Mike Finch, the co-founder of ICO Alert, has discussed the present state of the initial coin offering (ICO) industry. Mr. Finch shared his assessment that although the social media advertising ban has had a significant adverse effect upon the performance of promotional campaigns for ICOs, the number of new ICOs brought to market has significantly risen when compared with last year. In other ICO news, regulators in Colorado are investigating two companies that it believes have unlawfully promoted ICOs to Colorado citizens.
Also Read:
ICOs Adapt to Social Media Advertising Ban
In a recent , Mike Finch, co-founder of ICO Alert, discussed how the ICO industry has responded to the recent advertising bans introduced by major social media platforms. Mr. Finch stated that although the engagement has declined on major platforms, the ban is forcing companies to focus their energy on targeting select audiences.
“There are two ways to look at this, for both ICOs and ICO marketing/consulting agencies, Mr. Finch said. “On one hand, it is bad because it decreases the sheer [number] of avenues for ICOs to advertise and you could argue it hurts the industry. On the other hand, I think it is good because it inherently requires ICOs to focus more on reaching the right audience. Advertising ICOs is very difficult because it’s hard to market to the right audience and know you’re marketing to the right audience.”
“You’re not simply trying to drive traffic to a website, you’re trying to drive contribution to a project, and completing that is a more difficult process than what advertisers/marketers might find in other industries,” he added.
Silver-Linings to ICO Advertising Ban
Mr. Finch outlined a number of positives reaped by the industry since the introduction of advertising restrictions on ICO by major social media platforms, stating that “the ban helps bring to light the more effective marketing options for these ICOs.”
Mr. Finch also alluded to a likely increase in the quality of initial coin offerings owing to the advertising restrictions, stating “Those cryptocurrency/ICO websites that will survive will be the ones that actually provide value to their users, ICOs, etc. We see it as a necessary process in a maturing industry.”
Mr, Finch concluded that the number of initial coin offerings has continued to grow substantially in spite of the ban stating “There were 1,848 ICOs listed last year on ICO Alert from April to December. As of today, there are 3,352 listings on our site […] We’re on pace to list over 5,000 ICOs this year.”
Analysts Discuss High Rates of ICO Failure
The Merkle recently published a featuring discussion from representatives of the finance industry on the high rates of failure among initial coin offerings.
Amy Wan of Sagewise argued that the high rate of failure is not unique to initial coin offerings, stating “In the U.S., more than 90 percent of startups ‘fail’ their first year. There isn’t yet enough statistical data that ICOs fail more often than startups that raise [funds] through more traditional means.“
The co-founder of Ternio, Ian Kane, has made similar assessments – concluding that although “there are a few reasons ICOs fail, […] it all boils down to lack of experience.” Mr. Kane argues that ICOs typically lack experience regarding “The industry they are targeting,” “How to effectively manage a business – hiring, finances, PR,” and “Post ICO communication.”
In addition to arguing that ICOs typically lack requisite business acumen, Mr. Kane questions whether “blockchain is even needed for [the] use case[s]” of most initial coin offerings.
Lack of Business Acumen Identified as Key Deficit Among ICOs
Joe DiPasquale, the CEO and co-founder of Bitbull Capital, argues that the ICO funding model inherently produces a high rate of failure through lack of barriers to entry. “Too many ICOs are launching without having a minimally viable product – or, in many cases, even a proof of concept. The simplicity of throwing together a website and launching an ERC20 token has led many projects to ICO even when failure is probable. Most other startups normally have a higher threshold of viability that must be achieved before a project can even think about seeking outside funding. This results in fewer of them failing as publicly as some of the more infamous ICOs have,” Mr. DiPasquale said.
Pavel Bains, the CEO and Co-Founder of Bluzelle, echoes Mr. DiPasquale’s comments, stating “One of the most important [reasons ICOs fail] is that there’s a lower barrier to entry for raising money through an ICO than other funding options, such as venture capital [(VC)]. As a result, more untested ideas that haven’t gone through the rigorous process of assessment by experienced investment professionals get through to [the] ICO stage than with other avenues. Therefore, projects that would have been rejected by VC or angel [investors] are still able to start the ICO process, even if they then flounder as ICO investors scrutinize the detail.”
Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies Investigates ICOs
Colorado’s regulatory agencies have taken against Washington-based Broad Investments LLC and California-based Linda Healthcare Corp. Colorado’s securities commissioner, Gerald Rome, has asserted that the companies are violating Colorado’s securities laws through promoting their ICOs to Colorado citizens. Both companies must now attempt to prove why that they are not in violation of the Colorado Securities Act or be required to cease and desist their respective offerings.
The commissioner encouraged prospective investors to exercise caution and due diligence before entering the ICO markets. “Investment opportunities being sold through ICOs over the internet need to be approached with the same level of caution as for any highly risky investment venture. Most ICOs meet the terms of a securities transaction and carry with them all of the same risks when it comes to losing money. If you are investing money in any kind of cryptocurrency such as a coin or token where you are expecting to reap returns and are relying on those returns to come from the efforts of an outside party, you are dealing with investments,” said Commissioner Rome.
“ICOs are highly risky and should only be undertaken by sophisticated investors with the understanding that they may lose most or all of their funds,” he concluded.
Do you think that the ICO industry can emerge stronger after the advertising ban? Or do you think we have already passed the ICO peak? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Images courtesy of Shutterstock
Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our section.
The post appeared first on .
Nokia has officially the acquisition of SpaceTime Insight, a major player in the IoT market. The California-based company is working in the sphere of Industrial Internet of Things. The company was founded in 2003 and has proved to be one of the leaders in the sphere. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The latest news from Nokia proves the attempts of the company to diversify the business and IoT seems to be one of the priorities in the nearest future. The Finnish company has just sold Withings, the consumer-focused Nokia Health division. The combination of these decisions indicated the change of priorities of the company. SpaceTime Insight is sure to stimulate the development of IoT in Nokia, it can also boost its expand into other industries such as logistics, energy, and manufacturing.
At the moment IoT can hardly be called a crucial part of Nokia’s business: the revenue of Nokia in 2017 exceeded €23 billion, but the contribution of software division in the total result was less than 7%. And IoT is just a small part of that.
SpaceTime Insight is expected to change the situation. Nokia hopes that this acquisition will influence the development of IoT within 18-24 months. And the company has all the potential to promote the IoT to the leading positions.
Nokia has chosen one of the leaders working for the asset-intensive industries. SpaceTime Insight has developed a number of situational intelligence and visual analytics applications to maximize the efficiency of various companies. The company is not giving lots of details on its financial state: the estimated valuation in 2016 was over $103 million. But the acquisition of SpaceTime Insight is bringing Nokia not only the technologies and assets of the company.
SpaceTime Insight may be not one of the well-known names to the public, but it has created outstanding brand awareness in the IIoT sphere. Nokia gets not only the expertise in IoT application development and predictive analyses – it also gets the customers. And there are lots of notable companies.
FedEx, Entergy, NextEra Energy, Union Pacific, E.ON, American Water – this is just a little part of the impressive list of the SpaceTime Insight’s clients. The most important fact is that Bhaskar Gorti, president of Nokia Software, has already confirmed that most of these companies are to continue working with SpaceTime Insight becoming a part of Finnish company. However, this is a mutually beneficial deal: Nokia has already created credible relationship with some business giants who are demonstrating interest in the development of IoT, like Verizon.
Even though the acquisition has just closed, Nokia has already found a way to express its recognition to SpaceTime Insight. The ex-CEO of SpaceTime Rob Schilling is to take the position of the head of Nokia’s IoT unit.
The post appeared first on .
In year 2018, we’re seeing a huge support for a Women in tech.
A lot of conferences, boot camps, communities organized by women in order to promote IT education and professional support to all interested girls.
