London, England – April 16, 2019 – TokenMarket, a global investment platform, has today announced that it will be partnering with a Singaporean digital asset custodian, DAVOS Custody. The partnership will see both business work together across Europe and Asia.

DAVOS is a Singapore headquartered company specialising in custody and safekeeping of digital assets for financial institutions, asset managers, funds, exchanges and private investors.

At the core of its work, DAVOS has its enhanced AML/CFT policies, information security and technology risk management systems. DAVOS protects its clients with strict protocols for the segregated safekeeping of their individual assets.

All client digital assets are completely segregated, in independent vaults, using the latest proprietary offline storage solutions, on mediums that are unable to connect to the internet. This provides the maximum level of security and flexibility for any token owner. Upon the announcement, DAVOS CEO, Ville Oehman, said:

“We are working with TokenMarket to create a foundation for the financial market infrastructure of tokenised assets. Just like the custody of traditional securities, the custody of digital assets and especially security tokens is one of the prerequisites for institutional investors to enter the digital asset investment market. I believe this is a very timely start of a long and prosperous relationship for us both and am excited to get underway.”

TokenMarket’s partnership with DAVOS will allow investors to access a high calibre third-party custodian service. Traditionally, institutional investors and external asset managers in various jurisdictions are required to use a third-party custodian service. Now, these standards can be met for tokenised assets as well.

In doing so, TokenMarket will be taking a more holistic approach to the world of tokenised securities; giving investors a more regulated and protected platform to hold their digital assets on.

“We have seen the hard work and success that DAVOS has had in Singapore. For TokenMarket, working with a third-party custodian service will allow us to offer our investors a much safer scenario for the storing of their assets. It also means that we are setting an industry standard yet again, bringing traditional financial methods to an emerging market. We are excited to begin our work together and I look forward to the results.” Mikko Ohtamaa, TokenMarket CTO.

For more information on the work that DAVOS carries out, please visit their website: https://www.davos.sg/

SOURCE: TokenMarket News – Read entire story here.

With the news that Zoom, the video conference software developer, will be increasing its IPO share price, we examine the effects this could have on its success.

Read more Opinion pieces here.

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Zoom, the video conference software developer, announced that it will be increasing its initial share price range from $28 to $32 per share to $33 to $35 this week. The IPO is now expected to rise to $730.4 million, giving the company a fully diluted valuation of $10 billion. The recent valuation now gives Zoom an initial market cap nine times more than that of its first unicorn valuation in 2017.

After recently declaring that it will be selling $100m of Class A shares to Salesforce Ventures, the decision to increase the price has left some analysts questioning the decision, as well as the overall success the Zoom IPO will have.

Recently described as a “rare breed of unicorn” Zoom, which will list on the NASDAQ as ZM, is set to sell 9,911,434 Class A common stock shares on Thursday 18th April. With over five billion monthly meeting minutes on its platform in 2019 alone, things are certainly looking up for Zoom as it proceeds to gear up for its IPO.

With Lyft watching their share price decrease by over 28{79bb97593c9111edff9923070a045ef663f285faf8113c2b6de3768228bcaf3a}, perhaps this should serve as a warning to Zoom. From market experience, overpriced shares usually have a big consequence for the issuer. King Digital Entertainment, owners of Candy Crush Saga, watched their shares sink from $22.50 to $18.90 on the first day.

However, with Lyft’s recent IPO dropping dramatically after the IPO, some feel that Zoom could face a backlash amidst the price rise.

The substantial price hike for investors, however, could be a big problem. For the venture capital firms heavily invested pre-IPO, however, it means that they are only going to get richer. Investment firms such as Emergence Capital, which owns 12.2{79bb97593c9111edff9923070a045ef663f285faf8113c2b6de3768228bcaf3a} of shares, and Sequoia Capital, which owns 11.1{79bb97593c9111edff9923070a045ef663f285faf8113c2b6de3768228bcaf3a}, are set to receive a large payday once the shares go live.

Zoom’s price hike has also got some investors questioning whether or not the IPO will be an inevitable failure. Lyft alone highlights some of the implications and problems that overpricing can have since its $22 drop from just three weeks earlier.

