EtHeart is a company intending to facilitate the digital currencies and tokens creation and purchase process and for that purpose it is building a platform to contain a smart contracts constructor, cryptocurrency wallets, ICO projects ratings, freelance contractors exchange et al. The project is expected to be launched next spring while expert community believes that national regulator in Russia will not permit regular citizens to invest in digital currencies in 2018, the year of 2020 being the best scenario for that.
ICO changes in 2018
For ICO, 2017 was the turning point, the year of HYIP and major infrastructure projects such as Eos, Tezos, Sonm, Status, and Civic where digital money enthusiasts and traders were the main investors. Globally, over 140 ICO took place for the aggregate amount exceeding $2 bln, a tenfold to 2016. Further 70-something ICOs are scheduled for the last quarter of 2017, totaling over $350 mio.
Most experts expect that the slowdown in the growth in ICOs numbers due to increasing industry regulation will not last long. It’s most likely that the state regulators’ desire to tighten the nuts will be counterweighted by the appreciation of the fact that if a country turns into a crypto investors unfriendly jurisdiction, that will ruin its national prospects in the most dynamic global capitals market segment.
That is why there emerge more and more projects claiming to become part of the ICO world infrastructure, with the new Russia’s startup, EtHerat crowdinvesting platform, being one of them.
What is EtHeart about
EtHeart is building a peering business network where startups, investors, experts and contractors could meet.
“It’s where all sorts of problems will be solved, from smart contracts building and tokens issue to a startup investment attractiveness expert evaluation,”- Alexander Savinkin, EtHeart Development Director explained.
At the EtHeart platform one can have a cryptocurrency wallet, place information on one’s ICO project, issue tokens, build a smart contract, find contractors and investors, while investors can buy tokens of the projects without exiting the platform, by making a single mouse click. EtHeart tokens holders will be entitled to discounted tokens of all other projects. The project’s MVP (minimum viable product) should be ready in the fall of 2018.
Through projects ratings and expert evaluation the platform will also offer an answer to the question, “Where should my investment go?”
The founders of EtHeart are certain they will have blockchain stars from all over the world as experts of their business network. The work of the top 100 experts will be remunerated by the platform. In 2018 EtHeart plans to arrange 25 ICOs totaling $125 mio while in 2022, 500 ICOs totaling $2.5 bln. EtHeart expects its revenue to average between 5% and 10% of the moneys attracted to the ICOs with a portion of the amount directed into a fund supporting the EtHeart liquidity.
EtHeart will function as a mobile application where its users can see their purchased tokens and respective exchange quotations thereof in their personal offices, and the projects advancements in their Favorites. In a while, the service will also integrate Ideas Exchange and Team Expert Assessment. Ideas Exchange will present projects at their earliest stages thus allowing those with a new business idea to test it among the EtHeart platform expert community, form a team or find contractors to implement it. Investors will be able to order a team expert opinion on the most interesting project’s investment attractiveness.
As Kirill Shilov, EtHeart Marketing Director, said at a meeting in KL10CH Trekhgorka coworking centre on October 5, “EtHeart platform will be intended for unskilled investors in the first place, so that any housewife could buy cryptotokens of a project she can comprehend. Lots of people do not enter digital currencies market due to its complexity, hence the complexity results in funds’ outward drain, etc.”
It is Shilov’s hope the ICO regulation will eventually emerge in Russia thus allowing regular people to join the trade. It is a noteworthy fact, there is no such a legislation in Russia, with the Russian Finance Ministry suggesting a ban on sale and purchase of bitcoins by ordinary people, permitting such transactions at stock exchanges and by qualified investors only, according to a statement by Alexei Moiseev, Deputy Finance Minister, made last August to Rossiya 24 TV channel.
Yuri Trubnikov, a consultant on ICO legal aspects, is skeptical about ordinary people being permitted to trade digital assets in Russia. “Ministry of the Interior is getting tougher on digital currencies traders, there is no mentioning of any restrictions weakening or permissions to trade of any sort,” Trubnikov says.
Vladislav Kochetkov, Finam President, finds it possible that in a couple of years the national regulator may allow transactions with digital assets to others, not to qualified investors only, saying that “As a matter of fact, such an approach is within the Central Bank’s overall policy of protecting investors’ rights. The market is exceptionally volatile and there is a risk that 90 or more percent of the companies currently coming up with their ICOs will quite shortly сease to exist”.
In case in all key jurisdictions the instrument of ICO becomes unattractive for the new startups, EtHeart platform will turn to crowdfunding campaigns and private blockchain projects implementation at their earlier stages. EtHeart does not see any competitors around since most of the similar projects do not offer an automatic launch of an ICO process.
It’s done by
EtHeart project will be registered in Switzerland where ICOs are fully legalized. The project managers have a good experience of working for Russian government agencies. Alexander Filatov, EtHeart CTO, was awarded Order for Services to the Fatherland for developing software for the Presidential Library in St Petersburg. Earlier, he was a CTO in software design and development projects for Gazprom, Federal Grid Company of United Energy Systems, and Presidential Property Management Directorate. Alexander Savinkin, EtHeart Development Director, is a venture investments and startups expert who earlier was chief of investors attraction at Olympstroy construction company and director of infrastructure and innovations at RKC Finance financial services provider.
By Natalia Kuznetsova