A huge number of use cases for blockchain technology are currently under investigation, primarily driven by the wave of initial coin offerings (ICOs) to have hit the markets over the last twelve months and the relatively easy access to capital that this funding model affords the entities behind the offerings.
Many of these are unlikely to ever gain any real traction fro a disruption perspective – at least in their initial iteration. A handful, however, are quickly attracting huge amounts of market interest.
The common qualities exhibited by those that comprise this handful are rooted in simple, blockchain-based solutions to existing problems, with said problems rooted in the inefficiency of legacy technology.
Ripple, for example, is using its technology to bring cross-border value transfer up to date.
Another company, Nousplatform, is trying to do the same with the investment space.
Nousplatform is currently conducting an ICO (it’s in the pre-sale phase right now) to raise capital for the development of a technology that could be a game changer in the fund and fund management sector.
So what’s it all about?
To explain, it’s worth touching on how this industry works right now. Investment funds are set up to allow people to invest money that other people (professional investment managers, generally.) They are great (and often incredibly rewarding investment vehicles for many) but there are some downsides.
For example, individual investors who want to invest smaller amounts won’t generally be available to access funds and, if they are, they are limited to poor or low-performance funds.
Nousplatform is designed to overcome these issues.
It’s a blockchain-based technology that allows fund managers to create a fund, which they can they offer to investors as an investment vehicle. This fund can be rooted in anything – real estate, currency, land, stocks, anything – and investors can gain access through the blockchain technology that Nousplatform has created.
The best performing funds (the performances of this individual funds are recorded using blockchain technology and are completely transparent) are available to view through Nousplatform’s interface, meaning investors can check which funds are likely to provide the best returns on their capital.
What role does the ICO play in all of this?
As mentioned, the ICO will allow the company to raise the funds required to get the platform (and a couple of initial funds, one real estate and one cryptocurrency based) up and running.
And why participate?
Participants in the ICO will receive NST tokens in return for the funds they contribute in the ICO. These NST tokens, once listed on cryptocurrency exchanges (so, once the ICO is complete) should rise in value for a number of reasons, including limited Emission of the NST tokens, capital infusion of new funds created on Nousplatform and Tokens used as utility to buy services on Nousplatform.
In addition to these reasons, however, and what we see as the primary driver behind NST upside revaluation going forward, anyone that wants to invest in a fund must buy equity in the fund with NST tokens. In other words, if an investor wants to gain access to a forex fund, he or she has to buy NST on the open market and then use the NST to buy equity in the fund in question.
As such, as the platform expands and more funds become available, expectations are that more investors will seek to gain access to the funds and, in turn, demand for NST tokens on the open market will increase.
Increased demand for NST translates to an increased open market price, which will boost the value of the tokens that participants in the ICO receive.
As noted, the pre-sale is underway and there’s a 20% bonus available for early subscribers.
Article written by Samuel Rae
