Fortune 500 Firms Express ‘Deluge of Interest’ in ICOs: Indiegogo
An executive at crowdfunding giant Indiegogo said that the company has seen a “deluge of interest” since launching its initial coin offering (ICO) platform, with both startups and Fortune 500 companies approaching the company about holding token sales through the service.
Jason White, who heads Indiegogo’s equity crowdfunding and token sale division, made this comment during the All Markets Summit: Crypto, which was held on Feb. 7 in New York City.
As CCN.com reported, Indiegogo launched its ICO platform in December through a partnership with broker-dealer MicroVentures. The platform operates under a provision in the 2012 JOBS Act, which places funding restrictions on startups but allows non-accredited investors to contribute up to $10,000 to a securities offering.
So far, Indiegogo’s ICO platform has hosted only one token launch, that belonging to the Fan-Controlled Football League (FCFL), which plans to create a professional football league where fans can use tokens to vote on in-game and managerial decisions such as which plays teams should run and what players the team should draft. The FCFL token sale proved to be a success, and it hit its $5 million funding cap in about 10 days.
Despite the success of this pilot, Indiegogo has not yet hosted another ICO. This is not because the company is having second thoughts after the recent market downturn or the platform has failed to attract startups.
In fact, White said that Indiegogo has seen a “deluge of interest” from not only startups but also Fortune 500 companies, a group that includes the world’s largest publicly-listed and private corporations. Indiegogo says that it will thoroughly vet projects before it lists them on its platform, which has likely contributed to the delay.
Yesterday, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton said that every ICO he has encountered should be classified as a security under federal regulations, a statement that will likely drive even more startups to platforms such as Indiegogo and tZERO, both of which aim to facilitate security token sales that comply with these regulations.
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