NetworkNewsWire
Editorial Coverage: Bitcoin was a major topic of conversation
among investors in 2017, but it wasn’t the only cryptocurrency
related investment that garnered investors’ attention in the
blockchain space. In 2017 alone, there were 235 Initial Coin
Offerings (ICOs) completed, which raised a total of $3.7 billion
dollars, and 2018 is shaping up to be the year of ICOs. ICOs are a
way for blockchain start-up companies to gain funding for projects.
Instead of offering shares of a company to its investors, they
offer a certain amount of cryptocurrency. Some companies that stand
to benefit from the influx of funding to ICOs include
Victory Square Technologies, Inc. (CSE:VST) (OTC:VSQTF)
(FWB:6F6) (VSQTF
Profile), Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: KODK), Helios,
Matheson Analytics (NASDAQ: HMNY), Glance
Technologies (CSE: GET:CC), and Social Reality,
Inc. (NASDAQ: SRAX).
In 2017, there were a number of ICO success stories. The most
notable is Filecoin, a blockchain data storage network project,
which raised $200 million in just 60 minutes in mid-August. The ICO
named Status raised $100 million in just 24 hours, and in six
months brought its investors a +1,521% return. Cobinhood (COB), a
zero-trading fee cryptocurrency exchange platform, just recently
closed its ICO which raised over $13 million.
There’s good reason to believe that 2018 could be a strong year
for ICOs. In 2017, ICOs were unregulated, but this looks set to
change in 2018. The Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange (GBX) announced
plans to launch its own ICO called “rock token” (RKT) in February
2018, and has already sold $21 million in its pre-sale. GBX plans
to use those funds to develop the world’s first licensed and
regulated token sale platform. This development will add a level of
legitimacy that the ICO industry badly needs to attract mainstream
investors who remain skeptical of ICOs.
In an unregulated ICO market, selecting an ICO to invest in has
proven to be extremely difficult. There’s estimated to be 30
different ICOs that close each month, each with their own
intricacies. Unfortunately, there have been a few companies who
have taken advantage of the lack of regulation, simply taking the
funds raised and running without starting the project. Investors,
up until now, have faced the challenge of figuring out which
fundraising projects are real, and will provide positive
returns.
To avoid the uncertainty of choosing specific ICOs, investors
are beginning to look to companies that have established portfolios
of strong ICO investments. One such company, Victory Square
Technologies Inc. (CSE:VST) (OTC:VSQTF) (FWB:6F6), invests in
cryptocurrency related assets, including ICOs, cryptocurrencies,
and blockchain startups. Located in Vancouver, B.C., Canada,
Victory Square invests, incubates, and mentors developing
blockchain companies and has a strong track record of finding and
investing in high-return ICOs. Victory Square was recently invited
to participate in an exclusive early contributors round for
Bluzelle, a decentralized database service where users have the
ability to rent out computer storage space in exchange for a
token.
In total, Victory Square has researched and invested in 12
mainstream cryptocurrencies and ICOs, and holds a portfolio of
smaller coins. To date, Victory Square has invested nearly $2
million towards ICOs and cryptocurrencies, with its biggest focus
on four specific ICOs. Neuromation sold out of its 60 million
Neurotoken (NTK) after just 8 hours of a public sale a few days
ago, bringing in $50 million. As mentioned above, Bluzelle is set
to be potentially the most promising ICO in 2018 and Victory Square
has announced that they will be purchasing a $500,000 allocation of
Bluzelle tokens (BLZ) with an additional 25% bonus tokens given to
early contributors. Victory Square also contributed $150,000 to the
Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange’s rock token. Victory Square has
generated a positive return on investment (ROI) on all of the coins
it has invested in, with a total token portfolio ROI of over
1000%.
Victory Square’s strategy of identifying attractive ICO and
cryptocurrency investments relies heavily on building partnerships
within the cryptocurrency industry. A big step toward including
ICOs in the Victory Square portfolio was its acceptance into the
Blockchain Investors Consortium, or BIC. The BIC currently has 120
members working together to share due diligence and investment
opportunities in the most promising blockchain ventures.
The BIC was started after founder Mike Costache researched over
200 ICOs and chose 25 of the most promising opportunities to invest
in and advise on. To become a member of the BIC, companies and
individuals must hold at least $3 million worth of digital assets,
and have at least $1 million invested in either ICOs or actively
traded cryptocurrencies.
