This is the 10th post for the weekly series on the state of securities with a focus on fintech, Bitcoin, blockchains & distributed ledgers.
Here are some of the key developments, stories & updates from the digital securities industry over the past week.
"TokenSoft Registers an SEC Transfer Agent to Build Automated Investment Bank"
A subsidiary of TokenSoft, DTAC LLC has registered as a transfer agent with the SEC, they have accepted the registration, but they have not yet sent the company a notice of effectiveness. CEO of TokenSoft, Mason Borda stated, "DTAC will be issuing tokens using our Knox wallet. It will be the only transfer agent that can securely issue and manage securities on the blockchain." According to FINRA they are authorized to provide a number of services around private placements of securities. Article on CoinDesk that goes into more detail on this development by Mason Borda and TokenSoft.
"BTSE Exchange Plans $50M Token Raise on Blockstream's Ethereum Rival Liquid"
BTSE has announced they are targeting a $50 million raise in one of the first token offerings on the Liquid Network, a Bitcoin sidechain created by Blockstream. They are looking to sell 50 million tokens with a price point of $1 per coin, although the minimum investment is $150,000. Their marketing director Lina Seiche had this to say about the development, "The Liquid Network provides a reliable platform for token issuance that benefits from bitcoin's stability and security characteristics." This is a development for Bitcoin side chains as well, as they attempt to be put back on the map with projects like Liquid and RSK, in an area where Ethereum has taken the majority of ico's, security token launches, etc. Yahoo Finance article on this recent announcement by BTSE regarding their use of Blockstream's Liquid for a token launch.
"Nike Patents 'CryptoKicks' Blockchain Shoes"
Nike has recently been awarded a patent to move forward with their blockchain-compatible sneakers, which are called "CryptoKicks." The way they'll work is each actual pair of shoes will be tied to a digital asset, so once a customer purchases the pair of shoes they will receive the paired digital asset. Using blockchain technology Nike will be able to track the ownership and legitimacy of the item. If someone decides to sell the pair of shoes to someone else the ownership can be transferred via the blockchain. This will take place using the Ethereum blockchain utilizing the ERC 721 non-fungible token standard. Full writeup on the Tokenist that goes into more detail on this recent development by Nike and how this is just one asset seeking the tokenization of ownership.
That's all for this week, check back in next week to learn all about what's happening in the rapidly evolving digital securities industry! Feel free to leave any comments below & if you're interested in following this weekly roundup be sure to click on "Notify me of new posts by email" underneath the comments box below to receive an alert for each new post.