Although Zoom has experienced incredible growth in the last two years alone, this price rise could have a negative impact. Perhaps it shows that Zoom is expecting to be oversubscribed, although there is currently no data to suggest otherwise.

In 2017, Zoom’s final round share price was a mere $3.74. It’s now multiple times that initial price. It means that for investors who are going to buy shares, they are now going to get less for their investment, without a valid explanation. For the smaller investors and funds it simply isn’t fair.

Whilst Zoom could be simply hedging their bets, knowing that people will still buy their shares, they also have no idea whether their IPO will be a success. They could be losing out on investors by changing their price just two days before they launch their IPO and, in the long run, greed could be what hurts the IPO the most. Although they have underwriters such as J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley set the price, this does not guarantee success.

In 2009, Shanda Games, which employed Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan as lead underwriters, watched their share price drop by 14{79bb97593c9111edff9923070a045ef663f285faf8113c2b6de3768228bcaf3a} on the first day because of the price change to $12.50, the maximum price it could be. It still stands as one of the worst IPO debuts to date.

With this price rise, however, it shows the ineffectiveness that IPOs have. Smaller investors are locked out for longer, early-stage funders are simply getting richer and unicorn businesses suffer the potential consequences of underwriters greed.

Something needs to change.

A market in which everyone has access to early-stage deals ultimately creates a fairer investment landscape. A solution that has an immutable database, as well as complete transparency about who is investing would also mean that the investment itself would be safer for all.

TokenMarket is disrupting traditional markets by offering all investors the same access, at the same price, for the same company via tokenised securities. We are listing what we believe to be the next generation of unicorn businesses for everyday investors, as well as venture capital firms.

In doing so, we are revolutionising the £77 billion annual growth and startup financing market. We are creating a level playing field for all investors, something that is simply not available with current financing models; changing the way that early stage investors are able to access the next generation of deals, creating a fairer playing field.

We are enabling investors who might not have the opportunity to invest at an earlier stage. This is something that is simply not possible through current early-stage capital methods allow. By utilising the Security Token Offering (STO) framework, we are beginning to combat some of the issues that methods, such as the IPO, face investors with.

On average, there is an 8.2-year wait for an early-stage to exit from the IPO. It locks capital up for close to a decade, giving no option of earlier liquidity and also highlights just why traditional methods are archaic. We are giving investors the opportunity to invest at a much earlier stage but not locking them up for a longer period. By giving investors earlier liquidity, it gives them the freedom to trade on a regulated exchange when they want, not when they are told they can.

With Zoom’s IPO going live tomorrow, we will have to wait and see whether the price change has an impact. For the software unicorn, it’s a nervous waiting game.

SOURCE: TokenMarket News – Read entire story here.

TokenMarket’s Ryan Hanley is to speak at the FinTech World Forum taking place in London next month.

Read more TokenMarket Updates here.

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TokenMarket is set to speak at the FinTech World Forum taking place in London next month. The FinTech World Forum 2019 will be held at The Great Hall, Kensington Conference and Events Centre across two days from Tuesday, May 21st – Wednesday 22nd.

Ryan Hanley, Managing Director of the UK for TokenMarket, is set to deliver a keynote speech, as well as be placed on a panel. With his vast experience in the tokenisation space, Hanley will be discussing one of the financial industries hot topics: tokenised securities.

As more businesses and offerings are coming forward every day announcing their upcoming Security Token Offering (STO), Hanley will delve deep into why the technology and method for the new financing method have the ability to restructure the entire finance industry.

Whilst there are still misconceptions about the overall effectiveness that STO industry will have, Hanley will explain the various challenges and obstacles the fundraising method will overcome.

There are already 300 delegates signed up, with 25 speakers from large corporations in the financial and technology sectors set to attend. Notable speakers include Søren F. Martensen, Director of Financial Markets at IBM, Ian Rand, CEO of Business Banking for Barclays and Luis Valdich, Managing Director of Venture Investing at Citi Group.

Several TokenMarket team members will be there and Ryan Hanley will be on a panel discussing tokenisation as well as security token offerings and blockchain technology.

For more information and tickets, please visit https://fintechconferences.com/

SOURCE: TokenMarket News – Read entire story here.

TokenMarket would like to meet some new faces in the space offer our community and exclusive discount for the upcoming Becon Global event taking place in New York.

Read more TokenMarket Update pieces here.

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As the event space is beginning to start for the Spring/Summer run, TokenMarket would like to meet some other members of the community as we begin our extended run with our friends at Becon Global for their upcoming Tokenized Assets event series.

Ryan Hanley, UK Managing Director of TokenMarket Technologies Ltd, is set to speak at various Becon Global events across the globe, beginning in New York City on May 12th 2019.

Whilst beginning in New York City, Hanley will also be attending the Tokenized Assets taking place in London on June 4th, Amsterdam on June 6th and finally Singapore on June 25th.

Hanley will be delivering a keynote speech on the world of tokenised securities and how they can reshape the world of equity financing. Having gained vast insight into the world of raising capital through the blockchain space, Hanley has been able to help facilitate more than 30 disruptive Startups raise more than £240m.

Giving users a deeper insight into the world of tokenised securities, Hanley will be able to discuss some of the common misconceptions that this new form of fundraising method and share has around it. With the world of blockchain and security token offerings (STOs) now becoming a mainstay in both traditional and emerging markets, Hanley will explain how this revolutionary way of tackling the problems that current businesses and exchanges face can be changed with blockchain.

TokenMarket is pleased to give its users a generous 50{79bb97593c9111edff9923070a045ef663f285faf8113c2b6de3768228bcaf3a} discount or the upcoming event in New York City by using the discount code: TokenMarket.

For more information on the Becon Global Tokenized Assets series, please visit https://www.becon.global

SOURCE: TokenMarket News – Read entire story here.

With the announcement of our newest partner, DAVOS, we invite the CEO and Founder Ville Oehman to explain just why custodianship is needed in the digital asset space.

Read more Opinion pieces here.

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I’d like to start with Black’s Law Dictionary of the word custody.

“Custody is the care and keeping of anything. A custodian is an AGENT that performs various duties on behalf of a client, including holding securities in safe CUSTODY, executing financial transactions under specific instructions, and collecting periodic CASH FLOWS from investments.”

Now that’s exactly what our tokenised custody company does. This definition was written and published in 1910, just short of a century before Satoshi published his whitepaper on Bitcoin. I don’t think they were too worried about hackers in 1910, but they probably knew about risk management.

When applied to digital assets, custody simply means the creation, safekeeping and administration of digital asset wallets (keys) for a client. It means that the client keeps the ownership of the assets, but the custodian has possession and control of them.

Let’s look at the reasons why custody is needed in the digital asset space.

Risk Management

A hundred years ago, they knew that the segregation of duties worked. It kept some form of objective check and balances in place in a process in which participants handled other peoples money and assets.

The segregation of duties was a risk management measure before any computers were used in financial services. Since then it has been a standard accepted practice of the financial industry for decades, for a reason.

Today, however, new questions have begun to emerge. Can technology make this ancient risk management measure obsolete? Can technology provide advantages that change the established structures and roles of the financial industry? Can’t we just be our own banks?

Be Your Own Bank, Until You Make It

Being your own bank is great, up to a certain point. It’s fun to talk about digital assets and show off your mobile phone to friends with a couple of thousand dollars worth of bitcoin on it. It’s still kind of fun if the balance reaches ten thousand dollars, but you might not show it to as many friends anymore at that point. If the value reaches one million or so, I don’t think it would be fun to walk around the city with the phone in your pocket at all. It’s probably pretty scary even to have the phone in your bedroom drawer, even if it’s switched to aeroplane mode. Now imagine the tokenised assets on your phone wallet belongs to your client.

Let’s look at companies instead of private investors. How would you feel about your external asset manager asking you to drop your money to his office in cash notes, so he can then start investing it to various assets? Maybe you can decide what to invest in, and he will just go and pay your money to the seller for you. What if that asset manager is not an asset manager at all, but an IT startup? Well, we’re pretty close to the description of how digital asset brokers and exchanges work, until they disappear, get hacked or get their assets seized because of money laundering suspicions.

