Major Crypto Exchanges Adopt the IEO Fundraising Programs, KuCoin Joins the Bandwagon

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by Bhushan Akolkar · 3 min read
Major Crypto Exchanges Adopt the IEO Fundraising Programs, KuCoin Joins the Bandwagon
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Crypto industry seems to be undergoing a transformational change with major exchanges adopting Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) programs. KuCoin and Bittrex become the latest to join this bandwagon.

Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) was once the most popular way of fundraising within the crypto industry. Unlike the traditional fundraising schemes which majorly involves venture capitals and angel investors, the decentralized ICOs allowed everyone to participate in early-stage crypto startups.

However, several scams and frauds plagued the ICO industry causing investors to lose their trust. Moreover, citing heavy risks to retail investors, regulators chipped-in heavily making a further crackdown.

But wait, this isn’t the end to the exciting fundraising programs in the crypto industry. The crypto industry is currently undergoing a transformational change with major exchanges adopting Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) programs.

Just like ICOs, IEO are also fundraising programs for early-stage startups but both differ in their modus operandi. In the case of IEO, both project developers and investors facilitate their transactions through a third-party reliable exchange. Thus, the exchange acts as an intermediator and guarantor for the crypto projects.

The crypto exchanges opting for the IEO fundraising program include Binance, Bitmax, Huobi, Bittrex, OKEx, Exmo, Cobinhood, Coinbene, Probit, and now – KuCoin.

Initial Exchange Offering Model

The concept of IEO fundraising was first started by popular crypto exchange Binance. In early 2019, Binance announced its “Launchpad” fundraising platform allowing crypto exchanges to conduct a token sale. Also, Binance’s initiative turned out to be a huge success with the first three sales of BitTorrent (BTT), Fetch.AI (FET) and Celer Network (CELR) being a massive hit.

Soon following Binance’s footsteps, other popular crypto exchanges joined the fundraising bandwagon. Last week, crypto exchange OKEx said that it plans to launch its IEO platform soon. Dubbed as “OK Jumpstart”, the IEO platform aims to help early-stage entrepreneurs and high-quality crypto projects providing initial kick-start.

This will help crypto projects to overcome the hassles of token listing while allowing them to focus on project development. Before launching the “Ok Jumpstart”, OKEx has done a comprehensive study of the global regulations. Andy Cheung, Head of Operations of OKEx, said:

“We are happy to launch ‘OK Jumpstart’ as our own IEO platform. I believe the IEO model will bring considerable advantages to both the exchange and project developers, particularly start-ups can conduct their launching process easier and more streamlined. In view of the demand for IEO growing so fast, 2019 will be the year of IEO, and we expect to see more innovative projects be hatched from this platform.”

KuCoin and Bittrex Join the IEO Bandwagon

Popular crypto exchange KuCoin which handles over $10 million in daily trade volumes, has announced its new IEO platform Spotlight. Last week, KuCoin CEO Michael Gen announced regarding the same.

However, not much details regarding KuCoin’s Spotlight platform are available at this moment. Another popular crypto exchange Bittrex, with over $77 million in daily traded volumes, has also joined the IEO bandwagon. The first IEO project on Bittrex will be RAID, which is an international gaming data blockchain network.

“Now our international users have direct access to blockchain projects with the peace of mind that comes from Bittrex International regulated in Malta. We are excited for this IEO and look forward to helping similarly innovative teams connect with users to build their platforms for the future,” said Bill Shihara, CEO at Bittrex.

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