Such is the growing interest in blockchain and cryptocurrency that Block.one has raised the $4 billion sum without having a physical product. Moreover, no virtual blockchain has been launched as of yet. However, interest in the proposal has attracted considerable interest from investors.
According to the Financial Times, Block.one has begun to offer EOS tokens in return for ether, a rival cryptocurrency. EOS is the blockchain technology that works much like Ethereum, and it gives a platform for blockchain app development.
This exchange delivered a liquidizable equivalent of $4.15 billion (as per current exchange rates, at $576 per ether). The startup’s transactions were tracked via the ethereum blockchain, although Block.one itself has not provided any official proceeds amount and is not engaging in media interviews.
The blockchain advisory service New Alchemy reports, via CNBC, that Block.one’s initial coin offering surpasses the value of almost all initial public offerings sold worldwide during 2018.
The business model is that Block.one gives out tokens based on a promise the platform will prove to be useful in a digital network once it gets built, and that businesses will be able to access it for their supply activities. There is a degree of confidence emanating from the fact that, as Startup World acknowledges, the founders of Block.one have previously launched blockchain projects which proved to be successful.
With other initial coin offerings, earlier this year AXA Equitable Holdings raised $2.8 billion through its May 10 offering and ADT raised $1.5 billion back in January.
In related startup news, SenseTime Group, an artificial intelligence startup, has raised over one billion US dollars, and is now valued at more than $4.5 billion. See: “World’s largest AI startup gets $1.2 billion in a few months.”