Maybe the regulatory requirements of licensed asset managers to use a third-party custodian for client assets are not that annoying after all. The next question is if you are not required to have a third party custodian, why would you? Would you wear a seatbelt if you were not required to do so?

Emerging regulation

Just this week two promoters of the notorious OneCoin appeared in court in Singapore. One of their arguments, if I remember it correctly, was convenience. OneCoin was ‘better than bitcoin’. If an investor just gives money to an IT startup and lets the unregulated company assume all the roles in the market, order matching, liquidity provider, market maker, auditor, custodian, broker and trading platform developer, then everything runs just great, and it’s really convenient, right? Not exactly because that’s how all Ponzi schemes run.

Is custody starting to make sense yet?

Let’s look at the traditional financial market, and how it’s structured. We have a central securities depository (CSD) for the safe-keeping of investment products, a central counterparty (CCP) providing clearing services and to mitigate the counterparty risk between traders and a securities settlement system (SSS) enabling the transfer and delivery of securities.

The market participants connect to these service providers for orderly trading, for the protection of their clients and themselves. The market participants don’t hold their client assets because they don’t want to be held accountable if the assets disappear. If you are interested in 188 pages of details about the reasons for this traditional structure read the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures by the Bank of International Settlements.

These are the types of checks and balances that both regulatory authorities and institutional market participants are familiar and comfortable with. They are not familiar and comfortable with ‘trustless systems that replace intermediaries with maths’ or with comments like ‘there’s no need for custody because the assets are on the blockchain’.

For the regulatory authorities, this simply won’t work.

Technology vs Law

The current regulation of financial services is compatible with the digital assets, as long as asset managers understand that if their clients think of tokens as assets, the asset managers should treat these assets like any other asset class, with all the normal checks and balances in place.

For auditors, custodians, insurance companies and fund administrators, you do not need to bend the rules and principles of asset management just because you are dealing with a new asset class. Yes, it works to some extent, but at some point, you hit the limit in the quantity of money and people that are ready to take the risk in the name of new technology.

I think we hit this limit in the last crypto rally, and now we’re back to building better solutions that can scale. And by scaling I don’t mean transactions per second, I mean proper asset protection. There was no way an average investment committee for a pension fund would allocate any money to products where the manager did not know where the assets were.

Regulations on investor and asset protection won’t change because of the tech-heavy nature of a new asset class. In fact, it will most likely have quite the opposite effect because everyone wants to (or should) be extra careful. Think what’s happening with cloud regulation and data sovereignty. If countries think it’s safer to have data stored in onshore datacenters, do you think they would easily accept the concept of ‘storing security tokens in the cloud’ or on-chain’?

If we believe in technology we should understand that technology can adapt to regulatory requirements quicker than regulations can change due to advances in technology. We should also understand that restricting functionality, convenience and the movement of assets, we increase security, and protection of the assets. Offline is more secure than online. Ask any cybersecurity expert or insurance company.

Institutional Infrastructure for Digital Assets

I like the term ‘institutional infrastructure’ because it has some weight to it. It can’t just be a guy and a laptop. With custody, it means heavy doors, security guards, body scanners, access passes and keys. It’s also different from escrow. Escrow can be done in about two minutes on a Trezor of a blockchain enthusiast lawyer.

There’s no such thing as two-minute custody. Custody is long term safekeeping, because you want to use the value for trading, but not lose the asset. Institutional asset managers can talk all they want about market risk and trading strategies, but it’s a material omission not to consider the safety of the assets from risks not related to the market.

Final Thoughts

Using a custodial service for the monitoring, storing and safekeeping of the next generation of digital assets should be a no-brainer. That’s where DAVOS Custody can help, and that’s why we partner with leading token platforms like TokenMarket.

Together, we want to create a new marketplace with traditional security measures. We want to build the infrastructure that will allow this space to thrive and by applying measures like custodian services, we are sure that we can.

