Less than a month after completing a successful crowdsale, an Ethereum-based platform for prediction markets is now preparing for an alpha launch.
Stox has been steadily gaining support since the launch of its token sale in early August. The marketing of its ICO got a significant boost after being promoted by undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather.
Started on August 2, the crowdsale was closed in less than two days after Stox raised 148,000 ether, or about $33 million. Thus, its ICO has become the ninth biggest token sale conducted in 2017.
Last month, a boxing legend Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in a fight against Conor McGregor, posted on Instagram that he was going to earn lots of money via the market. “I’m gonna make a $hit t$n of money on August 2nd on the Stox.com ICO,” the boxer wrote in his account, which boasts a huge following of more than 18 million people.
This is not the first cryptocurrency platform supported by Mayweather. A few days ago, he promoted the ICO of the media tech company Hubii Network, which plans to raise $50 million through a crowdsale.
Now, a famous Uruguayan footballer, Luis Suarez, who plays for Barcelona as a striker, is showing interest in Ethereum and Stox. The player has tweeted about the platform, saying to his 10 million followers that he is excited about the upcoming alpha launch of the Stox.
I'm excited about the Alpha launch of the world's best prediction market next week!
You in?
🏆https://t.co/xDnbmeLYdq 🏆#ETH #STX #STOX pic.twitter.com/ayD3zspfw7
— Luis Suárez (@LuisSuarez9) August 25, 2017
He also published a post on Instagram encouraging people to sign up to Stox. Besides, he added that he is going to predict a Roger Federer crown for the US Open via the service.
STOX is a forecasting platform operated in collaboration with Invest.com Group, which creates financial investment solutions. It enables users to make their own predictions on the outcome of events in a range of categories, like sports, politics, finance and even celebrity marriages.
“Prediction markets are a disruptive economic instrument that has yet to penetrate mass investor audiences due to excessive regulation and the fragility of existing centralized implementations. The maturity of blockchain technology is poised to change that as decentralized implementations for scalable prediction markets are within reach,” the company wrote in a whitepaper.
The startup, which is estimated at $47 million, is competing with two companies: Gnosis, with a market cap of $210 million, and Augur, with a $283 million market cap. Unlike its competitors, Stox benefits from its partnership with invest.com group, an established financial company with more than 200 employees around the world and a registered user base of over 3 million customers.
Founded in 2014, invest.com aims to transform online investment by removing existing barriers and providing an opportunity for alternative investments. In 2016, the company generated more than $50 million in revenue and handled over 8 million trades via its platform.
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