Victory Square has also agreed to sponsor an investment prize of
$100,000 at the d10e conference, a decentralization conference with
a focus on emerging blockchain and other disruptive technologies,
such as ICOs. As many as 20 companies will compete in a series of
pitch presentations, with ICO companies among the competitors
looking to gain attention from the d10e judges. Of the 20 companies
participating, three will be selected as the winners. The prize
pool will be split equally among the winners as either an equity
investment or as a token allocation. The judges of the conference
include a range of investors and other leaders in the blockchain
and crypto spaces.
Victory Square’s acceptance into the BIC, and the subsequent
sponsorship involvement in d10e, are examples of its strategy of
networking within the ICO community to build connections that help
it identify and invest in up-and-coming ICO success stories.
ICO Chatter with Some Notable Companies
Eastman Kodak Company (KODK) is an American
technology company historically known for its foundation in
pre-digital photography, but this month (January 2018) it saw a
two-day run in its common stock price after announcing plans to
launch a cutting edge “major blockchain initiative” in partnership
with Wenn Digital. The initiative will use the Ethereum blockchain
to ensure the image rights of photographers by registering their
work and then pursuing the use of their images to secure payment.
The announcement was paired with a statement that Kodak and Wenn
will issue an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency called Kodak Coins, or
KodakCoin, which will be used to help photographers receive payment
for their work. KodakCoin will be launched through an ICO, starting
on January 31, 2018. During its pre-sale, KodakCoin raised $2
million. Kodak also said it will install rows of bitcoin mining
rigs at its headquarters in New York that will be branded Kodak
KashMiner.
Helios and Matheson Analytics (NASDAQ: HMNY) is
an information technology services and solutions provider that made
news last year when it acquired the license to a crime-stopper
facial recognition technology and then acquired a majority stake in
movie subscription company MoviePass, Inc. Investors took note when
MoviePass announced this month (January 2018) that it has spent
months exploring the possibility of a blockchain-powered initial
coin offering (ICO). Helios and Matheson Analytics CEO Ted
Farnsworth said the company has its own blockchain analysis effort
under way. The company, which recently reached the 1.5 million
customers milestone, focuses on big data, artificial intelligence,
business intelligence, social listening, and consumer-centric
technology.
Glance Technologies (CSE: GET:CC) is another
company hoping to profit by adapting blockchain technology to its
existing operations. The firm operates Glance Pay, a payment system
designed to allow smartphone users to choose where they want to
eat, order goods and services, send payments, access receipts, earn
rewards and interact with merchants. In November 2017, Glance
appointed Dinis Guarda to its advisory board. Guarda, ranked as the
5th most influential influencer in blockchain in the world by Right
Relevance, will be working to secure teams for Glance that will
develop the technology for a possible ICO for a rewards-based
cryptocurrency to be integrated into Glance Pay. Glance also
recently announced that its partially owned subsidiary Cannapay
Financial, Inc. has signed an agreement with Cannabis Big Data
Holdings, Inc. that will help provide data collection insight and
cryptocurrency transaction functionality for cannabis retailers and
producers using blockchain technology. Glance also announced in
December 2017 that it had completed its purchase of the Block
impact cryptocurrency and blockchain solution from Ztudium Inc,
which it intends to integrate into the Glance Pay mobile payment
platform.
Social Reality (NASDAQ: SRAX) is using its
existing business model as a digital marketing and data management
platform to position itself as the first public company to offer
delivery of a transparent data management and distribution system
via a secure blockchain platform. The company’s BIG Platform will
use an open source governance structure and token rewards, enabling
consumers to claim their data and receive compensation when that
data is purchased, rewarding them with a digital token. BIGtoken
will be launched as an ICO, with both pre-sales and sale of the
tokens set to commence in January 2018. On the news of beginning
its own ICO, Social Reality saw a spike of over 70 percent in its
stock, closing at $4.90 on the day the ICO was announced in
October. The stock has been doing well ever since and is currently
trading at $5.90 on January 12, 2018.
With over $3.7 billion dollars invested in ICOs in 2017, and the
recent developments in Gibraltar towards creating a regulated
environment for ICOs to thrive in, there is strong reason to
believe that 2018 will be the year that ICOs attract interest from
mainstream investors. The companies mentioned above are in a strong
position to benefit from this increased investor interest.
For more information on Victory Square, visit Victory Square
Technologies, Inc. (CSE:VST) (OTC:VSQTF) (FWB:6F6).
For more information about Victory Square Technologies Inc.
(CSE:VST) (OTC:VSQTF) (FWB:6F6), view the full report on Microsmallcap.com.
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