Corporate ICOs - how to succeed in a brave new world

THE year 2018 has been a strong one for Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), with blockchain startups having raised over US$18 billion thus far, which is five times the 2017 total, according to CoinSchedule. It's quite clear that digital currencies and blockchain technology are most certainly here to stay. ICOs and cryptocurrencies are no longer just the interest and domain of non-listed unconventional startups. More "traditional" and listed companies are starting to dip their toes into the cryptocurrency space, whether through incorporating blockchain technology to enhance operations or tokenising business offerings. As such, ensuring that their ICOs possess the right ingredients for success is more vital than ever before.

Given the dubious nature of many recent ICOs, it is of paramount importance that traditional companies looking to launch ICOs have to exercise extra rigour in ensuring that good governance, compliance and audit controls are firmly in place to satisfy their board and shareholders. The business case for the ICO must be well thought out, with a strong value proposition for the user that is sustainable, and competent professionals must be engaged to launch the offering. Indeed, as the market grows more sophisticated, ICOs will come under greater scrutiny, with a stringent and meticulous process resembling traditional IPOs.

As the first listed company in Singapore to launch an ICO, we have had to meet a higher level of compliance and regulatory rigour as compared to a private entity. The process - while making our ICO launch more challenging than others - has given us insights into what it takes to launch an ICO product that has a real use case and will benefit the community for the long term.