Chinese Exchanges Move Abroad in Search of Friendlier Regulation
“In fact, recent reports indicate that many of these companies have begun the process of applying for licenses to operate in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore, all of which are places where bitcoin trading and exchanges aren’t strictly regulated, and where the firms can continue their activity safely. For instance, in September alone, Japanese regulators approved licenses for a total of 11 exchanges.”
As I exclaimed in Sep in the article “Blockchain — Why does it matter?”
“This Cryptocurrency space is geopolitical chess. It has been since, perhaps the days when precious metals were used as currency. One country’s ban is another country’s boon. Fearless explorers will find lands to seek treasures. That’s what explorers do. To counter, as they say, all politics is local. Each country would look at these developments, and proclaim policy from their inside-out prism.”
Here are some other recent moves on the global chessboard.
Now then, companies have found greener pastures that offer ‘ease of doing business’ in the past. Plenty of research exists on national developments of Specialized Economic Zone (SEZs) for particular industry sectors. Take, for example, the climb of India’s software industry in the 2000s, and China’s manufacturing sector in the last 25 years. This could be attributed to the deliberate and focused establishment of fertile grounds: economic, regulatory, political & educational.
We observe similar developments globally, for accelerating the growth of this ecosystem.
But if we claim that the world is flat, companies are nimble, and these blockchain based crypto products are borderless, is a national ecosystem even relevant?
A major factor contributing to and an intended outcome is the development of skilled resources in that sector.
So looking at the Blockchain sector….. what?
Yeah, Blockchain is an industry “sector” now.
Here’s some impressive research about investments in this sector.
I, for one, define the sector more broadly as Blockchain and adjacent technologies namely — Smart Contracts, AI, IOT, AR, VR, Big data, Analytics and Cryptocurrency.
My view comes from considering the Blockchain by itself as the underlying infrastructure layer. A cryptographically secure, distributed or decentralized ledger with shared state of transactions of any digitally codified assets. Providing us with provenance, auditability, ability to define consensus mechanism, and eventually (and remarkably) better business processes.
A detailed article on that last point later to come!
Okay, let’s be real for a second. As a visionary, you watch these events happening on your screens; our imagination is fired up! You have thought of disrupting a verticle (or two) with a mind-blowing new idea.
Be honest.
If you have walked down that path, you might have hit a roadblock. You need X number of technical skilled or passionate people with business skills to join your team.
According to the recent research on startups published in Harward Business Review, the mix of technical and business skills within the founders are factors in its success.
“Firms profit disproportionately from a mix of business and technical skills when the founder has technical knowledge and employs additional business experts.”
Where are they?
What do you think? Is there a large gap between the number of qualified resources and their demand in the Blockchain sector?
Okay, let’s say you started one such world-changing, earth moving, space rattling, authentically disruptive company. You coded the beta product yourself, or through collaborative efforts. It’s time to grow your ecosystem. You are now eager to raise funds via an ICO.
How is it evaluated? (Okay maybe you don’t care about that, at the moment.)
We wondered about that question.
Turns out it’s not an easy question to answer. Let alone answer with a degree of accuracy.
As Avtar Sehra states in this article — Economics of Initial Coin Offerings
“…even for someone with sufficient expertise in financial engineering, risk, and it is not straightforward to quickly decipher the convoluted nature of how these tokens work, their possible economic dynamics and the potential value and risks they may represent.”
Along with other considerations, a country’s regulatory climate and sector regulation are two of the macro factors incorporated into the metrics of our Intuit Factory Assessment Model. This model could be used for evaluating a company in this space at any stage, pre or post-ICO.
Answering the questions:
- What factors make for a good ICO?
- Which factors matter more in increasing your ICO raise?
If you only had, say, a quarter million dollars and 3 months to launch your ICO, where should you focus your attention, effort & resources?
- Broadly, how can we assess the ‘value’ of any company in this Crypto/Blockchain ecosystem?
Is it different if the said company is native to this space, e.g. Ethereum, NEO, FIlecoin or is pivoting into this space KIK, Overstock?
What are your reactions?
We’ll share our Assessment Model in the coming weeks.
Seems like you enjoy this sort of intellectual discussion? Well, you made it this far into this piece. Maybe you’re just curious about where this sector is going? Then it’s time to take the discussion “Beyond Blockchain 101”. Join us for this dynamic roundtable, in person or virtually.
11 Speakers. 3 Rounds. 1 Goal.
Creating a Blockchain driven world.