw to him, and he quickly switched gears in the spring of 2018 to join Token IQ. Since then, he has become a champion of advocacy in favor of promoting legal protections, smart regulation, and responsible compliance in service of creating a truly immutable environment for this new asset class, and representation of value.
IMPORTANT!
All information provided is for informational purposes only. This information is not intended as legal or investment advice for anyone to make an investment in any one particular company and is not intended for any companies to rely on this information to form an opinion to go public or not to go public or to do any type of offering of securities. You must check with a securities attorney to find out if an offering is for you, or if you are going to be in the business of selling any type of securities, you need to make sure you are following your state and federal legislative law so you do not get into any troubles. Do not use the opinions as stated on this show as any way to form an opinion as what is wrong or right or what could be done for your business or as an investor.
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