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Security Token Leader Polymath Locks Up 75 Million of Its Tokens
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Polymath, a startup focused on the tokenized security industry, has just announced that they will be locking up around $9 million worth of its tokens for the next five years. This means that up to 75 million of its POLY tokens, which is 7.5% of the total supply, will be unavailable to issuers for the foreseeable future.
Polymath has been one of the leading advocates for security tokens for some time now. Not only have they created their own token standard on Ethereum for securities, called the “ST20,” but are also looking into pegging STOs to fiat with the help of MakerDAO. They are thus creating a platform for issuers while also positioning themselves as the leaders of the still-new tokenized security space.
Now, Polymath is instilling a new breath of confidence into their investors by locking up 7.5% of its total token supply (some $9 million worth of tokens).
Why the Lockup?
According to Chris Housser, Polymath’s Co-Founder, the lockup was to inspire more trust in the project. He explains:
“A lot of projects have shut down or done major layoffs lately due to lack of funds… What we are demonstrating is that our treasury is healthy and we don’t have a need for these tokens at this time.”
Polymath has made it clear that it has an ample treasury. Housser further elaborated that “thankfully we decided early to diversify a lot of ETH/BTC holdings.” The startup raised some $58.7 million in January of 2018 and filed with the SEC.
In this bearish market, many investors have grown skeptical of crypto-projects for not having proper funding models or treasuries. Many projects have, in fact, gone bust over this simple fact. However, by locking up their tokens, Polymath has made it clear that they are in no position to mass-sell their tokens: in fact, they are financially solvent for the next five years.
“We are committed the project long-term,” affirmed Housser.
Will Polymath play a central role in the security token space years from now? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Image courtesy of Polymath.
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Tim Fries
Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird's US Private Equity division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.
