Introduction
Transparency is synonymous with cryptocurrency. Every Bitcoin transaction from the genesis block to the present day has been visible on a public ledger for the world to see. At AmaZix, we believe that open source should not just apply to code — it should define everything that companies operating in the blockchain industry do. Only by committing to transparency and volunteering maximum disclosure can projects satisfy regulators, investors and the community.
Unfortunately, most cryptocurrency projects lack transparency and accountability. The result has been disgruntled token-holders and in some cases, regulatory action. For the cryptocurrency space to grow and realize the transformative impact that its proponents envision, it must undergo a professionalization process in order to reach institutional-grade integrity. Our mission at AmaZix has always been to expedite this transition, and in Investor Relations 2.0 (IR 2.0) we have taken our biggest step yet towards realizing that goal.
The next generation of STOs and ICOs will be held to higher levels of scrutiny than ever before as investors demand rigorous transparency and accountability. To facilitate this, we have created IR 2.0. It is essentially Transparency-as-a-Service; it empowers forward-thinking tokenized projects to set new standards for transparency and to lead by example. The benefits of doing so are manifold, as this blog post will show.
Community
One of the most significant revolutions brought about by the cryptocurrency movement has been the elevation of community to the heart of the value creation process. While traditional companies pay lip service to the concept by extolling community in their marketing and mission statement, they are actually owned and controlled by a small number of shareholders. Cryptoassets, on the other hand, can be owned by anywhere from hundreds to tens of thousands of diverse stakeholders including developers, miners, users, and investors, all of whom can directly participate and contribute to the network.
Where there has traditionally existed a clear division between insiders (owners/shareholders) and outsiders (customers, clients, employees), there are now communities, united by the common goal of seeing the project prosper. For the first time in history, cryptoassets, issued by both ICOs and STOs, enable a company to be wholly owned and directed by its community at scale.
Community management involves maintaining and growing network participation while optimizing incentives so that each token-holder can maximally contribute and benefit from the growth of the project that they are invested in. Our experience of operating on the frontlines of this sector has taught us that:
- Good community management is at the heart of every strong cryptocurrency project.
- Communication, transparency and accountability plus representation and participation are instrumental in achieving this.
While we do our utmost to ensure that our clients espouse these values, many outside projects do not give these community-building cornerstones the attention that they deserve. Thankfully, the evolution of the crypto industry, driven by regulation and higher investor expectations, has compelled projects to sit up and take notice. Investor Relations 2.0 will help our clients fulfill and even exceed their obligations. We believe it is the logical next step in the industry’s development, and we are excited at the prospect of partnering with projects that share our vision.
“We applaud the proactive approach AmaZix has taken. As the market has evolved, accountability and transparency have been placed at the forefront. The STACS Network addresses this by delivering proprietary technology to enhance liquidity and capital exposure, bridging traditional finance, commercial markets and fintech, while incorporating regulatory requirements.”
— Nick Cowan, Founder & CEO — Gibraltar Stock Exchange Group.
The evolution of the crypto industry
The maturation of the crypto industry is fueling a new era in which accountability, transparency and disclosure come first, rather than being tacked on as an afterthought. The failure of many ICOs through negligence, fraud, or poor business/token models has reduced trust and hastened a shift towards the more regulated realm of STOs. The excesses of 2017 have also led to tighter guidelines on how projects should legally structure themselves, fundraise, and communicate with investors.
Though we commend proactive regulators who diligently perform their duties without stifling innovation, the regulatory standards enacted are yet to match those mandated of traditional public companies (such as GAAP accounting standards in the US or IFRS in the EU). As such, it is our responsibility as an industry to self-regulate and to volunteer new disclosure standards that will legitimize the blockchain industry and open its value to a wider audience. Championing professionalism and accountability is at the heart of our work at AmaZix. Since day one we have conducted deep due diligence on all projects that we work with and encouraged standards of excellence for ourselves and our partners. Investor Relations 2.0 will take this ethos to the next level.
What is Investor Relations 2.0?
Investor Relations 2.0 is designed for the most promising and ambitious tokenized projects. The goal is simple: to create the new standard for investor and community relations in the blockchain space. We will incorporate the best practices from traditional public companies with the openness that characterizes blockchain community management to ensure professional and compliant communication, transparency and accountability, including investor representation at the board level.
IR 2.0 provides all the resources that a project needs to lead, succeed and thrive, from expert legal opinion to business advice. IR 2.0 will help projects navigate a complex and rapidly evolving landscape and prevent regulatory issues before they arise, build deep trust with their community, grow their brand and act proactively rather than reactively.
In designing this new standard, the AmaZix team consulted with a variety of experts including experienced crypto lawyers, entrepreneurs, builders, investors, finance professionals, and service providers to create a complete and compliant standard that satisfies industry participants across the board. IR 2.0 is a 3-pillar solution comprised of:
- Compliance and communication: Liaising with investors regularly in full adherence to all legal obligations.
- Accountability and transparency: Providing full disclosure on project progress, from milestones to financial status.
- Representation and participation: Encouraging investor interaction and community representation allowing all stakeholders to have their say.
For a detailed breakdown of services, see here.
Compliance and Communication Suite
In an increasingly regulated industry, savvy blockchain projects ensure they are fully compliant with all legal obligations. It is imperative that projects communicate with investors in a manner that is compliant with all jurisdictions and according to relevant reporting obligations. With IR 2.0, AmaZix will work to improve our client’s outreach marketing with rock solid compliance and communication, while protecting them from costly errors that can not only undermine investor confidence, but invite punitive legal action. To help to evolve our community management solution, we have brought on board General Counsel Dr Jeppe Stokholm, an experienced cryptocurrency lawyer and successful venture capitalist.