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Author

Ville Oehman is a co-founder and CEO of DAVOS Custody, a Singapore based purpose built custodian for digital assets, hard assets and tokenized assets. Before starting DAVOS, Ville was one of the first licensed asset managers in Asia, managing a regulated long-only mutual fund investing in equities and digital assets. Ville has been active in the digital asset space since 2013.

DAVOS Custody (www.davos.sg) is a third-party custodian for digital and tangible assets, including tokenised assets, with tailored insurance coverages available. Founded by a team of experts in fund management, cybersecurity and financial regulation, DAVOS was the first blockchain company to apply for the Capital Market Services license for Securities Custody in Singapore, setting it on an industry-defining path to becoming a qualified custodian for securities and security tokens.

SOURCE: TokenMarket News – Read entire story here.

We sat down with Almond CEO and Founder Oliver Bolton to discuss how he is revolutionising the way we think about global sustainability.

Read more Opinion pieces here.

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The word ‘sustainability’ has been thrown around a lot in the last decade. There is an emphasis on doing our best to help the planet. Recycling, cycling to work and going vegan are all options to reduce our personal carbon footprint. Whilst many have simply shrugged these challenges off, scientists however are predicting that we have until 2030 in order to prevent a catastrophic change in our climate.

With the current climate crisis having a devastating impact on our planet, more and more businesses and consumers are trying to reduce their global emissions. With 2018 having one of the lowest sea ice extents on record, there is a drastic need to change the way in which the world looks at sustaining our planet. Reducing our carbon footprint is something that Almond is at the forefront of changing.

Influenced from over a decade in the health drinks industry with Waterbomb, the creators of health drinks, Almond is designed to reward consumers for buying sustainable low-footprint products and help responsible brands grow their business.

“Waterbomb was the first European soft drinks company to certify as a B Corp, which is a business that meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance,” Oliver Bolton, Almond and Waterbomb Founder and CEO, tells me over the phone. “Getting to know the B Corp community made me realise that there are some great low-impact products out there, the consumer desire to buy them but people just don’t know where to find these products and with greenwashing which brands to trust. It just didn’t sit well with me” Bolton goes on to explain, and he’s right.

Research conducted by Almond and Carbon Analytics found that in the UK, 52{79bb97593c9111edff9923070a045ef663f285faf8113c2b6de3768228bcaf3a} of the average person’s carbon footprint was made up of the products and services that they consumed. That’s a startling statistic. In 2017, the UK Government published a paper that outlined the biggest causes of CO2 emissions. Products consumed was not even listed in the 24-page document. “Our research highlights two things” Bolton states. “One, people are misinformed about what they think their biggest sources of carbon footprint are. Two, we have to fundamentally change the way we look at global emissions and capture the true cost of consumption.”

The sincerity of the message, as well as the fear that it instils, delivered by Bolton, leads into the bigger challenge that we are currently faced with: climate change. As it stands, the earth is dangerously close to facing an irreversible change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report over 500 pages long outlining what we needed to do in order to stay within the 1.5° limit: the maximum which the earth can heat up if we are to avoid a “hothouse earth” scenario.

“The IPCC’s report had some incredible statistics and echoed our thoughts at Almond” Bolton goes onto explain. “However,” he states, pausing before delivering something that stayed with me long after the call. “In order to stay within 1.5° we need to get our global carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.” To me, this sounds like an achievable target. However, I am quickly proven wrong. “To put that into perspective, we’d need to cut our carbon emissions in the next 11 years by 43{79bb97593c9111edff9923070a045ef663f285faf8113c2b6de3768228bcaf3a} in order to be on track to hit that target” Bolton explains.

Facts like this are difficult to comprehend. It is also at the very core of what Almond are looking to rectify. “Our philosophy has two main focus points: businesses and consumers” Bolton tells me. “For consumers, Almond is designed to help them understand the impact that their carbon footprint has and then help them to reduce it” he goes on to explain. “We can help them to make a positive change by showing how these lower impact products will lower their individual emissions.” It, of course, makes sense to do so. A 2017 report from Unilever highlighted the fact that a third of consumers were buying products that they believed to be responsible.