However, it’s not a case for a Crypto community, yet. If you read a Blockchain talk forum or go to a blockchain dedicated conference, it may feel like a women-free planet. 99% of blockchain ecosystem promoters and developers are males.
Which creates a huge imbalance.
In order to support and empower all interested in Blockchain technology women, we reached out to 6 absolutely different female leaders in Blockchain ecosystem. We asked them why do they believe in Blockchain and what’s how to be more confident and not afraid to stand out.
Sally Eaves
Blockchain Expert
Bio
Sally is a highly experienced CTO, she’s specialist in blockchain applications across multiple sectors. She is active on all social media channels, building community, awareness and sharing knowledge.
Sally gained experience at Orange, Everything Everywhere and T-Systems and study at leading universities including Said Business School, Oxford and Aston Business School. Sally is an international events speaker and established author with 60+ publications in business, technology (Blockchain, VR, AR, AI).
Why do you believe in a blockchain?
The blockchain is the internet of data and I believe in its potential as a truly disruptive technology to affect positive change. Blockchain can democratize many aspects of our everyday lives, both professionally and personally, providing authentic trusted connection, breaking industry status quo’s to foster new business models, negating data silos to open up access and fostering new opportunities for people to enrich their lives. I feel that blockchain in convergence with other emergent technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, has a pivotal role to play in achieving the critical aims of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Tip on how to be more confident and not be afraid to stand out in Tech as a woman?
Never be afraid to reach out to women already active in the tech community, especially under represented areas such as blockchain. I love sharing ideas, experiences and support and very much believe in the value of mentoring and feedback. Additionally, always believe in your own value and never be afraid to articulate the vision for which you stand.
Eulalie Mulley-Guillaume
Social forestry expert
Bio
Eulalie is a social forestry expert, specialising in forest governance, gender and inclusion. Worked in Central Africa and did research on the issues of gender-based exclusion in forest decision-making mechanisms. Eulalie recently achieved a course on Blockchain from the University of Oxford and Saïd Business School in order to explore the opportunities of strengthening gender equity and equality in timber and forest products value chains through the blockchain
Why do you believe in a blockchain?
Beyond guaranteeing the provenance of products, blockchain may be an incredible revolution for trust and transparency in measuring companies’ social commitments in the supply chain and their impacts on communities. Blockchain may also revolutionize the way we consume and relate to local producers, enhancing the access to markets for poor and marginalized farmers including women
Tip
Get on the field and get your hands dirty to expand experience, knowledge, and expertise, and push yourself to express your opinions.
Anfisa Bogomolova
Co-founder at Columbery
Bio
Anfisa is a User-Centered Entrepreneur. She’s passionate about UX design, Business and Traveling, that naturally led her to create a product that disrupts travel leisure industry.
In her past, she built 2 travel startups. Taught UX Design in Georgia and China and Columbia and managed own freelance design studio. She’s very excited about promoting Blockchain among travelers as she believes that its potential is cutting off most of the Travel sector issues.
Why do you believe in a blockchain?
I believe in the transparency and trust of relations and operations. It’s fundamental in exchanging values between any parties. Particularly, I’m seeing a huge impact in the Travel industry. I’m excited about the fact that wanderers finally can trust locals based on pure facts. Secondly, currency exchange is a very unpleasant touchpoint in most of the travelers’ experiences. Having unique travel currency is not only eliminating the hassle but is also cutting costs by reducing middleman. I’m also seeing a great potential in connecting systems and building unique loyalty system for the niches where the market is highly fragmented, like in the travel leisure sector.
Tip :
I believe that women are very powerful. However, the biggest challenge most of us are experiencing is a Confidence and an ability to confront and defend your position. As for me, the first step in building a confidence is to: Face your fears.
Zhazira Lepess
CEO, Founder of ZAZA
Bio
Zhazira opened her first startup when she was only 16 years old. Today, Zhazira is a CEO of ZAZA: decentralized Business Platform and B2B network powered by Blockchain.The biggest passion of her is to help companies to succeed and to create Big opportunities on markets.
