Decentralized marketplace startup Origin Protocol is looking to expand its audience, as well as raise more capital, through a compliant token sale.
Announced Monday in a press release, Origin has set a target of $6.6 million for the offering, with SEC-registered CoinList Capital acting as the issuing platform and advisor to investors.
Origin co-founder Josh Fraser said that, more important than the money, will be the opportunity to grow its network with endorsement from CoinList, an AngelList spin-off. The startup wants âas many people to participate as possible,â he told CoinDesk.
Fraser continued:
âThereâs so many scammy projects out there, so anything you can do to set yourself apart is [great] ⦠Weâre really excited for a chance to work with CoinList and to be able to be the recipient of a very anticipated sale. If you look in our Telegram, you see people asking every single day to be a part.â
That being said, only accredited investors will be able to buy into Origin on CoinListâs platform at the moment. The co-founder explained that âwhile not everyone can participate yet, it goes a long way to allowing more people to participate.â
Origin will use the funds to further flesh out its blockchain. And while it isnât in urgent need of new funds â having already raised $28 million in a SAFT sale and $3 million in a prior venture capital round â the startup still intends to make good use of the sale proceeds, according to Fraser.
âWeâre going to continue building as we said weâre going to do, and weâre on schedule to launch [in the third quarter] like we said we would,â he said.
Fraser noted that the fundamental question the company is asking is whether open-source protocols could replace ânot one, not two, but dozens of major companies.â
âWeâre creating a platform for sharing economy type marketplaces ⦠looking at how you can build decentralized Uber, decentralized AirBNB â these marketplaces where we can use a blockchain to create peer-to-peer marketplaces rather than using giant corporations and monopolies,â he said.
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