What inspired you to create Blockport?
We started with Blockport (the blockchain portal) to bridge the traditional world of finance with the new digital economy of cryptocurrency and blockchain-based assets. Why? Because we believe that cryptocurrencies are a fundamentally new asset class that has the potential to completely change the way we exchange value with each other on a global level.
We see Bitcoin and its accompanying decentralized movement as the biggest socio-economic experiment in the history of humankind. In essence, this movement facilitates a shift of trusting companies and governments, to trusting technology. The more people use Bitcoin resources like this program here, the more people are willing to put their trust and investments into the tech industry. In theory, it can offer people a far more transparent and fair governance structure that allows them to have full autonomy over their assets and wealth. And all this accessible with just a smartphone and an internet connection. Furthermore, people are finding it easier to get into the Bitcoin trading industry as there are things like The News Spy bei der Höhle der Löwen, to offer an automated bot service who do the trading for them without the investor having to put too much thought into their investing strategy.
However, just like any other emerging market, the blockchain technology has its baby errors and needs time and resources to evolve and improve over time, to meet global standards of usability and scalability in order to achieve mass adoption. This is why we started Blockport, to literally and figurally be that fundamental bridge that allows everyone to become part of this emerging market, by directly investing in it and owning a piece of the new digital economy.
Why did you choose to raise funds via Security Token Offering/Digital Security Offering and not crowdfunding/alternative methods?
The concept of raising funds through a STO allows Blockport to be in control of raising capital in a sustainable and inclusive way, whilst also benefiting people in our community. The strategy of tokenization allows us to distribute economic ownership of Blockport amongst the stakeholders in our ecosystem that share Blockport‘s vision – and also helps Blockport to better match the demand Blockport received for a profit share model in the Blockport ecosystem.
Tokenization can allow for investor participation based on lower barriers to entry, whilst making it easier for investors to buy, sell or trade their shares at a later stage – if they wish to do so. The wave of security tokens has begun, and it‘s been shown by the likes of Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Nasdaq tokenized securities will play an integral role in ‘decentralizing‘ traditional finance.
Where are you distributing your security and why did you choose those jurisdictions specifically?
The STO includes separate offerings to accredited investors in the United States and to participants in a limited number of Member States in the European Economic Area. We‘ve chosen these jurisdictions according to the demand we‘ve received and where we see our main markets are right now. We experienced that besides Europe, there‘s demand from the US specifically, and therefore we allow accredited investors to participate as well.
What are your plans once you raise the funds?
With the proceeds from the STO we aim to further develop the platform, expand to new markets, and increase our user-base.
Until now, our team has developed the base platform of Blockport that we will continue to improve on and expand with new features. Some of these features are: social copy-trading, hybrid-decentralization, and additional fiat-to-crypto banking solutions.
Our vision is to provide everyone around the globe with an easy-to-use and accessible platform to invest in the new digital economy. This includes opening up our platform to 150+ additional jurisdictions. Consequential, we are also planning to offer the Blockport platform and service to residents in the USA.
A part of the STO proceeds will be allocated to scale up our marketing efforts to acquire new users. Among other things, this includes but is not limited to: subsidizing referrals, highly targeted advertising campaigns, rich and unique content creation, search engine optimization, and influencer marketing to promote social trading. You will have probably heard of most of those, but some of you might be unaware of influencer marketing. It is a rather new field of marketing, as there has been a recent rise in social media influencers. Interested in becoming an influencer? The best way is by using services like kicksta to boost your followers. You need to make sure you have a large number of followers but also that you post interesting and original content and that your followers engage with you. From there, things should take off and companies like ours might be paying you to help with their marketing! You can find a review of kicksta if you click here – that should provide you with all of the information you need if you want to start on the path to becoming an influencer.
Was the process of launching a STO/DSO difficult?
Launching a STO requires a lot of resources and months of preparations that shouldn‘t be underestimated. It involves amongst many things: technical, tax, business, and legal aspects. In general, it‘s a lengthy process and a cross-organizational endeavour where you will have to include many different perspectives. We‘re glad that we work with one of the best consultants and legal firms that assist us in the process.
What advice would you give others wanting to issue a STO/DSO?
I believe that companies planning to launch a STO should consider really carefully if the proposition and possible advantages of a security token fits their audience. For Blockport we believe it makes perfectly sense. However, in the market we‘re seeing a lot of companies seeking to raise funds through a STO while in our opinion it might not be the best fit for their audience. Additionally, I‘d give the advice to work with experienced lawyers, that will help you in the process. A substantial part of the work for launching a STO is legal and making sure you‘re compliant with local regulations.
More information on the STO can be found by following this link:
About Blockport
Blockport is launching its first equity-based fundraising round through a Security Token Offering (STO), launching on the 15 of April 2019.
Blockport is an Amsterdam-based, fiat-to-cryptocurrency trading platform that strongly focuses on usability and social trading features to provide a secure, efficient and enjoyable experience to its users.
The Blockport platform is connected to external exchanges and aggregates liquidity through its smart-order-routing system to automatically offer the best prices to its users. In the coming year, Blockport is building on a hybrid-decentralized architecture that allows users to trade with high performance, whilst safely storing their funds on a blockchain wallet,meaning they own their private keys