“For the businesses, it’s about us working with responsible brands who are producing these low impact products and helping them gain market share” Bolton tells me. They are facilitating the next generation of B Corp businesses to succeed through their app. “It’s about us enabling them to attract business away from unethical and irresponsible brands with high impact products.”

The rewards come in the form of sterling backed ‘Almond Coins’. The coins are given when a consumer scans a unique code on a product in the Almond app (the Alpha version is currently available on both the App Store and Google Play). This code shows information about the product such as where it was made, who the business is, what ingredients were used, how they were sourced and why the price of the product is what it is.

“One of the challenges that comes with sustainable products is that sometimes they are a bit more expensive” Bolton explains. “The aim of incentivising people with a form of a ‘cash-back’ so to speak is to take the pressure off of those brands” he goes on to tell me. “It also means that brands will be able to better understand their customers, giving them greater insight into their customers and ultimately rewarding those who consume their products.”

Marketing physical products can be difficult, especially when these businesses are not cutting corners. Through the Almond app, businesses are opened up to a far greater number of avenues to which they can create recurring customers. “Because we are digitising a brands physical products, we are giving businesses the opportunity to incentivise consumers through our system and engage them through the purchase,” he tells me in a passionately animated tone.

An example of a brand being able to do this would be having a product on the app. Then, as a first time a consumer buys and scans it, the product could be given to them for free. This then creates a sampling exercise, and for the brand, means that they have the opportunity to create a recurring customer by incentivising them with Almond coins.

“Another example would be building in a referral scheme to the app. Inviting someone else to buy the product and if they buy it and then scan it both users are rewarded for that purchase” Bolton explains. Almond has the capability to revolutionise the way in which businesses and consumers are rewarded for making a conscious decision to reduce their carbon footprint through sustainable products.

Using cutting edge technology, as well as incentivising people to use the application, Almond’s decision to go down the route of a Security Token Offering (STO) then makes sense. “We’ve always looked to utilise technology which makes the has the best impact for the business. For what we want to achieve from now to next year, to five years time, the STO framework serves our business over the course of seed funding to the best it can be” Bolton tells me.

The decision to use a new form of investment was one that made sense for Almond as a whole. Almond itself will be operating under a Swiss foundation which owns all of the intellectual property (IP), technology and B Corp Certification. Sticking to the morals that the B Corp Certification brings, this means that if a corporation that is unethical or immoral by their standards asked to buy their IP or tech, they would not sell the business on. As this is a foundation, it also means that for investors there is no exit period.

“Because the project is acquisition resistant, we needed a mechanism to allow investors to exit their investment and we had to create a way for them to receive a return” Bolton goes on to tell me. “The STO model allows us, and our investors, to trade their tokens as they see fit. If they need to create some liquidity then after their lock-up period they are able to trade their security tokens on a regulated exchange.” This makes absolute sense. It also means that investors are able to trade Almond tokens between one another and the wider market, creating a greater pool of liquidity for an investment that has no exit.

“As a global project, we are speaking to people all over the world. Having TokenMarket help us to facilitate international investment is a huge factor for us as we move forward” he states. With Almond being so heavily involved with various sustainable global projects, and major supermarkets in the UK, the STO route does not confine them to just one investor pool but rather a global one.

There is one final string to the Almond bow that Bolton tells me as the interview begins to wind down. “We also wanted to give users the opportunity to use their Almond Coin rewards to invest in the platform on an ongoing basis”. A consumer being asked if they want to fund a platform that they are using is a bold move from the Almond team.

“These tokens are tradeable on an exchange meaning it would enable users to convert their reward money into actual Almond security tokens.” Not only does this make sense for Almond, but also the consumers. An app that tracks sustainability, rewards you for buying lower impact products and then being given the chance to invest, is something that would incentivise anyone.

As the interview draws to close, I begin to understand why projects like Almond are so vital to ensure that we reduce our global emissions. Rewarding users for making an effort to produce less CO2 is a great thing. B Corp businesses are championing the way in which all businesses should act. “If every profit-making business on the planet became a B Corp then the world would be a much better place” Bolton tells me. If Almond carries on with its sustainability mission, I am sure that they can help us achieve that.

