By
Kofi Ansah
September 20th, 2022
The international crowdfunding firm Indiegogo is starting a token sale on behalf of a luxury ski resort in Aspen. The company is aiming to raise $12 million of investment.
A popular crowdfunding platform Indiegogo is expanding its cryptocurrency offering by launching a new service which will allow companies to sell digital tokens backed by assets.
The asset-backed cryptocurrency will enable accredited investors to buy shares of the St. Regis Aspen hotel, nestled in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, in the form of digital tokens. According to the company’s post, the tokens issued by Aspen Digital will be hosted on the Ethereum blockchain and available for purchase with U.S. dollars, as well as major cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Each Aspen Coin will represent an equity stake in Digital Aspen, the owner of the St. Regis resort.
The St. Regis Aspen is a full-service, 179-room luxury hotel with four onsite food and beverage outlets and 29,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor conference and banquet venues having views of the Rocky Mountains. Nestled in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, St. Regis has access to quality, consistent ski conditions and boasts one of the longest ski seasons in the world, and with a multiple food and drink outlets, guests have a variety options for entertainment. In 2010. the resort has been purchased by Elevated Returns and now is conducting a single-asset real estate investment trust (REIT) offering. The project aims to raise $12 million of investment for the St. Regis Aspen hotel and is set to be commenced today, on August 24.
Indiegogo founder Slava Rubin said:
“We have always strived to foster innovation and provide our users access to some of the most novel and interesting products and ideas from around the world. With the blockchain revolution fully underway, we at Indiegogo are excited about the world-changing impact and potential of security tokens. Our goal is to [perform diligence for] each company and provide an access point to our growing network of millions of customers. And it’s a privilege to work with the St. Regis Aspen Resort.”
Rubin also said that the firm is “hoping to see continued growth if this is what the market demands.”
“We have been working on our blockchain offering for a while now. It really goes back to our original vision where we wanted to democratize access to capital and bring investment all kinds of people around America and the world.”
Indiegogo will not sell tokens itself, but it will show investors where they can buy them via its website.
Indiegogo is an international crowdfunding website founded in 2008 by Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, and Eric Schell. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. The site is one of the first sites to offer crowdfunding. Indiegogo allows people to solicit funds for an idea, charity, or start-up business and charges a 5% fee on contributions.
In December of last year, Indiegogo initially launched its ICO platform, and its first listed project, the Fan-Controlled Football League (FCFL), quickly reached its $5 million funding target. However, ICOs are not the only method to raise funds. ICOs were the first attempt at crowdfunding on the blockchain, but unforeseen problems have fueled the development of new fundraising solutions, among which are Initial Loan Procurement (ILP), Airdrops, and Security Token Offerings (STO), the prime example of which is the ongoing initiative of Indiegogo. Security Token Offerings could be the future of the cryptocurrency market, as they have the potential to revolutionize the trade of traditional stocks, shares, bonds on the blockchain.
