Blockchain Panel Discussion at the first IEEE Computer Society
What is Blockchain?
Blockchain has the potential to change how we do business. Blockchain is a digital ledger of transactions. A transaction can involve the exchange of money, data or anything of value. It is a digital spreadsheet distributed across multiple computers. It combines the openness and decentralization of the internet with the security of cryptography. A Blockchain collects and orders data in blocks securely using cryptography, these blocks are then distributed, stored and regularly updated across the network.
Initial Coin Offering (ICO)
An ICO is a lot like an IPO except Investors get tokens instead of shares. It is the new way of crowdfunding projects related to Blockchain or cryptocurrency. A business doing an ICO will issue a set number of its own cryptocurrency tokens. Investors buy these tokens, either by using other cryptocurrency or old-fashioned fiat-money. The main difference between an ICO and an IPO is that tokens to do not represent shares in the company, they are tokens which may go up or down in value.
Investor due diligence
ICO is an emerging investment field that is still largely unregulated. ICOs have received a lot of negative press, much of it due to a large number of scams. However, there are hundreds of projects raising funds through ICO that are genuinely innovative and exciting.
ICO investors are putting more effort into due diligence. Investors today expect to see a white paper, but a white paper alone is probably not enough. Investors want a yellow paper as well as a business plan. A roadmap is also a good idea; if you have already started coding, it is good to give access to your code. Highlight your leadership team, advisors and partnerships to show why investors should trust you. You need to get across why you are raising funds via an ICO. Why your token will be in demand, why it will increase in value? Do investors get a service/product benefit by holding the token? List your ICO on the major listing sites for ratings.
The Importance of Translation
Investors are being more cautious than earlier. Investments in ICO dropped to $200M in Dec 2017 from $800M in September. Translate your ICO documents into multiple languages will expand your pool of possible investors. Use a qualified translation supplier with strong ICO/Blockchain experience: a poorly translated document is more likely to raise red flags than not having it translated. If you are planning to use Google Translate to translate your documents, think again!
Your blog posts, your social media messages, announcements, newsfeeds should all be translated to keep your global investors interested and engaged.
Our recommendation is to translate into German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Russian, Indonesian, Arabic. I would also consider adding Polish, Czech, Romanian, Turkish, Thai, Vietnamese. The cost to do this will be minimal compared to your overall ICO cost but nothing will increase your investor exposure than a well-translated ICO offering!
Into23 has a successful track record translating ICO documents for a number of customers. Please contact us at info@into23.com to learn more.