By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 25th, 2024
The first project that will go live on Bitfinex Token Sales IEO platform will be K.im, a P2P digital content and monetization blockchain network overseen by Kim Dotcom.
Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex announced the relaunching of its Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) platform Tokinex that will now become Bitfinex Token Sales and will offer the token of P2P digital content and monetization blockchain K.IM starting from October 22.
As per the company’s words, K.IM, is pitched “secure and dynamic ecosystem” where consumers and publishers of digital content can easily transact, and, what is more important, without the middleman.
Per the announcement, K.IM managed to collect $2.5 million in funding from BnkToTheFuture, Bitcoin Capital and American broadcaster and crypto entrepreneur Max Keiser. The project has also published a roadmap on which is visible that the platform is expected to go live in Q3 2020 at the same time as it plans to be officially listed on Bitfinex.
K.IM’s main use-cases will be purchasing content, allowing content creators to offer buyers “perks and bonuses,” and supporting a native loyalty and rewards program.
Entrepreneur, digital rights activist and founder of now-defunct file-sharing website Megaupload, Kim Dotcom, said on the development:
“Combining the internet with Bitcoin gives us a real chance of achieving the original promise of the internet; freedom of speech, commerce and finance. […] I founded K.im to allow artists, content creators and digital businesses to cut out all the middlemen and sell content and digital goods without censorship and outside of monopolies.”
Dotcom commented on how the Bitcoin blockchain managed to rise so high so now it is able to contribute a whole bunch of new alternatives. He explained:
“We can finally create our KIM token on top of Bitcoin thanks to recent technical breakthroughs like Lightning and Liquid. Bitfinex is the perfect partner to help us distribute KIM tokens, built on Bitcoin, to those who want to access the freedoms that our products provide.”
However, let’s not forget that the authorities have fought to deport Dotcom from his chosen homeland, New Zealand, since 2012. They proclaimed Dotcom made millions of dollars by allowing illegal file-sharing to run rampant on above-mentioned Megaupload.
That’s why it’s a little bit strange that K.IM marketing materials promise the network “will allow any publisher and content creator to publish and sell their digital content.” Dotcom commented:
“The technology allows users to sell their content. K.im does not know what content they are selling as it will be stored on their chosen storage service and encrypted with the publisher’s key. If they store it on Dropbox, for example, they will need to ensure compliance with Dropbox terms and conditions.”
In the meantime, Bitfinex manages to take note of the fact that the renewed IEO platform will have “direct integrations with the Bitfinex exchange itself.”
The company’s chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino commented on the current IEO scenery:
“Most IEO’s are marketing campaigns that focus on achieving a short-term result, but that’s not how real businesses are built. Successful businesses are built through long-term, sustainable growth.”
Bitfinex introduced that its native utility token, Unus Sed Leo (LEO), will also be part of all future token sales and its owners will have access to higher allocations than those holding other digital assets.
Recently we reported that US crypto exchange Coinbase may also launch an IEO platform and issue a proprietary exchange token. Before them, the first exchange to start supporting IEO was Binance. By now, 12 cryptocurrency exchanges, including OKEx, Huobi, Kucoin, and Bittrex, have announced their IEO platforms, and 39 projects have already participated in IEOs.