WELCOME TO MESE.io, the Microequity Stock Exchange
Everything you wanted to know about MESE.io and its signature product, the Microequity.
What is a microequity?
A microequity, essentially, is a tokenized stock. But what we’ve done is we’ve divided it into 10,000 increments for one particular share. And so what happens in practice is that we hold shares in custody and then we issue 10,000 microequity tokens for every one of those shares. And then those tokens can be freely bought, sold and traded on MESE.io.
What is unique about microequities?
Microequities are tokenized stocks that have stability and high growth potential. They are a new tool in the field of microfinance. Users can purchase microequities at an accessible price point, and have access to the stability and growth potential of the underlying assets (the stocks) that are backing the microequities.
How is microequity created?
Microequity was made possible because of the innovation of cryptocurrencies and specifically the Algorand blockchain. All microequity assets are created as ASA, Algorand Standard Asset, tokens on the Algorand blockchain. All of the microequity products are backed with equivalent underlying real equity of the listed microequity and are held by MESE.io.
Why are cryptocurrencies and blockchain critical to microequities?
When you build upon a decentralized permissionless blockchain, there’s two main benefits: the first is your typical overhead costs really don’t exist anymore except for transactional costs. Once we build the assets they’re there and require minimal management. And the transactional costs tend to be quite insignificant actually. Therefore, we don’t need to charge exorbitant fees or force you to hold your assets with us in order to cover our overhead. It allows us to service users and markets that would otherwise be excluded. The second is that the assets can be held independently as digital tokens and can be freely traded or held as an asset.
How did you decide which stocks to use for microequities?
We had three main criteria:
- The companies should benefit from either network effects or an ecosystem
- Have a strong technology platform and be an innovator in their space on the social or technological front
- Shown to have integrity in their corporate leadership teams
While not in the FAANG group of companies, we identified Tesla as an ecosystem play and their associated technologies as having network effects when seen as a whole. Microsoft and Amazon experience clear network effects in their core businesses as well as their cloud data infrastructures. Apple is the epitome of an ecosystem play and innovation. Netflix has established economies of scale and markets, and though its network effects are limited, it has innovative and growing capabilities in its media content creation ecosystem. Twitter is considered to be the dark horse in this group, but its social function as a first line of news and social commentary, as well as its clear network effects, eked it in as an undervalued asset. Our hope is that it increases the number of thoughtful and innovative functionalities and doubles down on its strengths. And Google is Google.
What is the difference between microequities and fractional ownership of shares?
Fractional ownership is owning a percentage of a share from your broker’s pool. It is beneficial because you are able to invest in that stock regardless of the price of a single stock or minimum order. While you are a fractional owner, the actual share is held by the brokerage in its own pool and in order to sell that fractional share, you must sell it back to the brokerage you bought it for at the market price.
A microequity is structured not as ownership, but as a representative value of the stock. It is created as a cryptocurrency and exists on a public ledger so once it is acquired on MESE.io, it can be taken off the exchange and held in a private wallet or transferred to another user off the platform. Thus, the microequity can now also act as a store of value and as an asset that can hold wealth independently.
The other important attribute is that each microequity represents exactly 1 microshare designated as 1/10,000th of the value of the underlying asset, (i.e. the actual stock), and is not divisible into fractional values or decimals. This allows each microequity to have a clear base value and price guidance from the actual listed stock, i.e. if Tesla is at $450, then the microequity value is at $0.045 or 4.5 cents. This is an ideal entry point for accessibility in emerging and developing markets where such established equities do not exist.
Microequities are also able to be traded on their own independent marketplace that has clear price guidance, yet also retain the ability to price in accessibility. It is an asset that has a level of guidance, momentum and stability not seen at the ‘penny stock’ level. This marks the first time where an individual could truly make a sustained gain for an investment under a dollar.
Where are the listed stocks that back the microequity held?
The listed stocks that back the microequities are held in custody with MESE.io. We do not issue any new microequities unless we have the stock in custody. This ensures that, as the buyer of last resort, we are able to keep our commitment towards the underlying stocks as price guidance for the microequities.
Will you add additional types of new microequity? And if so, when?
In the foreseeable future, we don’t expect to add in any new microequity. But that being said, as long as they fulfill the criteria, we are more than happy to look at companies that should be added on. But we’re looking for the most innovative, impactful, networked ecosystems, because ultimately regardless of how they trade we want microequities to be growth assets rather than speculative assets.
How can I verify if I have a valid microequity token?
