This is an introductory talk on Blockchain crowdfunding, focused on Initial Coin Offerings (ICO).

1. Copyright 2017 Aaron Li
(aaron@qokka.ai)
Copyright 2017 Aaron Li (aaron@qokka.ai)
Blockchain Crowdfunding:
An Introduction
focused on Initial Coin Offerings (ICO)
Aaron Li
aaron@qokka.ai
Dec 5, 2017
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronqli/
Topics:
- What is ICO?
- Traditional fundraising / IPO v.s. ICO
- Liquidity, Timing, Rights, Reputation
- Examples: Ethereum, Filecoin
- Issues with ICO
- SEC and ICO scam
- Regulation and laws
- General ICO Process & next talk

2. Copyright 2017 Aaron Li
(aaron@qokka.ai)
Copyright 2017 Aaron Li (aaron@qokka.ai)
Ethereum, $18M Raised
The first* famous ICO (7/2014)
*The first (but not famous) ICO is Mastercoin
(renamed to Omni), which raised $500k in 2013

3. Copyright 2017 Aaron Li
(aaron@qokka.ai)
Copyright 2017 Aaron Li (aaron@qokka.ai)
The biggest ICO (9/2017), $257M Raised

4. Copyright 2017 Aaron Li
(aaron@qokka.ai)
Copyright 2017 Aaron Li (aaron@qokka.ai)
What is ICO?
a new way to raise money for projects
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_coin_offering

5. Copyright 2017 Aaron Li
(aaron@qokka.ai)
Copyright 2017 Aaron Li (aaron@qokka.ai)
image source: Starbase whitepaper

6. Copyright 2017 Aaron Li
(aaron@qokka.ai)
Copyright 2017 Aaron Li (aaron@qokka.ai)
Traditional Fundraising
(IPO, etc.)
ICO
Liquidity Many years or never Usually a few months
Timing
Usually post-product
Many rounds over years
Usually pre-product
Done days after ICO
Rights
Complex
Regulated
Standardised
Simple
Unregulated
Customisable
Reputation
Hard to build
No one cares about you
Viral Growth
Everyone has a stake

7. Copyright 2017 Aaron Li
(aaron@qokka.ai)
Copyright 2017 Aaron Li (aaron@qokka.ai)
Ethereum ICO
Token Ether (use Bitcoins to buy)
Liquidity
Early 2015 (months after ICO)
Now tradable on every exchange
Timing
2M in 7 hours
18M in 2 months
Rights Run programs, trade
Reputation Building
Second largest cryptocurrency
A landmark in blockchain history

8. Copyright 2017 Aaron Li
(aaron@qokka.ai)
Copyright 2017 Aaron Li (aaron@qokka.ai)
Filecoin ICO
Token Filecoin
Liquidity Soon
Timing $200M+ in 30 minutes
Rights Store files, trade
Reputation Building Tons of attention and new contributors

9. Copyright 2017 Aaron Li
(aaron@qokka.ai)
Copyright 2017 Aaron Li (aaron@qokka.ai)
Initial Coin Offering (ICO)
• Issues, compared to IPO:
• Scammers - e.g. Plexcoin
• No regulations to recover damage
• No supervision
Failures: DAO, and many others

10. Copyright 2017 Aaron Li
(aaron@qokka.ai)
Copyright 2017 Aaron Li (aaron@qokka.ai)

11. Copyright 2017 Aaron Li
(aaron@qokka.ai)
Copyright 2017 Aaron Li (aaron@qokka.ai)
Regulation?
https://www.coinbase.com/legal/securities-law-framework.pdf
Answers:
What “coins” are securities?
Why is SEC regulating this?
How to design coins in compliance?

12. Copyright 2017 Aaron Li
(aaron@qokka.ai)
Copyright 2017 Aaron Li (aaron@qokka.ai)
Initial Coin Offering (ICO)
• Usual Process:
• Get a team & set up a good website
• Write a whitepaper (next talk: about whitepaper)
• Get people to know your team & project
• Design your currency and sell them (i.e. ICO)
*checkout token creation tool: https://openzeppelin.org/
- managing $1.5 billion worth of coins

13. Copyright 2017 Aaron Li
(aaron@qokka.ai)
Copyright 2017 Aaron Li (aaron@qokka.ai)
Contact
Email: aaron@qokka.ai
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronqli/
LinkedIn QR: