Ideas on Our Crypto42 “Token Investment Summit 2018”
Wall Street Goes Crypto?!
I think we all agree that we just experienced an incredible year 2017 when it comes to blockchain and cryptocurrencies. The predominant phenomenon were Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) which raised some USD 4 billion in hundreds of projects. The hype around ICOs and the tokenization of fund raising has sparked the discussion around CryptoAssets as a new asset class. So what will be next?
We agree with a lot of smart people in the cryptospace: the next thing will be crypto-securities and the securization of blockchain-based digital assets. Apart from hegde funds like Multicoin, Polychain and Galaxy, up to now mainly small-scale investors (incl. the bitcoin whales) and speculators are invested in CryptoAssets. But due to the high return rates achieved, and due to such news like the Australian government´s decision to use bitcoin as a form of digital payment for goods and services in mid 2017, more and more institutional investors are starting to consider an investment in cryptocurrencies. But institutional investors have a completely different investment approach and increased requirements regarding asset class attributes (including legal, regulation etc.), governance, accountability or valuation.
In December 2017, two Bitcoin Futures have been launched with the approval of the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC). It was just a next step in the process of securitization of CryptoAssets after Barry Silbert’s Crypto-Asset-related Grayscale Investment Trusts.
In 2017 we had a lot of discussions on the “legal and regulatory nature” of tokens and developed respective concepts for compliant ICOs. Just to mention the “Simple Agreement for Future Tokens/SAFT” project (read the David Gobaud’s article or the Token Economy Newsletter #17) that advanced the discussion around ICO compliance significantly. Moreover, Chris Burniske published his book “Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor’s Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond” in October 2017 and laid the ground for traditional investors interested in this new asset class. Chris Burniske was one of our speakers in our Token Regulation Summit in October 2017 in Vienna and gave us a first impression on how to define and value Crypto Assets.
For 2018 we expect a wave of securitization around the blockchain-based digital assets aiming to enable and to attract institutional investors such as pension funds for CryptoAssets. Wall Street ante portas. Just think about the many cryptocurrency-related ETF projects that have been filed with the SEC over the last couple of months.
Crypto42 and the Token Investment Summit 2018
Hence, we thought it might be a good idea to continue the path and organize again a European event to further the 2017-discussion to the next level, the “Wall Street Level” with the main focus on all the issues around the securitization of blockchain-based CryptoAssets. The securitization of CryptoAssets such as Cryptocurrencies, Security Tokens and Real Asset Tokens is an evolutionary process and we are in the middle of it. Thus, our Token Investment Summit 2018 will try to gather industry leaders, entrepreneurs, thought leaders, regulators, auditors, lawyers and other professionals to work on the issues raised by this new asset class.
Our Crypto42 “Token Investment Summit 2018” scheduled for April 16, 2018, in Vienna (Austria) at the University of Economics. We will organize the Summit in close cooperation with the German Blockchain Association. We are more than happy to announce that Consensys, New York (probably Brett Shear) will present the Balanc3 project at our summit.
So in case you want to contribute to the event, just let us know! We are open-minded for all recommendations and thoughts. Simply let’s connect, share some deep thoughts and make a great event to further our industry.
Info on Crypto42 and Crypto42 Community: Some of you may know Douglas Adams’ science fiction series “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. In there, the number 42 is the “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything”, calculated by an enormous supercomputer named Deep Thought over a period of 7.5 million years. We try to establish Crypto42 as a community brand to find “Answers to the ultimate questions of Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, and Everything.”