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What are your thoughts on global sustainability and if blockchain is the solution for incentivisation?

Be sure to tweet us @tokenmarket on twitter.

SOURCE: TokenMarket News – Read entire story here.

CardRates.com takes an in-depth look at how TokenMarket is redefining the way startups and growth companies achieve funding, whilst providing insights into past, current and future trends in the tokenisation landscape.

Read more Media pieces here.

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Managing Editor for CardRates.com, Adam West provides an analysis on TokenMarket and the world of STOs whilst sitting down with TokenMarket CEO and Co-founder Ransu Salovaara to discuss how TokenMarket became what it is today.

Excerpt:

Security tokens, unlike the traditional utility tokens sold through ICOs, are tied to an external, tradable asset — not a concept or project. Because the tokens are deemed a security, they are subject to federal securities and regulations. If the STO offering doesn’t adhere to the regulations, the company offering the token could be subject to penalties.

“Our big project over the last 12 months has seen us expand from utility tokens to security tokens,” Salovaara said. “When we talk about security tokens, we don’t talk about utility tokens just registered as securities, like many people do in America. We’re talking about real shareholders in a company. This is really like equity crowdfunding 2.0.”

This powerful shift in crowdfunding has expanded the types of companies that consider coin offerings to raise quick funds. While TokenMarket once saw its clientele come from the same fields, Salovaara said the company now serves a wide demographic.

“While all of our first transactions were blockchain companies that issued utility tokens, the expansion into security tokens also expands the types of companies that we’re looking to work with,” Salovaara said. “We’re always looking to work with innovative tech companies that are raising early-stage capital.”

In recent months, these companies have come from the fintech, blockchain, AI, internet of things, robotics, health tech, and gaming sectors. TokenMarket recently signed on its first wave of clients, one of them being a Cryotherapy company that is revolutionizing the HealthTech industry and has elite level athletes using their product.

Read the full article here.

About CardRates.com

CardRates.com is an educational platform for audiences to learn more around the world of credit cards. With over 15 million total users and 50 plus financial experts their mission is to strive to share valuable, well-researched advice, news and reviews with visitors daily.

SOURCE: TokenMarket News – Read entire story here.

F1 driver Kimi Räikkönen, also known as the ”Iceman” has started co-operation with the CTN Group. CTN is a company specialising in recovery equipment using super cold temperatures, also called Cryotherapy. The technology is developed and manufactured in Finland by the local group subsidiary, and their cutting edge equipment offers help in recovery, stress reduction, improved quality of sleep and pain relief. The CTN Group is a global pioneer in high-end cold therapy equipment, with products exported to more than 35 countries. Latest patented innovations enable localised cold therapy treatments without liquefied gasses, using only standard electricity. The company launched earlier this year the first electric-only X°CryoTM device, which makes cryotherapy more affordable and accessible to a much wider clientele than before. This treatment traditionally used mainly by top athletes has now become a feasible option for all of us.

Founded in 2013, CTN Group, a developer and manufacturer of high-end cold therapy based recovery equipment, has now become the technology leader in its field. The various health benefits of cryotherapy were discovered in Japan already in the 1970s, where cold therapy was initially used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and pain relief caused by joint inflammations. Subsequently, whole body cryotherapy (WBCT) became internationally adopted method to accelerate the recovery and improve the performance of top athletes. Formula 1 driver Kimi

Räikkönen is the latest addition to the number of international sports stars to regularly use CTN’s cold recovery equipment. CTN’s full range of cryotherapy equipment has been installed in Kim’s home in Switzerland and it has become an integral part of his personal fitness program.

“Many international sports and entertainment mega-stars have already discovered the benefits of cold therapy, but with the Iceman, Kimi Räikkönen, we found a perfect match and great global ambassador for our brand. Despite the well funded large and professional teams behind them, Formula 1 is a very demanding sport for the driver. It requires both physical and mental strength and undivided and continuous focus. As soon as we heard that Kimi had found the benefits of cold therapy, it was a very natural and mutually beneficial decision to start working together with him and to provide him the best available equipment to optimise his performance”, says Mr. Mare Oravainen, Chief Sales officer of the CTN Group.

