The Blackmoon Crypto Platform, which presents itself as “a one-stop solution for asset managers to create and manage legally compliant tokenized funds,” has raised over $20 million in just one day through an ICO launched on September 12.
On September 1, the startup raised $10 million through a pre-order campaign which started on August 5.
This brings the whole amount raised to some $30 million. The funding has been secured in Bitcoin (1,147), Ethereum (73,093) and Litcoin (32,914).
Overall, 9,500 paid accounts contributed to the campaign, the company has indicated.
The holders of the Blackmoon Crypto tokens (BMC tokens) will be able to register as “Continuous Contributors” to the platform and receive a share of all the funds that will operate on the platform. “Continuous Contributors” will also have the right to participate in members-only discussions regarding the platform’s strategy and development plan.
Blackmoon expects the total value of assets under management to exceed $1.8 billion by 2022. It is planning to start the token distribution of the first fund, a high-yield fixed income fund in alternative lending, in January 2018.
The company is headed by Oleg Seydak, a prominent figure of the Russian venture scene, and Ilya Perekopsky, former VP and COO of VKontakte, the leading Russian social network now owned by Mail.Ru Group.
How to tokenize investment funds
Operating on Ethereum-based smart contracts, the platform helps investment advisors structure, promote, and maintain tokenized investment funds for their clients.
From technology and infrastructure to legal framework and corporate structuring, Blackmoon Crypto takes care of everything, allowing “any experienced and approved investment manager to create a fund.”
Blackmoon Crypto, the holding company, is responsible for IT, compliance, licensing, and banks partnerships. It also issues the main tokens.
“Setting up the proper investment structure is a costly endeavour. Not all tokenized funds set up a proper structure, which leads to greater regulatory risks for investors,” Seydak explains.
While the majority of tokenized investment vehicles are either fully crypto-oriented or pegged to a tradable asset — like the US dollar or gold — Blackmoon Crypto also provides access to fiat investment opportunities. Thus the platform claims to combine all the benefits of the crypto universe, including decentralization, transparency, and exchangeability with maximized diversification in terms of income sources.
Tokenized funds are supposed to provide investors with higher net returns: “They are more cost-efficient thanks to lower infrastructure and setup costs,” says Sergey Vasin, Chief Investment Officer at Blackmoon.
Seydak believes that the platform can “introduce the industry standard for setting up tokenized investment vehicles” which may attract private individuals and institutional investors of all kinds.
“That’s what the Blackmoon Crypto platform does, paying due attention to regulatory risks and bridging the gap between the fiat and crypto worlds,” he says.
Flexible regulation wanted
Asked about where and how Blackmoon intends to reach its targets, Seydak told East-West Digital News: “We are going to contact with professional asset managers in crypto friendly countries first. We intend to attract managers focusing on alternative investments as well as those looking for new investment tools to widen their addressable markets.”
The platform will abide by each country’s regulation. “But regulation affects our platform depending essentially on investors’ location. At first we’ll target investors from undeserved markets with more flexible regulation, providing them with an access to more advanced investment markets. Therefore we’ll look for more western managers and investors worldwide,” Seydak said.
Already a competitive market
As tokenized investment vehicles are springing up across the world, Blackmoon Crypto is not the only platform of its kind. Conomi and Melonport are its two closest competitor. Waves, another platform with Russian roots, has got notable traction recently, but is “far from our business model,” Seydak told EWDN.
The platform was launched last month by Blackmoon Financial Group, financial technology and investment management company based in the US, but with Russian roots.
Founded in 2014, Blackmoon Financial Group secured $2.5 million in equity capital from three venture funds (Target Global, A&NN Group and Flint Capital) and several individual investors in October 2016.
This story also appeared in VentureBeat, a syndication partner of East-West Digital News.