Why do you believe in a blockchain?
Blockchain will enable us to bring into life a system where you can find Smart Solutions, Reliability, and Trust.
I believe in this technology so much because when I think of all the problems it will solve in many industry sectors. The blockchain is here to improve the worldwide economy, to help us as businesses make the next step and encourage us to establish strong trustworthy roots.
Tip :
I strongly believe that everything we do in life has its own risks but if we’re not going to take them then why bother thinking about it? Never be intimidated to show and speak about what you believe in! To all of the business women out there: Come on out and join the Future! Our generation is going to mark History in the Blockchain books, make sure to be a part of it!
Zeenat Ali, MBA
CEO & President at Mammoth Technologies
mammothtechnologies.io
Bio
Zeenat, a certified blockchain expert, has over ten years of experience in blockchain and application development. CEO and Founder of Mammoth Technologies, a blockchain company. Zeenat was first trained in application development by Lockheed Martin and has conducted advanced studies of IBM Watson & blockchain-based applications. She is currently developing a healthcare blockchain application. Zeenat wrote a bill & spoke at Congress for reforming the financial industry after the real estate crisis in 2009. She was featured in Variety Magazine & CSPAN.
Why do you believe in a blockchain?
The blockchain is beyond bitcoin and is becoming the foundation of our digital lives while being tectonic to our digital world. The blockchain is the second era of democracy providing for unprecedented levels of privacy and security.
Tip :
Tenacity – don’t ever give up. There’s always a way and life comes with balance. As a woman, remember that you don’t have to prove yourself because you are a woman, knowledge and hard work will speak for itself. When you’re in a group where you are the minority gender, don’t be afraid to speak up firmly that at the same time don’t be jaded by the differences between gender. Knowledge is far more important and speaks volumes in any given group.
Laura Degiovanni
CEO at TiiQu
1.Bio
Laura is a CEO of TiiQu: the Internet of Independent Work based on the blockchain.
Serial entrepreneur building innovative business models from scratch and developing multi-channel businesses on EMEA markets Laura experienced work from a different perspective: employer, senior manager in a multinational group, consultant, coming to identify the need and design the scalable solution. Laura is fighting against the culture of non-accountability, transforming employees into entrepreneurs and placing customers at the very center of the process. Laura keeps alive her thirst for pushing limits and does the maximum to change things by empowering individuals. She fights for creating the framework where accountable and responsible individuals can access meaningful work on a meritocratic basis.
Why do you believe in a blockchain?
After my trip from Asia I was thinking of building what I called “the Airbnb of Consultancy” but after 400 calls with the potential users, I realized that the idea was not going to scale because of the endemic lack of trust that global business world is suffering. I came across the Blockchain technology. From that moment I retained nothing else than 5 keywords: Democracy, immutable records, shared authority, no middlemen, transparency. They were the keywords of the platform I have in my mind. The blockchain is a technology that solves the problem of Trust.
Tip:
Fear is definitely something that is not part of my life. I am grateful to my parents who gave me the courage to always try, no matter what this could cost. We are used to dividing the universe into females and males but first of all, we are human beings. As a human being driven by the desire to grow and contribute, I am proud of each failure and success, each of them, in fact, taught me something. My gender has nothing to do with what I did and will do.
Be confident. Rectify any eventual approach of your interlocutor that goes in the direction of stigmatizing you. Be free to simply be yourself, follow your dream and go further. Do not put the others in the condition to limit what you can give.
Conclusion
As a conclusion, we may observe one common opinion:
Blockchain enables a transparency everywhere in web space and thus creates a trust among parties.
This means that we can already foresee the development of the better systems in every industry.
To be a part of this creation, women shouldn’t be afraid to speak up. It might be scary, but facing your fears is a key to a better result. On the other side, males in crypto ecosystem might want to show some support to the women too.
Thank you for reading
