TokenMarket gains FCA approval to launch Securities Token Offering in the UK

London-based TokenMarket was launched in 2016 to help blockchain startups raise capital through token sales. During its three-year existence, the platform helped over 30 startups raise over £240 million, including leading blockchain ventures such as Civic, Crypto.com, and Storj.

FCA approves the launch of STO

TokenMarket Managing Director Ryan Hanley said, “We are delighted to announce the FCA’s approval for our STO. We look forward to exiting the sandbox, completing our fundraise and tokenized equity issuance, and then cracking on with launching STOs for other ambitious businesses.”

On June 10, the company received approval from the UK’s financial regulator to launch its securities token offering (STO). Once TokenMarket has completed its STO and has left the FCA sandbox, the company will be able to tap into its pool of over 170,000 investors to enable startups and SMEs to raise capital using this new, regulated alternative to the ICO.

According to a press release, TokenMarket already has three startups in the pipeline that want to raise capital through STOs, including mobility rewards platform, DOVU, carbon footprint reduction app, Almond, and cryotherapy cabin provider, Cryotech Nordic.

“Access to finance is still a big issue for SMEs. It remains difficult and expensive, and this is holding back economic growth, and job and wealth creation. We hope our own STO can demonstrate that you can use blockchain technology to transform the way capital is raised,” said Hanley.

“We want to offer our pool of international investors the type of exciting investment opportunities that were previously closed off to them. We believe STOs promise nothing less than the transformation and democratization of capital markets,” he concluded.

The launch date for the securities token offering will be publicly announced in the coming weeks.

What TokenMarket’s STO means for the future of token sales

Having received regulatory approval to launch a securities token offering while benefiting from being a member of this year’s FCA regularly sandbox, TokenMarket is paving the way for the future of STOs in the UK.

The FCA approval for the token sale shows that the UK regulator is supportive of new, token-based fundraising methods. By giving their stamp of approval to a crowd-sale as a service platform, this opens the door to more startups and SMEs using the new way of raising capital.

Finally, the approval is a sign that STOs are poised to become a legitimate fundraising method and an accepted part of global financial markets in the future, and not a short-lived phenomenon like the ICO bubble of 2017.