29.03.2024

Blockstack’s Regulated Token Offerings Raise $23 Million

According to a filing in the SEC’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (EDGAR) system, Blockstack specifically raised $15.5 million through the sale of 74.3 million Stacks tokens through its Reg A+ sale in the U.S., and another $7.6 million through the sale (and delayed delivery) of 30.6 million tokens through its Reg S offering in Asia.

Blockstack has raised more than $20 million in a token sale approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company announced Tuesday.

In a blog post, Blockstack co-founder Muneeb Ali wrote that the company’s Reg A+ compliant token offering concluded on Sept. 9, and combined with a strategic investment round led by Hashkey Group and SNZ, raised a total of $23 million.

“More than 4,500 individuals and entities participated in the 2019 token offerings”, Ali wrote. “Blockstack PBC has entered into agreements for more than $23M in these offerings (including both our SEC-qualified token offering and our offering to investors outside the United States made under Regulation S).”

The Reg A+ sale is further divided into two lots: it raised $10.9 million by selling 36.4 million tokens directly, and another $4.6 million from 37.9 million tokens sold through a voucher program. The company expects another $66,000 for tokens sold, whose payments have not yet arrived.

Blockstack announced its sale in July, after receiving SEC clearance to raise up to $28 million through its Reg A+ sale. The Stacks token, a utility token, will be used to pay developers on its Blockstack network, as well as by the token sale participants, Ali wrote.

“Finally, our SEC-qualified offering opened the door to expand our App Mining program”, he said, adding:

“Through this program, we can start distributing Stacks (STX) tokens to developers who are building high-quality applications on the Blockstack network. Blockstack now has more than 250 apps on the network, most of them built in the last six months. The App Mining program plans to pay developers up to $1M STX by May 2020 and can potentially accelerate the growth of the Blockstack network.”

The company initially sought to raise as much as $50 million through its regulated token sale, according to its preliminary filing.

Blockstack’s STX Token Now Traded on Binance and HashKey Pro

Blockstack’s Stacks (STX) token can now be traded on the Binance and HashKey Pro exchanges, the company said Wednesday.

The advance is set to expand investors’ access to STX – especially in Asia, where HashKey Pro is based and Binance is well-known. Muneeb Ali, Blockstack’s CEO, called Asia a “priority region” in a company statement.

Ali told CoinDesk:

“It’s very important that we have a global network of users and investors.”

STX is used to register digital assets on the Blockstack blockchain. They are consumed when users register or utilize the something on Blockstack, much like ETH is spent when operating on the ethereum network.

The company raised $23 million in anticipation of the listing, $7.6 million of which came from Asian investors and the rest from Blockstack’s Securities and Exchange Commission-qualified July offering, Ali told CoinDesk.

Ali said that 4,500 separate investors participated in the U.S. round.

But that regulated offering has meant extra scrutiny and even set limits on how Blockstack can interact with U.S. investors. They are prohibited from buying the tokens fueling Blockstack’s 270-odd decentralized applications out of an abundance of regulatory caution, Ali said.

SEC documents released Wednesday similarly indicate that “U.S. persons” cannot buy, sell or trade STX on HashKey Pro or Binance.

Regulatory compliance is at the forefront of the token rollout, as is transparency, the company’s spokesperson added.

In a blog post, Blockstack pledged to release internal documents and made a list of early token backers’ wallet addresses public, so anyone can “know if and when any early backer moves their Stacks tokens.”

Ali’s wallet address is among them. He said he is in it for the long-haul but recognizes that not everyone will sit on STX forever. Said Ali:

“If any of the early backers exit, I think people should know.”

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