That’s a wrap — Consensus Singapore Sept 2018

The Techemy team flew into Singapore last week to attend Consensus Invest, catch up with our network and meet some new folks. There were some interesting changes in the marketplace that were highlighted at the event.

Slightly unorthodox conference
Consensus was hosted at the remarkable Marina Bay Sands convention centre. However, it was run as a joint conference with AI/IoT/MVNO and a Blockchain event. The result? Well an already eclectic event got even more, um … eclectic.
The vibe was a bit different this time around as well. There were a tonne of Consultancy /Advisory firms present or being announced, showing a flip in the market dynamic. This time around there were slightly fewer ICO’s pitching. Also in attendance were some more mature service offerings like custody solutions, investment trusts and the like. Times are a-changin’ indeed.

This is not a fad
The space is still getting a lot of attention, we spoke to three traditional VC’s who were all getting into blockchain. Organisations that had largely dismissed blockchain in previous years were now (cautiously) moving in. Their rationale? This industry is clearly not going away, the technology is becoming more proven and frankly the potential returns are hard to ignore.

Mainstream media is picking up on the topic, coverage is increasing, quality as well.

Key infrastructure gaps are slowing being plugged. Market data, products and analytics, as well as institutional service offerings. It’s pretty much game on.

A market in transition
A clear theme that came through was that the market is simultaneously getting more demanding of utility token offers, while also excitedly looking forward to the advent of security tokens.

Utility token sales are clearly getting pinched by the current market conditions as well as the hangover from last year. There are a growing number of ICO’s that got funded last year that are under increasing pressure to deliver. These front-runner raises have shaped investor thinking for this year and the current crop of projects are facing diligence levels not seen before.
This is leading to more inquiries about equity raises as well as an almost universal rush to quality/infrastructure from the investment community.

Meanwhile security tokens are getting a lot of airtime, but judging by the level of conversation, we have a long way to go in terms of reaching a common understanding and getting to a position where the conversation isn’t completely dominated by US securities law.

What is next
If you are in the middle of a token sale, check in with your advisory team. Make sure you’ve got your offer tweaked for the current market, and make sure you listen. It’s not 2017 anymore.

If you are considering a token sale, the demands of today’s crypto investors are now on par with the traditional VC community. In short, weak offers that don’t solve problems, have poor utility or a lack of great reason for a token are in for a battle.

If you have assets, or want to raise debt for a major project that is asset or cash flow backed, then it’s game on in the token space. The global applicability and simplicity that tokenisation can provide makes for exciting times in the token space.

Conclusions
The industry is in a state of flux. We are clearly maturing, expectations are increasing and those who aren’t adapting will be left behind.

Demands on ICO’s are getting more stringent. It shouldn’t be a surprise that projects with good use cases, sound teams and realistic requirements are still getting heard. Everyone else…not so much.

Finally, the tokenization of assets and cash flows is getting a lot of attention. The core infrastructure to support this move to security tokens is currently being built by Techemy and our various partners. We are excited to be trailblazing in this space — enabling blockchain technology to be used to raise capital in the real world, in a fully compliant way, to a brand new set of global investors.

In other words, just another week in Crypto.