Vertex: Reducing the risk attached to ICO's
This is my entry for the sponsored writing contest organized by @monajam. You can find the contest here
Introduction
According to tokendata out of 902 token sales that were conducted, 142 projects failed at the fundraising stage and 276 failed as a result of misappropriation of funds. This means that 46% of last year’s ICO’s were no longer existent by Q1, 2018. Another 113 have little or no activity online, meaning that this could potentially increase to 59%.
Being able to identify which projects are truly viable could be a Herculean task. Unfortunately, a lot teams run ICO’s with the intention of defrauding investors.
Being 100% certain about projects will go a long way in improving investors confidence, and also increasing the viability of projects, leading to the growth of the industry.
These are some of the problems that Vertex solves, and how it ensures the industry thrives.
Vertex ensures that investors can be a part of projects post-ICO at low entry points, after they have raised initial capital sought. These are verified projects, meaning that a major part of the investors work has already been handled.
This solution is revolutionary and it is essential, if we hope to attract more investors to decentralised projects. Vertex combines its venture capital experience, trading and fair-value based tokenization to create a solution that puts the investor in the driving seat. It’s an OTC platform that will offer opportunities to its users at better prices, before they are available to the mass market.
Vertex aims to create a token that underpins the ICO investment economy. The idea is that Vertex will identify ICO's they believe will succeed, and then push these ICO's to the community, offering them an opportunity to invest and get good ROI. After identifying these projects, Vertex (VTEX) tokens will then be used to buy into these ICO's.
Vertex has a team and also partners who vet/evaluate these ICO's in depth. They meet ICO teams in person, and try to deduce if a project is viable or not-up to a great level at least, and better than the average investor, who will make a random internet search and see only great reviews-paid in most cases.
In so doing, Vertex reduces the risk factor associated with investments on the blockchain.
This will ensure that rookie investors are much more open to investing in projects, and off-chain investors who have no expertise with regards to blockchain projects will be much more open to increasing their portfolios and inject much needed funds, ensuring that the crypto industry grows.
Vertex will only be looking to make an investment in projects that private equity investors have scrutinised.
As a result of this, buyers of such tokens will be able to:
- Buy into whichever project that interests them.
- Be in charge of assets they purchase.
- Manage their assets by themselves.
Benefit for Investors.
Vertex ensures that users will have access to multiple ICO's via a single point of entry. They will be in the know with regards to new projects launched, and will not have to carry out repetitive actions, such as KYC's.
Another hindrance is that access to many of these ICO's are via conventions, which the average investor doesn't have access to or doesn't have the time to attend.
Vertex looks to ensure that all bottlenecks that prevent the investor from initiating a successful investment process are done away with.
Benefits For ICO's
Being vetted by Vertex will ensure that investors will be more likely to be a part of the project, and set milestones will be reached quickly.
They will also have free advertisement on the platform, and seeing investors have been scrutinised earlier, the need to carry out KYC's again have been done away with.
Benefits for the Cryptocurrency World
ICO's have had bad reputations in recent times, due to misappropriation of funds. Having a springboard such as Vertex, will also ensure that more funds are injected into the industry, seeing existing investors can be part of projects much more easily, and off-chain investors will be more willing to give businesses on the blockchain a chance.
The Vertex Platform
This is at the heart of everything Vertex. For users to be able to enjoy the benefits afforded by the platform, they will need to have Vertex tokens.
All purchases into ICO's will be done using the Vertex token. Users will be able to store funds in their own wallets. Tokens of participating ICO's will be held in cold storage and multi-signature wallets. User data and accounts will be stored cryptographically, and users will be able to enable Two-factor Authentication.
Some of its features/key functions are:
- Featuring of vetted ICO's.
- Ranking of ICO's and feedback left by Vertex team, as well as its partners.
- Full disclosure. Criteria used in evaluating ICO's and steps taken, as well as why these ICO's passed these steps.
- Purchase of Vertex tokens.
- Access point to buy into ICO's, and funds stored in their own wallets.
- Ability to view evaluation of ICO's as the process goes towards its conclusion.
Making use of the platform
Users need to create an account and pass through a KYC procedure, which will be activated within 48 hours, on approval. They can then browse through the platform to identify opportunities that appeal to them along with project’s details. For each open sale, users are able to click on the "buy tokens" button. A unique ETH address will be provided, where users can send Vertex tokens in exchange for the project they wish to invest in. These addresses are unique, and valid for just one transaction. Addresses where users will send funds from need to be registered, to avoid abuse of the system. Intent to purchase must be stated, and stating three times without purchasing leads to bans.
Vertex has a minimum investment of 500K USD. This ensures it's given preferential treatment, and it is invited to invest in a lot of ICO's before they’re open to the public.
The platform will support security and utility tokens. Tokens in the tobacco, alcohol and gambling industries are exempted.
The Vertex model for preferential access: early participation in ICO’s
Vertex gets invited to invest in many ICO’s ahead of time and is granted exclusive discounts on the tokens. These tokens are kept in the platform’s portfolio until the ICO is over, after which they are offered to the community at discounts.
TOKEN
SUMMARY
Vertex ensures that users are protected from the pitfalls that abound in the crypto space and are able to get the best ROI’s. They also have the opportunity to learn, seeing they will be interacting closely with the team and private investors, who have vast experience in this field.
Thanks to the Vertex platform, users have first refusal on token sales.
This solution created by Vertex will be beneficial to ICO teams, private investors and platform users as we highlighted above. The blockchain will be the biggest winner, as it ensures that the marketcap grows and revenue will also increase, seeing money is being injected into more meaningful projects.
PARTNERS/INVESTORS
ADVISORS
Well-written :)
Upvoted!
Thanks a lot ! I'll make a video and add that later :)
Yes, video is important for the bonus prize of the contest; the final decision about your post will be made by the team :) But I liked it so I upvoted, as you used my app.
I got into many ICO’s and I believe your article when it says 59% . I’m on about 50/50. So I changed my strategy . I invest now after they hit the exchanges . I found that money tied up in ICO,s was wasting away there. I could treble my investment by the time ICO came to platform so now I wait and wait for their peak . The next day in the exchange they always go back down to ICO prices and then I hit them . It’s worked really well for me so far so I’m not waiting on empty promises etc
Superb strategy. Learnt that not too long ago from a mate, when I wanted to get in on EOS. Thanks for sharing mate.