Brickblock Progress Q&A
Highlights:
- $10+ million USD raised, including Series A funding from Finch Capital
- Regulatory consent for the first client client offering
- Partnership with Peakside Capital to establish the world’s first tokenized real estate fund
- Smart contract ecosystem successfully audited by ConsenSys Diligence
- Partnerships with JTC Group and SolarisBank
- Attending the biggest real estate and blockchain events around the world
- Smart contracts deployed to Ethereum Main Net, confirming proof of concept
- Two offices with 25 full-time employees from 17 countries
1. What was the result of the ICO and what does this mean for Brickblock investors?
We raised $10+ million during our ICO (including private investments). These funds allow us to build and refine a product that will innovate the world of investing. We were able to hire top talent, cover legal costs, and attend events in key markets. Our community grew by 30x from the first stage of the ICO to the last, which enabled us to gain valuable insight into the needs and wants of our users. We have always said we are a product company, not an ICO company. The conclusion of our token sale meant we could fully focus on fulfilling our roadmap.
Investors have a stake in the success of the company and the growth of our client offerings.
2. Who are Brickblock’s partners?
Some of our key partnerships include:
- Finch Capital, a venture capital firm that invested EUR 5 million in our Series A. Finch Capital has a proven track record of accelerating fintech companies around the world.
- Peakside Capital, partner for the first tokenized real estate fund. Peakside manages real estate assets currently totalling over EUR 1 billion in gross value.
- ConsenSys Diligence, industry-leading blockchain auditing specialists who reviewed our smart contract ecosystem.
- JTC Group, an institutional partner that will support the legal structure of our first client offering. JTC operates in 17 jurisdictions with assets totalling more than $100 billion USD under administration.
- solarisBank, provider of our state-of-the-art AML/KYC process. solarisBank is the first tech platform with a German banking license.
- Jaxx, a leading digital wallet with Brickblock token (BBK) support
3. Can you expand on the smart contract audit?
The audit of our smart contract ecosystem was completed by our audit partner, ConsenSys Diligence, in September 2018. ConsenSys Diligence is the most reputable auditor in the blockchain industry. The final audit report, after reviewing more than 5000 lines of code, concludes that no critical or major issues were identified. All medium and minor issues have already been addressed either through code changes or by explaining why certain trade-offs were necessary.
The stated goal of the report was to “verify that the smart contract system is secure, resilient, and working according to its specifications.” We delivered a positive result in all regards.
4. Can you please explain your token burn event?
On November 21st, 2018, we burned 234,999,856.65 BBK that were not sold during our token sale or pre-sale.
The current total supply is 265,000,143.34 tokens.
Burning unsold tokens guarantees that a fixed amount is in circulation. Most importantly, it is a matter of transparency — token sale buyers know exactly how many tokens will be in circulation and that Brickblock or any other third parties can’t simply introduce the unsold tokens to the market at a later date.
5. How many real estate assets has Brickblock tokenized, and how is the pipeline coming along?
Our first client offering has been given regulatory consent and we are now polishing the user experience before the funding period opens. The property is a 50-unit residential building in the United Kingdom offered by Hillview Homes Ltd. The asset is being acquired at an 11% discount to market value and has set a £3,350,000 funding target. As this is a private sale, we cannot disclose further details until the investment is fully funded.
The next project is a tokenized real estate fund launched in partnership with Peakside Capital, open to accredited investors. It is the first of its kind in the world. This will be followed by several more projects open to retail investors.
6. How is the progress of regulatory compliance coming along?
Together with JTC Group and solarisBank, we have established an ownership/custodian structure that is compliant with regulations in Europe. We now have consent to move forward with the first issuance, which you can read about in our most recent update.
One caveat for maintaining regulatory compliance is that we conduct a thorough AML/KYC process that ensures only investors verified through a regulated third-party are able to participate in client offerings. Our solution in partnership with solarisBank, which is regulated by BaFin in Germany, and IDnow makes this process as simple as possible.
7. How does Brickblock compare to competing projects?
A lot of competitors talk about blockchain technology’s potential for security issuance. We are actually showing this potential, and our smart contracts are already deployed to the Ethereum Main Net. This is a more concrete proof of concept than the majority of blockchain projects. Our first client offering will be the first tokenized real estate asset issued in Europe. Our partnership with Peakside Capital is also on track to issue the world’s first tokenized real estate fund. We have a full-time team of 25 employees from 17 nationalities working to bring our vision to life.
8. How is Brickblock getting assets to list in the portal?
We attend and present at the biggest real estate events around the world to source the best projects possible. Some of these include MIPIM (the world’s largest real estate conference), Expo Real, PropTech Riga, IREBS, and Business Arena Stockholm. We attended 17 events in October, November, and December alone.
9. Will Brickblock tokens (BBK) be listed on other exchanges?
We are always looking to be listed on the most reputable exchanges. Due to the confidential nature of agreements with exchanges, we cannot disclose any information on future listings. Right now, it is very simple to buy BBK on Bitmart.
Our current focus is launching our product to demonstrate that we are able to launch client offerings within a regulatory compliant framework in Europe. This allows us to attract significantly more interest from potential investors and fundraisers around the world, which in turn enables us to list Brickblock tokens (BBK) on the most reputable exchanges.
10. Can you briefly explain the tokenomics of Brickblock and why this should attract investors?
It is important to distinguish between Brickblock tokens (BBK) and Proof-of-Asset tokens (PoA).
BBK were only sold during the ICO. BBK holders can activate their tokens on Brickblock to generate Access tokens (ACT), which are automatically produced to pay for transaction fees on the Brickblock Portal. The number of ACT generated per BBK holder is proportionate to the number of activated BBK in the entire network of token holders. ACT are ERC20-standard and can be exchanged for ETH.
Proof-of-Asset (PoA) tokens are the digital shares of a tokenized asset issued by Brickblock clients, and entitle the token holder to the economic benefits — dividends, interest, and principal distributions — of the underlying asset. PoA tokens are ERC20-standard and can be traded on the secondary market, creating liquidity for real estate investments like never before.
You can find a more detailed explanation of how BBK and PoA tokens work here.
DISCLAIMER:
I have been ambassador at Brickblock since May 2018, I have done my research and due diligence on the project, I am convinced that Brickblock will be a success; but you should not trust what I am writing here as I am convinced already.
This is not a financial advise and you should do your own research on Brickblock before investing on it, and understand if you are willing to lose this investment, as there is always risk in innovative markets as, technology, fintech, and cryptocurrencies, due to regulations, geopolitical issues, and what not.