As part of our Investor Relations 2.0 product, our legal team can work closely with AmaZix clients to determine their legal obligations and then liaise with our community management team to tailor a communication strategy to the project’s specific legal and jurisdictional requirements. This may include KYC restricted or closed chat rooms, limiting information provided on public channels, moving all communication to a more secure medium, as well as various other solutions.
Our goal is to develop the best possible communication with investors and other stakeholders while ensuring legal compliance. To this end, clients will receive a detailed plan which will ensure that their public communications remain in line with all legal requirements. An analysis will be conducted on the best strategies to ensure that the client company adheres to relevant legislation, spelled out in a step-by-step process that leaves nothing to chance.
AmaZix’s top team of analysts and advisors will design and implement a credibility-building content strategy over a six-month period to increase awareness and respect for our client’s brand. The AmaZix team will also help clients to create and deliver professional quality videos introducing the team. From strategy to storyboarding and final production, we will shine a spotlight on our client’s unique product, team and vision.
Accountability and Transparency Suite
Our quarterly reporting, inspired by traditional public company reports, will include an outline of key milestones and metrics that have been achieved by our clients over the preceding quarter, as well as a look ahead at what is to come in the next quarter.
The AmaZix team has developed bespoke reporting templates for pre-launch and post-launch crypto projects which we will soon be open-sourcing and soliciting feedback from the wider crypto community. Inspired by the reporting performed by forward-thinking projects such as Iconomi, our templates include key product development, business development, financial, token supply and adoption metrics. These reports will be written by our elite analyst and advisory team, who have collectively broken down over 300 projects and played a key role in preparing the token economics and whitepapers of AmaZix partners raising over $1.3B.
The production of annual reports and account audits are a regulatory requirement in many jurisdictions. Guided by our General Counsel, we can assist our clients in producing their annual reports. AmaZix can also help to produce account audits through our partnership with PwC Global. To foster inclusiveness, we will also translate these reports into multiple languages.
At AmaZix, we have always valued collaboration and the development of strong partnerships to add value to our clients. As part of IR 2.0, we are looking to develop relationships with some of the best projects that are promoting transparency and accountability in the crypto space. Messari, for example, is building the first token-based self-regulatory organization, creating crypto’s own EDGAR database with a Bloomberg data room on top. We welcome this initiative and believe that in time, projects that are not listed on Messari or a similar registry will be overlooked by investors and judged accordingly by the market.
As such, AmaZix will encourage all partner projects to commit to joining the Messari database. Messari will handle all necessary disclosures, fees and other administrative tasks to ensure the information supplied is up to date and accurate. Messari only selects quality, pre-vetted projects which submit key data disclosures including circulating supply, treasury operations and vesting periods, which is then verified by validators will further build trust with investors.
We are always looking for industry-leading partners that can add real value to our client network. If this is you, please get in touch.
Representation and Participation Suite
In addition to quarterly reports, we will be taking another page out of the traditional stock market’s book and organizing live quarterly conference webcasts. The webcast panels will include members of the project’s executive team, a member of the AmaZix analyst team, board members (if available), and press representatives (if required). The AmaZix community management team will pool questions directly from the community. We will also run competitions to reward the most active, devoted and loyal community members by inviting them to participate in conference calls (see Elon Musk recently bringing Youtuber and Tesla analyst Galileo Russel on the Tesla Conference Call for an example of great community management in action). Once again, to increase inclusiveness, we will produce full transcripts of these calls in multiple languages (agreed upon beforehand) to be published on our clients’ social media channels.
Optionally, as part of the IR 2.0 product, a member of the AmaZix advisory team will take a seat on the project’s board, lending their experience, expertise and personal brand to the project. Crucially, this seat will be “transparent”: the AmaZix board member will commit to representing the interests of the community and token-holders. AmaZix will organize quarterly board meetings where we will table and discuss any concerns raised by token-holders. We will also write reports of these meetings that will outline key issues raised and outcomes achieved for the community.
Conclusion
The cryptocurrency space is evolving rapidly. In less than a decade it has gone from being unregulated and off the radar to a dynamic industry that has captured the attention of institutional investors, major banks, lawmakers, city traders and family funds. Such is the rate of change that crypto technology is outpacing the law. While regulators play catch-up, projects that advocate accountability will now be perfectly positioned to prosper in the new emergent financial system.
With the professionalization of the industry, investors and regulators expect projects to abide by much higher standards of communication, accountability and transparency. Failing to match these standards will result in failed token sales and in the worst cases, regulatory action. IR 2.0 aims to accelerate the transition to greater transparency and compliant communication, maximizing the chances of a successful token sale and mitigating regulatory risk. Investor Relations 2.0 empowers proactive projects to reap the benefits of setting new standards of transparency and to be duly rewarded.
Who we are
AmaZix is the global leader in community management. Our team of around 100 has maintained, fostered and grown the communities of over 120 projects that have collectively raised more than $1.3B, including the likes of Bancor, HDAC, Bankex, WePower and GoChain.
We are also the largest provider of full-service advisory to blockchain businesses. Our analyst team, comprised of some of the brightest minds in the industry, has meticulously assessed over 300 projects and played a pivotal role in refining the token economics and whitepapers of major tokenized projects.
For more information, please visit: https://www.amazix.com
Originally published at www.amazix.com on April 10, 2019.
By AmaZix Editorial on April 10, 2019.
Exported from Medium on January 30, 2020.