Kimi Räikkönen’s Swiss home is now equipped with both a whole body cryotherapy cabin (CTN Cryo°CabinTM) using liquid nitrogen and the electrically powered X°CryoTM for localised treatments. Thanks to this co-operation he will become one of CTN Group’s most renowned international top athlete references.

“Driving a F1 car requires top-level fitness both mentally and physically. In particular, the legs and lower back are under heavy strain, and I’ve noticed that using the cryotherapy regularly accelerates my recovery and reliefs instantly pains and aches caused by physical training or a tough race weekend. It also relaxes the mind in a similar way as the ice baths I used to take, but this is a more effective and much faster way to recover and it really relaxes both the mind and body. I have always relied and liked Finnish high-tech and know-how, and when I learned that this equipment is being manufactured in Finland, to choose the right equipment for me was easy. When I am at home, I use the cold therapy equipment every day, and whenever possible I use the localised X°CryoTM during the race weekends as well,” says Kimi Räikkönen.

CTN Group is the global technology leader in its field and has delivered cutting edge cryotherapy equipment to wide variety of professional athletes and teams, including NHL, NFL, ATP tennis stars etc. The company’s latest innovation is the electrically powered X°CryoTM local treatment device, which is expected to revolutionise the availability of Cryotherapy as an easy-to-use, affordable, safe and more mobile option.

“The popularity of drug free therapies is growing, and I believe that not only top athletes, but also ordinary consumers will soon find the benefits of cryotherapy treatments. With the new electric X°CryoTM, and its patented Cryomask option you can also refresh your face, reduce liquid retention, accelerate blood circulation to your entire head. The derma applicators enable efficient treatment of wide variety of skin symptoms and the physio treatment heads provide targeted relief for a variety of muscle and joint inflammation and pains”, says CTN Group’s medical director doctor Timo Kylmälä, MD. Phd.

Founded in 2013, CTN Group is a high-tech company specialising in the development and manufacturing of state-of-the-art cold therapy equipment. The company’s patented products are manufactured in Finland, and they have already been sold to more than 35 countries. The Group’s net sales for the current financial year are approximately EUR 2 million and the sales forecast for the upcoming financial year is approximately EUR 6 million. The company currently employs more than 20 people in Finland, Estonia and Ireland.”

SOURCE: TokenMarket News – Read entire story here.

London, England – April 25, 2019 – TokenMarket is thrilled to announce that Townsend Lansing has joined the team as Chief Commercial Officer. With over 17 years of experience in financial services, Lansing will work closely with TokenMarket senior management to scale the TokenMarket platform and increase adoption of tokenised securities across the investor landscape.

Lansing recently served as Chief Commercial Officer of Arkera.ai, a fintech startup focused on connecting self-directed investors with investment ideas and products. Previously, he spent almost a decade at ETF Securities, an ETP provider focussed on commodities and other alternative assets. Across several leadership positions, he held direct responsibility for the firm’s ETC offering with combined assets under management (AUM) of $18bn, while also serving as a strategic advisor to the CEO and Chairman. Prior to ETF Securities, Lansing was Vice President of New Product Development at Bank of America.

Upon the announcement of his appointment as Chief Commercial Officer, Lansing stated that:

“Digital Assets and associated technology are transforming capital markets and financial services, and TokenMarket, with its innovative tokenisation platform and well-respected brand, is very much at the forefront of that disruption. I look forward to working with the team to build out a first-rate platform for technology start-ups looking to raise capital through security tokens.“

On the appointment of Lansing, Ransu Salovaara, TokenMarket CEO and Co-Founder stated that:

“Having someone of Townsend’s calibre join the TokenMarket team is a fantastic step for us. His extensive experience in both traditional capital markets, as well as asset management, will drive growth and help us continue our goal to disrupt capital formation for technology startups. I am excited to see the impact Towsend will have on our growing business.”

SOURCE: TokenMarket News – Read entire story here.