Member Article

Precious metal extraction? This London-based company could soon have a crypto token for that

London-based blockchain investor and company builder Consilium Group has announced the creation of a new subsidiary which it says could soon provide industrial firms working in precious metal extraction a blockchain-powered source of funding.

The company has formed Terrastream Limited in Gibraltar, a wholly-owned subsidiary that will look to build an enterprise-grade blockchain platform that will use its own bespoke tokens as a way to fund industrial projects.

Unsurprisingly the firm is looking to capitalise on the current craze for initial coin offerings (ICOs) and token sales with a token sale of its own to fund the platform along with current cash reserves.

With the cryptocurrency space booming at the moment with recent estimates from CoinDesk placing a $116bn value on the market back in early August, ICOs and token sales have become a buzzy way for blockchain-based firms to raise enormous amounts of cash quickly.

For those platforms based on Ethereum, the Bitcoin rival which is currently the second most valuable in the world, token sales allow investors to own a piece of the chosen business with the increasing value of a ‘token’ linked to the company’s success thus incentivising early adopters.

Presumably, early investors in Terrastream’s token sale will fund industrial applications such as precious metals and natural resource extraction efforts, with successful endeavours serving to boost the value of each token hold by investors.

And why Gibraltar?

Well the British Overseas Territory off the coast of Spain is already putting plans in place for a new regulatory framework specifically for blockchain businesses which will make it one of the first jurisdictions in the world to fully regulate the nascent technology.

With criticisms that the practice of ICOs and token sales are encouraging cowboys to flood into the crypto sphere as the bubble grows ever larger, the protections of an established regulatory environment could help to legitimise the technology in the eyes of old industry stalwarts.

Malcolm Palle, Executive Chairman of Coinsilium hailed Gibraltar’s record in identifying and adopting new technologies and said it would be working closely with Gibraltan policymakers in the run-up to the framework’s launch.

He said: “Coinsilium’s subsidiary Terrastream will be one of the first blockchain-focused companies to support Gibraltar’s regulatory initiative and we expect the DLT Regulatory Framework to provide investors and industry participants alike with the confidence and certainty to embrace and support the development of many exciting blockchain ventures in the future. We look forward to updating investors on further developments with Terrastream at this exciting time for Coinsilium.”