ICOs and Cryptocurrency
RUN AWAY. Should you gather your children and make for the hills…? (Envestors/Envestry)
According to leading corporate lawyer who would prefer to remain nameless, there are two types of ICOs: “dodgy” and “not-quite-so-dodgy”.
In spite of this, we are seeing significant interest in ICOs and cryptocurrency (bitcoin, Ethereum and the new ones popping up every day https://coinmarketcap.com/).
This led to Envestors organising an ICOs and Cryptocurrency Roundtable with 12 experts. We had contributions from CMS Nabarro, Smith & Williamson, Gabi Advisors, Qventures, Yellow Brick Capital, World Wide Generation, Outer Capital, World Wide Generation and Yovo.
Attendees at the ICO Round Table:
- John Finnemore, Corporate Partner, CMS Nabarro
- Richard Skaife, Yovo (Yuza)
- Greg Mihalcheon, Outer Capital
- John Kingdon, Bladetec
- Israr Chowdhury, Yellow Brick Group
- Rus Newton, Global Advisors
- David Mickler, Blockv
- Neil McGrigor, Investor
- Tony Samios, COO World Wide Generation
- Envestors: Oliver Woolley, Jerry Plant, Agne Pakalniskyte, John Graham
Key Discussion Points
- Are ICOs a sensible investment for the generalist investor? On the whole the answer was “no”. There are two types of ICOs: “dodgy” and “not-quite-so-dodgy”,
- What makes an ICO less “dodgy”? A full vendor due diligence pack from a reputable lawyer and corporate finance firm to verify the people and facts behind the offer. (Estimated legal fees of £10k to £20k),
- Are ICOs regulated? No, we’re talking “currency” rather than “security”. However, it is likely to be only a matter of time before the FCA get involved,
- Can ICOs be promoted internationally? Not unless you have a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card (esp the US). Some territories more open than others,
- Should we be very afraid? Putting ICOs to one side, crypto currencies and the underlying blockchain tech is without doubt here to stay with a probable disruptive impact on a wide range of societal, economic and regulatory processes,
- Can Envestors® help? Potentially the Envestry™ platform can be used to promote ICOs in the UK provided that pledges are made in fiat currency and that a full legal vendor DD pack is provided (the platform is not setup for managing crypto currencies and smart contracts). The Envestry™ platform can be used for general book-building and promotional purposes within the UK regulatory environment.
For an outline of the Round Table, please visit here.
For further information, please contact:
- Jerry Plant, Platform Director [email protected] +44 (0)7876 788788
- John Graham, Platform Lead Associate, [email protected] +44 (0) 7515 866644
- Oliver Woolley, CEO [email protected] +44 (0)20 7240 0202