Coincheck plans to launch IEO platform to help firms raise funds via utility tokens

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck, which suffered a $530 million hack last year, is considering launching an initial exchange offering (IEO) platform to help firms raise funds via utility tokens.

IEO, as a form of raising funds, is gaining attention, Coincheck said Thursday, adding that it willcompanies and projects that already have content and want to grow their business and those who have not raised funds via tokens so far.

The exchange, however, stressed that it will only accept those projects who use utility tokens, and not security tokens that are subject to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act of Japan.

After the massive hack in January 2018, Coincheck was acquired by Japanese online brokerage Monex Group for $33.5 million in April of that year. Earlier this year, the exchange also launched an over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency trading service for bitcoin. Interestingly, Monex Group recently applied to join Facebook’s Libra project, as it offers “various possibilities.”

IEOs, popularized by Binance, are fast becoming a theme of 2019. Already 12 cryptocurrency exchanges, including OKEx, Huobi and Bittrex, have announced their IEO platforms this year, and 39 projects have already participated in an IEO, according to The Block's research.