ICO Mission Control — The Future is Here
In May 2018, cryptocurrency exchange operator QUOINE, owner of the Singapore-based QRYPTOS as well as the Japan-domiciled and FSA-regulated QUOINEX, launched ICO Mission Control as a seamless, end-to-end solution designed to guide blockchain project teams through the ICO process in a flexible, secure, transparent, scalable manner, that adheres to best practices of Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money-Laundering (AML). As we have previously described in our piece “How to get busted for your ICO in Japan”, the functionality is currently only available for registered investors on their QRYPTOS platform, i.e. outside of Japan, not on QUOINEX.
ICO Mission Control provides an integrated path from private sale through public sale to exchange listing, with all tokens, including bonuses, accounted for and transparently displayed for each participant at every step of the ICO journey. “I am so tired of Telegram messages that ask ‘Where is my token?’” said Seth Melamed, Head of Operations at QUOINE, “We have made the whole experience frictionless.”
Melamed stresses QUOINE’s focus on a simple, straightforward experience for both the ICO issuer and participant. Arguably, one can think of more complicated issuance scenarios, but ICO Mission Control will easily support the requirements of 90% of projects out of the box. Given that the project has been live just for a few weeks, it will certainly evolve further in response to market demand.
A big selling point for the platform is the captive client base of approximately 300,000 registered and fully documented QRYTPOS users. While this does not eliminate the need for the ICO issuer to focus on building its own community and gain momentum in marketing the project, in many cases, this will provide a head start. ICO Mission Control can also track separately the origin of the ICO subscriptions, split between existing QRYPTOS accounts and new joiners for the specific ICO (through a project-defined affiliate code). A minimum balance requirement can be set for private sales, which would be somewhat similar to accredited investor status as a pre-qualification.
The public sale can be conducted in stages, with different bonus levels, target amounts and offering periods. If one stage sells out early, the next stage opens seamlessly. If one stage does not sell out, the remaining tokens will be added to the last stage. Upon completion of the public sale, within minutes, the proceeds are credited to the issuer and all unsold tokens returned.
ICO Mission Control allows for the definition of a fixed exchange rate, e.g. 1 USD = 10 NORBS, a settlement currency for the issuer that can be different, and several floating/funding currencies that currently include BTC, BCH, ETH and QASH, QUOINE’s own platform token. Additional functionality that will be included shortly is the implementation of lock-in periods for private sales, soft cap thresholds that need to be exceeded for the ICO to officially go ahead (below the threshold, all funds raised will be returned to investors, providing an additional level of protection), and the provision of third-party research, a key feature given the abysmal state of platform like ICO Bench.
QUOINE, under Mike Kayamori’s leadership, has a long-term vision of becoming one of the leading cryptocurrency exchange platforms — you can still view Mike’s comments at the Tokyo FinTech Meetup on YouTube. As such, they are embracing regulation and are working closely with the various regulators to set high standards for the industry, and it is not surprising that the fee schedule for ICO Mission Control appears very reasonable, especially since fees will be capped at a certain level, which will especially benefit large, popular projects. In addition, listing fees are scrapped for ICO Mission Control users. This is a game changer for the ICO process and will bring some sanity to the craziness of private, and often illegal, fundraising that is currently going on globally. I expect that getting your ICO done on the QUOINE platform will be a recognized “quality seal” for investors in the not-too-distant future.
If you found value in this article, please “clap” (up to 50 times).
This article is part of our Tokyo FinTech Publication, please follow us to read more from our writers, like hundreds of readers do every day. Should you live in Tokyo, or just pass through, please also join our Tokyo FinTech Meetup.
