Polymath Abandons Two Projects and Lays Off 10 but Maintains Mission to ‘Bring Securities to the Blockchain’

In a blog post published July 6th 2019, Polymath announced the discontinuance of two projects along with the laying off of ten employees. The company says the move is congruent with its larger vision to bring regulated financial securities to the blockchain.

Polymath Discontinuing 2 Projects Explained

Polymath is shifting its focus by halting the planning and development of 2 product initiatives.

The company claims the transition is a result of sharpening its focus “on an ecosystem approach to bring securities to the blockchain”.

As a result, the company will focus on its existing security token issuance platform, along with its recently announced Polymesh blockchain initiative.

Polymesh is a developing blockchain designed specifically for tokenized securities, which the company has partnered with Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson to build.

Polymath will still continue its development on the Ethereum blockchain however, but will “subsequently migrate to Polymesh, a purpose-built blockchain, when the time comes”.

The company will also continue to support its Polymath Token Studio, which has experienced some success in the nascent industry. It has enabled the creation of over 130 security tokens, with 12 tokens having more than 5 token holders, and 2 tokens having paid dividends using the platforms dividends module.

Polymath CEO Kevin North commented on the news:

“We will not hedge. We discontinued 2 major initiatives when I joined the company last fall, and we are now dropping 2 more products that were in the planning stages at Polymath. The company is healthy, and we want to remain focused — Polymath’s vision is to become the technology leader that helps bring securities to the blockchain. We are doing this by providing a white-labeled tokenization platform and a security-purposed blockchain where all security tokens can reside.”

Security Tokens in 2019 Explained

Security tokens are gaining significant traction in 2019.

A recent study from BlockState revealed that so far, the industry has witnessed 64 successful Security Token Offerings (STOs) which raised nearly $1 billion. By the end of 2017 however, a mere 5 STOs had been conducted.

Q1 of 2019 alone saw a 130% spike in STOs.

Regulated real-world assets to include equity, investment funds, real estate, and even fine art have experienced the benefits of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).

For more on security token functionality, be sure to review our comprehensive security token guide.

What do you think of Polymath halting two projects and laying off ten employees? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Image courtesy of Polymath.