The number of ICOs has increased seven-fold in 2017 compared to 2016 and could potentially do the same in 2018, however regulatory uncertainty, and the resulting shortage of qualified specialists remains the main impediment to a compliant ICO fundraising industry. Just under $5bn was raised through ICOs in 2017, however, almost all of those funds were raised without any oversight from a regulatory body.
Fintech firm Notakey is raising funds (via ICO) to develop backer identification through blockchain technology to ensure adherence with state regulations. The ICO Pass product aims to provide the most accurate and fully automated customer due diligence tool. Using ICO Pass, ICO organizers will be certain that their funds will not be frozen due to not meeting AML regulation. Once verified investors will not need to undertake due diligence again as this information can be shared on the blockchain and ensure their assets won’t be frozen by regulatory authorities saving both time and resources.
Notakey was formed in response to the European Parliament’s revised Directive on Payment Services (PSD2) to provide scalable solutions for banks authentication and identification procedures. Since it was founded in 2015, Notakey has received a grant from the EU Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020 and raised over €200,000 from private investors. Currently, Notakey products are used by several blue-chip banks and financial service providers from Switzerland and Latvia.