All the microequities are verified assets within the Algorand wallet, and there’s a check mark behind it. Each token has a specific ID number and you can go to AlgoExplorer.io to check whether or not that token is the right one. So as long as you are trading the correct token, it should be no problem at all. And that can be verified by the Algorand wallet.
Why did you create MESE.io?
MESE.io is wholly held by IBMR.io, and our mission is to solve global financial inequality through the creation of the world’s first microasset, ARCC (Asia Reserve Currency Coin), and to create an accessible and equitable decentralized financial system through the innovation of blockchain technology. Through direct and accessible user participation and decentralized network effects, IBMR.io is committed to supporting a global financial system that is designed and works for those who have been excluded by the current financial system. Our mission isn’t disruptive, it is to bring true balance to the world by applying the innovation of blockchain as a force for economic reconciliation.
Who can participate in MESE.io?
The product was designed for participants in emerging and developing markets. This does not exclude other countries, but US, US territories and US sanctioned countries and/or jurisdictions are restricted from participation on MESE.io. Access to MESE.io will be restricted after September 29th, 2020 to only those jurisdictions that qualify for participation.
How is the price of microequity determined?
The base price of the microequities determined on MESE.io comes from the price guidance of the actual stock itself. So, for instance, if Tesla is trading at $500 per share, then the initial price point for the microequity — one ten-thousandth of this share value — would be five cents. But beyond that, we are expecting that people will price in the ease of accessibility, and would look to see the microequity trade a little higher than what the price guidance is. But we don’t expect to see a wide variance from that. So, unlike a lot of other tokenized assets where there is no price guidance or they’re not really based on anything at all, we feel that microequities offer a very strong kind of bridge where it has its own independence yet receives clear price guidance from the main equities market.
How is risk mitigated for your users?
The risk is mitigated in two ways: first, the stocks we picked to base the microequities on are from very stable, network effects or ecosystem driven companies. Even during this period of great uncertainty, these particular tech stocks have actually continued to grow in value. Second, we are creating a microfinance network where users will be able to earn free microequities through participation. We’re not trying to take from their cash holdings, but rather create wealth through direct participation. We’ll have more to say about our network in the months ahead.
How do you buy microequity on MESE.io?
Buying microequity on MESE.io is basically the same as buying any digital token on any of the major digital token exchanges that exist right now. So, you would need to have either a stablecoin like USDT, or Bitcoin or Ethereum, and then you would be able to transfer that onto the system to deposit it. And then you would buy your microequity on the exchange. But, one major benefit we have is that we also have ARCC on our system, and we plan on providing opportunities to earn ARCC for free through participating in our microfinance network. With their ARCC, users will be able to deposit it on MESE.io and buy microequities, essentially for free, from their participation. We’ll be releasing more information on this in the months ahead.
How do I trade my microequity on MESE.io?
Trading the microequities on MESE.io after you’ve acquired them is the same as any digital exchange. All you need to do is go in and either put a limit order for buy or sell based on the price that you would like to have. We would encourage everyone to take some time to educate yourself on the platform and also the risks associated with trading. Even though we have mitigated and minimized those risks for our products there will always be risks.
Does MESE.io provide leverage on the platform?
MESE.io does not provide any leverage or shorting on the platform currently and not for the foreseeable future. The reason for that is we’re trying to create wealth and not a speculative situation, and we’re trying to get away from this entire model of credit. As an organization, we feel that there is a better way to approach wealth creation than through credit.
Can I hold my microequity off of MESE.io?
Yes, you can absolutely hold your microequities off MESE.io. Any Algorand wallet that’s enabled will be able to take an ASA. All you need to do is go into the Algorand wallet and simply enable the ASA. So, if it’s micro-Tesla or micro-Apple, you can just go into the Algorand wallet, enable it, and then simply send it to yourself. And you can send it to your friends and family as well.
Is there another place that I can trade my microequity?
Currently, there’s no other places for you to trade your microequity, but you can always trade freely with other people. We’re quite certain that in the future, if the microequities get traction, there will be other digital exchanges in the world that would like to trade it as well.
Can I find out what the total supply of microequity is?
Yes. You can find out the total minted supply by going to AlgoExplorer.io and just clicking your asset. In terms of the total supply that has been released into circulation, you can go to MESE.io and we will have an updated amount of circulating microequity listed on the site.
What are the trading fees on MESE.io?
Currently we’ve put them at 0.25% per trade, buy and sell. And the reason for that is because in order for MESE.io to work, we need to generate revenue. But in our model, 50% of our revenue goes back towards MESX, our index fund token. And so it becomes a positive feedback loop — as there are more transactions, there’s more revenue, there’s more contributions to the index fund, and there’s more ways for all of us to grow together.
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