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Blythe Masters And Digital Asset Facilitates Capital Investment On Blockchain

Pivit’s latest funding round has been issued utilizing distributed ledger technology, marking the first successful securities issuance facilitated by Digital Asset.

Pivit is an interactive marketplace that combines public opinion, news and data to produce live odds on global event outcomes. The company recently announced that a portion of it’s latest US$5m funding round has been issued utilizing distributed ledger technology.

The issuance marks one of the first real uses of the distributed ledger, or “private blockchain,” technology developed by HyperLedger, a financial startup acquired by Digital Asset Holdings (DAH) in June. DAH is led by former Head of Global Commodities at Goldman Sachs, Blythe Masters. The company’s mission is to bring 21st century technology to existing financial infrastructure, which Masters thinks can revitalize the financial industry.

“Blythe Masters and the Digital Asset team are positioned to bring together a wide variety of constituents from the financial community, and we’re excited to be in a position as a company to take advantage of the efficiencies being created through the institutionalization of blockchain technology.”
— – Greg DePetris, Pivit Director and Co-Founder

Pivit’s founders and operators include experts across fantasy sports, financial markets, probability markets and data science. The founders, who are former Wall Street traders, also created InTrade, a prediction market where users traded contracts that reflected the odds on upcoming events. The company ran into trouble complying with US regulations in 2013, and after a suspension of its services ultimately shut down in 2014.

“Pivit represents a new form of engagement that can dramatically impact large market segments, including digital media, polling, gaming and data analytics,” said Pivit investor Howard Edelstein. “Digital Asset is poised to have a similarly profound impact on the financial services industry. I’m happy to join so many other supporters from the finance, media and investing communities in seeing these two companies continue to innovate.”

The new funds will be used to improve the platform, and prepare for the upcoming 2016 US elections, a time they expect to see a large uptick in usage.

“Digital Asset is proud to have provided the technology to permit Pivit and its investors to take advantage of the efficiency, speed and security of issuance of a private security on the blockchain,” said Blythe Masters, CEO of Digital Asset.

“The issuance is an important milestone in demonstrating the potential of blockchain technology.”
— – Blythe Masters

To help safely store the crypto-security, Digital Asset Holdings enlisted the help of other blockchain startups; Case, a hardware digital currency wallet, and Elliptic, a bitcoin storage service. “Elliptic is a trusted partner and has played an important role in helping Digital Asset Holdings facilitate the next generation of digital issuance,” Masters added.

Digital Asset Holdings is the latest company to tackle securities issued on a blockchain. Last month the financial smart contract platform Symbiont issued its first private equity shares, as smart securities, on the bitcoin blockchain.

Symbiont CEO and co-founder Mark Smith said in a public statement at the time, “We are proud to be on the leading edge of this blockchain and distributed ledger movement. With interest in distributed ledger technology growing rapidly, financial institutions are exploring how to leverage it to improve the efficiency and security of trading and processing financial transactions."

Symbiont’s technical leadership, and technology, has its roots in Medici, a project created by the CEO of the online retailer, Overstock. Overstock’s project was the first to issue a similar security in late July. Medici lost its lead developers earlier this year, when they left to start Symbiont. Overstock plans to bring blockchain technology to Wall Street in order to create more efficient and transparent market trading.

Numerous banks around the world have been experimenting with crypto-securities and bonds, as well as proclaiming the potential of them in finance. The Swiss banking giant UBS is reportedly developing a smart-bond platform, built using Ethereum technology through a partnership with distributed ledger startup Clearmatics. The financial institution is seeking to be a leader in the space.

Estonian bank LHV joined the small club of organizations that have issued crypto-securities when it did so in June through its Cuber platform, a transaction layer built with blockchain and coloured coin technology. The European bank, known for its track record of digital innovation, claimed to have issued €100,000 worth of insurance securities on the platform. The financial institution is developing new products and experimenting with blockchain technology through a newly created department.


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