Binance Launchpad Keeps Faith in Token Sales as Blockchain Industry Matures
January 3, 2019 by Jon Southurst
Binance Launchpad — the platform designed to make token sales more accessible to the public and help raise capital for blockchain startups — is showing faith in the initial coin offering (ICO) market. The popular exchange announced today that it plans to list new token launches almost every month in 2019, starting with BitTorrent and Fetch.AI.
Also read: New Year New ETH: Ether Retakes 2nd Place in Crypto Market Cap Swing
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Launchpad Hopes for Greater Legitimacy in ICOs and Token Sales
ICOs and token sales may not be the hype machine they were in 2017, but that doesn’t mean the concept has disappeared. Instead, companies (including Binance) are taking a more rational approach to the technology, clarifying legal issues surrounding just what investors are buying and trying to avoid the disillusionment over short-term hold, “pump-and-dump” token fundraisers.
According to Binance, Launchpad “helps transformative blockchain startups raise funds needed to develop their products and gives them access to Binance’s ecosystem. Binance views its efforts for Launchpad as part of the company’s larger mission in aiding cryptocurrency adoption.”
Companies applying for listings on Launchpad must complete a vetting process, during which they submit professional legal advice that the token they’re offering does not constitute a security. Binance itself also performs due diligence on projects it accepts. This involves research into team members’ backgrounds and competency, and examining whether the projects are scalable and are creating products of benefit to the cryptocurrency industry.
Good for the Technology Itself, and Investors
By raising the standards for token projects in general, Binance won’t just be maintaining a certain image for blockchain technology — it’s also supporting an industry that generates much of its own income.
Binance CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao (a.k.a. “CZ”) described it as such:
“In 2019, Binance Launchpad will help launch projects serving the universal cryptocurrency ecosystem as a whole that benefits people around the world. Bringing distinguished token sales to the Launchpad platform is part of our continuing efforts to create a more secure and open token launch environment, paving a healthier market in 2019 and beyond.”
It’s probably appropriate that one of the first token listings for 2019 is BitTorrent. The company represents another useful technology that could use a more legitimate public face after years of negativity from the mainstream press and officials.
BitTorrent (the company), affiliated with the TRON blockchain network, plans to work with content creators to promote and distribute their work over the internet using its namesake P2P technology. The blockchain version, with its BTT token, hopes to provide incentives for users to seed the files they download, and also build the overall user base.
The other listed project, Fetch.AI, is (as the name suggests) a decentralized A.I. and machine learning-based “smart ledger” that accommodates various autonomous economic agents (AEAs). AEAs can act independently of human action while representing individuals, companies and devices.
The ledger layer itself is designed to interact with these agents to share previously-siloed information, connecting needs with opportunities. The company describes its platform as the “missing critical infrastructure for tomorrow’s digital economy”
Blockchain to (Hopefully) Get More Serious
CZ said the projects had satisfied Binance’s requirements for real-life use cases, and had demonstrated they came with capable teams and existing products.
Like the internet industry now decades before it, many founders of new blockchain projects are looking to avoid gimmicks and get-rich-quick schemes. As understanding of the technology advances, so does its potential — in directions many ICO bandwagon-jumpers of the past years never even considered.
Are blockchain, cryptocurrency and token projects ready to advance to the next stage? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments.
Images via BitTorrent, Fetch.AI, Binance, Pixabay
