ICONOMI is heading for a $1bn company valuation and preparing for 150 employees in 2018, that’s 30 short of Coinbase
Unfortunately, my views of Iconomi have been re-aligned and the below no longer represents the active company that stands. I am leaving this up for clerical purposes, but I no longer hold ICN due to the change to the eICN token. I believe releasing a shareholding-based assets in replace of $ICN, with little voting power is a disingenuous way to treat long-term holders.
You’ll notice that in the past I have often compared ICONOMI to Coinbase. It’s my belief that they will co-exist and follow similar trends when it comes to new investors — all because they both offer an intuitive easy-to-use experience that allows anyone to invest in Cryptocurrencies.
The influx of new users is beginning to be overwhelming for most exchanges, with Coinbase experiencing an 800% increase in site usage since it’s peak in June and Bittrex signing up c. 50,000 new users per day. The crypto exchange blackout that stretched across the globe*, is a clear sign that the first phase of commercial adoption is upon us.
The stats don’t lie; after all the total cryptocurrency market-cap has risen from $13bn to a market high of $327bn. 25.12x increase in overall market size in what feels like a short, 12 months.
The Blockchain buzzword is exploding with enthusiasm, so let’s analyse the interest of these new users joining us, and more importantly, where will their cash end up.
Welcoming the new blockchain investors
The top search terms in the US, UK and most EUR app stores today (30th Nov 2017) has been Coinbase, Bitcoin, Blockchain, eToro, Cryptocurrency, Google Authenticator and GDAX. That’s 8 out of the 10 top trending app store searches being cryptocurrency led.
If we track Coinbase (red), Blockchain (yellow) and Cryptocurrency (blue) as an example when comparing Google search trends, there is an evident growth pattern developing for those interested in this space.
With the growing trend of new users adopting cryptocurrencies, they will all want to know which market they should invest in, as it’s not as simple as investing in Bitcoin anymore, cryptocurrencies are now a collection of various assets, and it’s quickly becoming a confusing and challenging world to understand for any newcomer.
When we were comparing the Flagship Coinbase currencies, Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin, it’s clear to say that Bitcoin is leading the pack when it comes to volume of Google Searches, Bitcoin (yellow), Ethereum (Blue) and Litecoin (Red).
In the not-so-distant future, commercial smart money will be joining the Blockchain revolution and will be investing billions, possibly trillions over the next three years.
Smart money wants to catch the next coin that’s going to offer that outstanding 1000%+ return, and more importantly, they will need an alternative platform to Coinbase due to their limited array of options, enter; ICONOMI.
ICONOMI (the ERC-20 token; ICN) launched its ICO in September 2016, and since then they have created a working platform that allows any user to purchase a Digital Asset Array (DAA), which is; a mutual fund made up of cryptocurrencies, an instant diverse portfolio from the click of one button.
Coinbase has made cryptocurrency easily accessible to those less technically savvy, and I know that if I could have invested in Coinbase during its earlier stages, I would undoubtedly invest in them over ANY cryptocurrency. Always remember, a single cryptocurrency can fail, but the entire Blockchain industry, no-way, right?
Investing in something like Coinbase gives you the ability to make money on every buy thanks to an entry and exit fee, regardless of a win or lose price scenario for the end user, generating a consistent profit is a clear no matter what is a no-brainer for me. That’s where ICONOMI and the ICN token offers something that other platforms do not – ICN Token holders profit from the users that are buying on the ICONOMI platform.
The ERC-20 Token, ICN benefits from something called buybacks that are in relation to ICONOMI’s AUM, (Assets Under Management). It’s the true incentive for holding ICN.
ICN creates value using a traditional well-known buyback method (also known as a repurchase). It is the purchase by a company of its outstanding shares that reduces the number of its shares on the open market. This creates upward buying pressure and increases the value of your shares that are held by you. In this case instead of a share, it’s an ERC-20 token. I see holding ICN tokens as a similar opportunity to being a part of Coinbase while it was in it’s infancy.
If you believe that the Blockchain industry is around to stay then I’d recommended digging a little deeper into ICONOMI.
So how does ICONOMI’s company valuation compare to Coinbase?
Let’s look at company assets and plans to assess where we can establish a fair value for comparing the two.
The first thing to point out is that ICONOMI currently owns an est. $230m in assets, and if the growth of this sector continues, this will push closer towards a book value of $1bn within the next 18 months.
That’s right, ICONOMI and could have a net worth of $1bn, to put that into perspective that’s the same market cap of; Augur, Golem, Factom, Siacoin and Civic combined*, or something that we all may understand, Coinbase’s latest $1.6bn valuation.
Coinbase’s most recent capital raise valued their business at $1.6bn, and they’re currently housing 180 employees*. This is where ICONOMI is heading.
A senior member of the team expressed how they’re making room for 150 employees, indicating that they’re scaling up progressively and securely. He also talks about their hot and cold storage scenario that offers a secure and unique way to ensure all consumer funds are safe.
It’s only a matter of time until the ICN Token’s market cap reflects it’s accurate billion-dollar+ valuation. ICONOMI is more than just a platform, they alos plan on listing the very first cryptocurrency index fund on the Irish Stock exchange — adding more financial aid to the buybacks mentioned above.
ICONOMI (ICN) and it’s team have always delivered and I very much look forward to what’s come over the next 6–12 months.
Once (or twice) again — Thanks for listening to my meandering thoughts.
*At the time of writing this; November 29th 2017.
