Dean
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Brickblock is building a new investment and trading platform, transparently connecting cryptocurrency and real world assets. Within this platform users will be able to invest in ETFs, real estate funds, or ‘Coin Funds’ representing a basket of cryptocurrencies. Ownership of shares in these funds is represented by asset backed Ethereum tokens. Starting on October 11th 2017 Brickblock are launching an ICO crowdsale for its own native platform tokens.

Fund Tokens

Each of the funds created on the Brickblock platform will have its own ‘Proof of Asset’ (PoA) token. These tokens are 100% backed by the real world assets that they represent. The underlying assets themselves are held in a trust fund, meaning that there are legal protections ensuring they cannot be accessed by Brickblock themselves or by anybody else – even in the event of bankruptcy.

Proof of Asset tokens are secured by the Ethereum blockchain, meaning that they can be stored in any Ethereum wallet and will even be traded on established cryptocurrency and token exchanges. This will reduce the friction normally associated with investing in these assets, reduce the costs involved in trading them, and provide an easy way for cryptocurrency holders to hedge their risk and diversify into alternative investments without needing to go through the lengthy and costly process of converting part of their holdings into fiat before making a purchase. It also allows for 24/7 trading, global availability, guaranteed transparency and security, and the opportunity for smaller players to get involved with no minimum investment requirement.

Any dividends and coupons due to holders of PoA tokens will be automatically distributed via transparent smart contracts running on Ethereum. In fact, the Brickblock platform itself will be built as a decentralized app (Dapp) on Ethereum. Broker-dealers and fund managers will be able to list their investment products through this Dapp providing they have gone through a verification process with Brickblock themselves.

The available investment funds will fall into three primary categories:

ETFs: Exchange traded funds can represent a wide range of investments including commodities like gold and silver, bonds, individual stocks, stock market indices representing an industry, the top stocks on a particular exchange (like the S&P 500), and so on.

Real Estate Funds: Controlled by a verified fund manager, real estate fund tokens represent a share in the ownership of a property portfolio in a given region.

Coin Funds: Providing an easy way to diversify your cryptocurrency investment, coin funds may be active or passive. Passive funds will select a basket of cryptocurrencies according to fixed rules (for example the top 20 Ethereum tokens, or the top 10 coins by market cap). Active funds are controlled by an investment manager according to their own strategy and attempt to beat the overall market.

Brickblock Tokens, Access Tokens and the ICO

On October 11th an ICO crowdsale will be launched, making Brickblock tokens available to purchase. Investors can currently get a bonus of up to 10% on their purchase by registering on the website to be added to the sale whitelist.

Brickblock tokens confer the right to generate the platform’s ‘access tokens’. Brickblock token holders will be able to lock their tokens into a smart contract, which will pay out an agreed amount of access tokens depending on the platform’s requirements (more use means more tokens needed), the amount of tokens locked up, and the lock up period.

Brokers and fund managers will need to pay a fee in access tokens to list their products, and as a fee when one of their products is sold. These access tokens are designed to represent approximately $1 worth of fees. All access tokens paid by users of the platform are automatically burned.

This system means that Brickblock token holders will effectively be offered a dollar denominated return, fixed at the point at which they sign the smart contract locking them up for a selected period of time.

For more information about the Brickblock investment platform and to register for a 10% bonus during the ICO sale take a look at the website here: https://www.brickblock.io