- Account holders given priority to participate directly in ICO.
- LKDs payment tokens enable investors to time on the company’s diamond reactors and earn a corresponding share of profit.
- Swissquote clients will get one free token for every set of ten they purchase.
Switzerland’s digital bank Swissquote will allow its clients to take part in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) directly from its platform. Account holders first available opportunity are tokens from LakeDiamond, an industrial diamond manufacturer that’s raising funds to acquire new machinery.
Direct Access to ICOs
Swissquote announced on October 22, 2018, that it is the first bank worldwide to offer its customers direct access to Initial Coin Offerings using its online platform. The bank’s customers already have access to cryptocurrency trading, and the services is said to have boosted the banks group’s profits last year.
Swissquote has selected LakeDiamond as the first ICO project it is offering its clientele. The banks CEO Mark Bürki stated:
“True to our philosophy to democratize finance by offering services that are simple and accessible to everyone, we are now offering our clients the opportunity to help grow start-ups.”
LakeDiamond is a Lausanne-based diamond producer of premium man-made diamonds in laboratories using specialized reactors; the diamonds are used for applications like watch movements, lasers, and transistors.
The company intends to raise 60.5 million ($60.8 million) to acquire 50 new reactors to its production line. The interesting thing about this ICO is that the company will sell machine production minutes as tokens meaning the tokens will represent actual machine time.
The LKDs are marketed as a payment token according to Swiss Financial Regulator guidelines and they give the holders distinctive rights. Investors will use the tokens to purchase time on the company’s diamond reactors and earn a corresponding share of the money earned from the sale of the diamonds produced during the said period. Every LakeDiamond (LKD) token is priced at CHF 0.55.
ICOs are like initial public offerings (IPOs) the difference being they use cryptocurrencies instead of traditional cash. Consumers who want to participate in these crowdfunding ventures need a blockchain wallet and knowledge of how blockchain and cryptocurrencies work.
The minimum purchase for this ICO is 60 LKDs equivalent to CHF 33 and will be available on general sale at the beginning of next year with the presale phase exclusively for Swissquote clients starting this Monday, October 22, 2018, until December 11, 2018. Swissquote clients have been incentivized with one free token for every set of ten they purchase until CHF 4 million is raised. Commenting during the launch LakeDiamond CEO Pascal Gallo stated:
“LakeDiamond has developed and continues to develop its cutting-edge technology combining lab-grown ultra-pure diamonds and high-end industrial applications. With its ICO, LakeDiamond is seeking to accelerate its growth and is delighted to be the first company using the new ICO services offered by Swissquote.”
