StartEngine ICO 2.0 Summit: Security Tokens on Display

Blockchain Beach attended StartEngine’s ICO 2.0 Summit in Santa Monica. You can view our full series of live tweets here, but read on for some of the highlights:

We’re live from Santa Monica for @StartEngineLA #StartEngineSummit pic.twitter.com/IcylahlU6V

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

Start Engine CEO Howard Marks kicked off the conference with a plea for regulation. Blockchain Beach does not believe that all tokens are Security Tokens, but regulated Security Tokens are coming and they will hold a lot of value:

“ICO 2.0 means trying to bring the ICO world into regulation… For us to grow this market ten times, we need regulation. And it’s going to be put on us, so we don’t have a choice” – @howardmarks @StartEngineLA #StartEngineSummit pic.twitter.com/RbRzoVlPnj

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

The first panel was on the State of ICO Regulation:

The State of ICO Regulation with @VinnyLingham @civickey, @jaysamit @Deloitte, @davidconcannon, and more #StartEngineSummit @StartEngineLA pic.twitter.com/hEm8lLqxG7

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

Speaking of Utility Tokens, Civic founder Vinny Lingham wants to see true utility with a well thought Token Economic Model:

“Unless you have a really well thought out plan of how to build utility, you might as well be a security. I don’t do TBD token economic models. You might as well go to Vegas and put it on red.” – @VinnyLingham @civickey #StartEngineSummit

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

He also does not invest in ICOs that pay for ads (which is why he didn’t think the Facebook/Google ad ban was all that relevant):

“Don’t invest in ICOs that pay for ads. What percentage of the budget are they using to raise the funds?” – @VinnyLingham @civickey #StartEngineSummit

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

Next, Chia founder Ryan Singer expressed an interest in not going to jail:

“Not going to jail is one of my life goals, so we’re just not going to sell the token” – @Ryan_Singer #StartEngineSummit pic.twitter.com/FyR7IaEuyk

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne was supposed to give a morning keynote, but was unable to attend. However, other representative from tZERO spoke on other panels:

“The SEC is starting to realize they need to do something. This isn’t going away and they’re asking us what we’re doing and what the vision is” – Joe Cammarata @tzeroblockchain #StartEngineSummit

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

The next Keynote was from Investor, Gil Penchina:

Now keynote with @gilpenchina #StartEngineSummit pic.twitter.com/xdSwrVcStJ

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

He loves 24/7 trading hours:

“Why can’t I trade Cisco at 2am on a Saturday? Not only are nights closed (on NYSE), but sometimes full days” – @gilpenchina @PryzeHQ #StartEngineSummit

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

The next panel was about Airdrops, which should be a big topic in 2018 and 2019:

Now: Is Airdrop the Next ICO Model? with @nanxi_liu, David Moss @EOS_io, @mahbodmoghadam, @boironattorney, and Josh Amster @StartEngineLA #StartEngineSummit pic.twitter.com/YBJLlhK5Cl

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

One interesting idea was keeping your tokens off trading exchanges if you want to stay a utility:

“If the token can only be used in a network, you’re not going to be a security. Airdrops can do just that and grow your network.” – @boironattorney (belatedly agreeing with @howardmarks about not putting your utility tokens on an exchange) #StartEngineSummit

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

Everyone on the panel thought that Everipedia is the next big Airdrop (coming to EOS token holders in June):

“The current laws were made in the 1930s. @Everipedia is completing the original vision of @Wikipedia and regulators shouldn’t destroy that value. I don’t think they will because laws catch up with technology.” – @mahbodmoghadam #StartEngineSummit

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

The afternoon Keynote from Mark Suster had some predictable quotes:

"ICO's will not replace venture capital" – @msuster #Startenginesummit #ICOs #ico pic.twitter.com/IGmnp3MiUK

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

And also some more bullish statements on the potential of Blockchain and DApps:

One more from @msuster:

“The idea of taking services like Identity, Bankings, and Reputation Management and have them be more open and have apps built on top. I don’t like the world where Apple and Google tax 30% and can decide they don’t like “fart” apps” #StartEngineSummit

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 21, 2018

The next panel was on whether ICOs are Disrupting Venture Capital:

"Are ICOs Disrupting Venture Capital?" panel with @marissakim @DavidHernand @ScienceGilman @SunDhillon @Disruptepreneur @joeykrug #startenginesummit #ICOs #ico pic.twitter.com/2CNySS3FhK

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

It had some classic quotes from Jeremy Gardner, Ausum Ventures and Augur:

"I feel like it's my job (during ICO pitches) to tell people that they don't need a token" – @Disruptepreneur pic.twitter.com/Ulx2yokgoJ

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

And his former Augur co-founder, Joey Krug:

Even after security tokens are prevalent, “I think there will still be utility tokens. In systems, like Augur, where you lose tokens for bad actions in a network, that can’t be a security. 95% will probably be securities though.” – @joeykrug #StartEngineSummit

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

The panel agreed that these were the top investment criteria for Blockchain projects:

Team (including tech), World Class Project, Solution has an outsized return, Reason for having a token, and Whether it is physically possible are answers from the panel about what they look for in an investment. #StartEngineSummit

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

The closing Keynote of the day came from investor, Lou Kerner. He’s waiting for the Flippening to happen between Utility Tokens and Security Tokens:

“The Flippening” keynote from @loukerner #StartEngineSummit pic.twitter.com/wJWD2aUzlS

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

How do you define “Crypto?”

Defining Crypto: It’s not just currency or tech @loukerner #StartEngineSummit pic.twitter.com/xeDrTdiW6u

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

Predictions, anyone?

Lou Kerner (@loukerner) has been called the Crypto Oracle. His “aggressive” prediction for the Secuirity Token issuance Flippening (surpassing Utility issuances) is March, 2019. We’ll see! #StartEngineSummit

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 20, 2018

The next StartEngine ICO Summit will be in November and we’re looking forward to another great day!