Asian investors boost Swiss cryptocurrency wealth manager’s US$50 million digital fundraising

The fintech company SwissBorg’s initial coin offering received strong interest from Asian investors who bought nearly 30 per cent of the ICO to become members of the first blockchain-based wealth management community for cryptocurrencies, according to chief executive officer Cyrus Fazel.

Last month, the Lausanne-based fintech firm raised 50 million Swiss francs (US$54 million) through the ICO – a fundraising mechanism whereby start-ups issue digital “tokens” or “coins” to fund a blockchain-related project.

Over 20,000 subscribers took part in the ICO, including Beijing-based Bitmain, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of processors for mining of bitcoin and Mauritius-based Warwyck Private Bank.

Traditionally, fund managers service high net worth individuals to help build their wealth. But by applying blockchain technology to explicitly link the company and the token holders, SwissBorg is aiming to build a “decentralised, autonomous organisation model” in the wealth management ecosystem where a lot more retail investors can benefit from a democratic, transparent and trustful investment services, Fazel said.

Blockchain, also known as distributed ledger technology, is a big database that keeps a digital record of transactions which is openly accessible to all network users. It is also the underlying technology of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

All holders of SwissBorg Network Tokens, which began trading on HitBTC and LiveCoin exchanges on February 1, will be given voting power on proposed projects and the technical directions to influence the development of the firm’s investment platform and revenue streams.