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Image Attributed to @LucianoInf Now second only to South Korea as the biggest crypto market in Asia, Hong Kong's future might be one of decentralised ledgers, Bitcoin and Crypto-Currencies. Hong Kong will always hold a special place in my heart. For just shy of two years from 2016 to 2018 I lived and worked in the city, and still today it sits close to the top of the list of my preferred jurisdictions for business incorporation. Hong Kong is, as ever, a great place to do business and with its grit and its tenacity is very much the New York City of East Asia, or at least, it was. Every so often a need arises to clear up some business or banking in the city and so I find myself landing at its world class airport and dining at its world class restaurants with old friends and contacts. People who are close to the action and keyed in to the city's inner workings. Yet, as an infrequent visitor my eyes and ears observe changes not so obvious to those stuck in the daily grind, in the same way the ageing process is invisible from one day to the next, but stark and profound as the years roll by. Hong Kong is struggling to reinvent itself. Before you boomers get all giddy with your 'muh China', hold on. This isn't an article about the Chinese Government, I rather want to lay out my thoughts around Hong Kong itself, as well as the city relative to its immediate region. I don't intend to make the case for Singapore, which, despite being arguably the greatest beneficiary of Hong Kong's headaches, is still a top contender for title of the most boring place in Asia. I intend only to outline the unique challenges and opportunities faced by one of the most magnificent - and least boring - cities in the world. Gateway to the Middle Kingdom Incorporating your business in Hong Kong still makes sense in many cases. Hong Kong is pragmatic, with systems and infrastructure that is well established to facilitate commerce and trade. Structures can be highly tax efficient, and while getting a bank account has become more difficult, once established, the banking services at your disposal are second-to-none. Hong Kong is still a respected jurisdiction globally. Yet for entrepreneurs and companies alike the case for incorporating in Hong Kong has often been as part of an overall strategy to do business in and with the mainland. Because of the prevalence of a legal system and system of governance with its foundations in the British style, foreigners could come to Hong Kong and feel just enough familiarity not to be scurrying back to wherever they came from (and often this meant quite a lot of familiarity was on offer). Recently a contact of mine who does business in the mainland linked me to a new structure in Shanghai for establishing 100% foreign owned companies. While the corporate tax rate on the mainland is higher (25% vs 16.5% in Hong Kong), the fees associated with establishing such an entity are far lower, and skipping Hong Kong to go directly to the supplier or client has the benefit of reduced friction and complexity. There is no obvious remedy to this dilemma for Hong Kong. As companies have become more confident engaging directly with the mainland, the appeal of Hong Kong in this respect has waned. Added to this the fact that Hong Kong itself is too small to be a genuine start-up hub, there exists a need for the city to take a new approach. Economic Woes At the same time as Hong Kong's role as gateway to the mainland has diminished, there has been an ever growing inflow of both capital and people from the mainland. Every year the prevalence of Mandarin on the streets of the city grows, but, in the wake of the pandemic, this growth has been offset by an exodus of both Hong Kongers (primarily to the UK, Canada and Australia) and Western Expats. This population shuffle fundamentally changes the fabric of Hong Kong society, and is a phenomenon seen elsewhere, including for example in Germany. Those leaving Hong Kong are by-and-large wealthier than the average Hong Konger, and with them goes their skills and capital worsening the city's already pessimistic demographic outlook (with a Total Fertility Rate of 0.7 according to the World Bank, Hong Kong's ageing population - an almost worldwide issue - is one of its greatest challenges in the years ahead). Arrivals from the mainland have helped to offset this exodus, but only so much, and with the collapse in the Yen, Tokyo is increasingly attractive to wealthy Chinese looking to diversify themselves both financially and by way of residency. The fact that Hong Kong remains one of the most expensive places in the world only adds fuel to the fire. As the saying goes, one man's (or city's) loss is another's gain, and as already mentioned, Singapore has been effective in attracting capital and businesses included in the exodus. At the same time, countries such as Malaysia with its sizeable Chinese diaspora and corporate structures offering tax rates as low as 3% (via the Labuan incorporation route), are also seeing an uptick in interest from those who might otherwise have stayed in the Fragrant Harbour. While the economy on the mainland has been sluggish, the PBOC has adjusted rates downwards. Hong Kong's peg however has dictated that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has followed the Fed's increases over the past few years. This has resulted in a policy rate that sits at 5.25% vs 3.10% for the PBOC at the time of writing (5 years ago the PBOC rate stood at 4.31% while the HKMA policy rate was around 1%). While the increase in rates in the USA was implemented to reign in inflation, Hong Kong suffered no such comparable phenomenon - although it did suffer significant capital outflows - and the increase in rates has been in direct contradiction to conventional economic wisdom that may have encouraged a policy of easing rather than tightening over the last few years had it not been for the peg. Crypto In February 2022, with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia marking a dramatic escalation in hostilities, Chinese policy makers and tycoons alike were undoubtedly keenly observing the geopolitical fallout. If not already clear, this event and the close to three years since has demonstrated the closeness of these two civilisational states. However, and perhaps more importantly, it has exposed the extent to which the United States will go to both pursue sanctions and weaponise the financial system that it controls via the greenback. Many, including myself, did not think that Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin would do it, and many others believed that the Russia - which had popularly, and falsely, been described by many in the West as a 'gas station masquerading as a country' (John McCain, 2015) - would quickly crumble under the weight of economic exclusion. As is usually the case, pretty much nothing happened according to consensus. Russia which had been so successful in its quick, practically bloodless annexation of Crimea, did not scare the Ukrainians back to the negotiating table. Conversely, the Russian economy has actually experienced something of an economic boom. However, and the point I want to drive home, from the perspective of those in Asia, it was a test case for what Hong Kong may face in the wake of any escalation in the straits of Taiwan. China's approach to crypto-currencies has been mixed at best. While officially there are bans on crypto, it is no coincidence that Hong Kong, which initially pushed back so hard on this financial innovation, has now seen a dramatic uptick in crypto assets. In a recent report by Chainalysis Hong Kong saw the fastest growth in its region at 86% from July 2023 to June 2024. In light of the situation in Ukraine, it is possible that crypto could be considered a useful tool in mitigating the effects of an economic war, such as that which the West has waged on Russia. At the very least, it does provide an incentive for regulators to look the other way or turn a blind eye. Conclusion With approximately 7.5 million inhabitants, Hong Kong just doesn't have the scale to make it a stand-out start-up hub, and its role as a conduit into the mainland will in all probability be further eroded by the likes of Shanghai and Shenzhen. Nevertheless, its role as a critical financial centre may be reinvigorated by a realignment towards crypto-assets and the newly emerging financial paradigm unfolding before our very eyes. Whether Trump's reelection will inspire a rapprochement and deescalation of the now vivid geopolitical schism calving up the world is yet to be seen. Nevertheless, one thing is abundantly clear, if Hong Kong is to retain its prestige and replicate its past success, things will need to change. Image Attributed to @LucianoInf Image Attributed to @LucianoInf Now second only to South Korea as the biggest crypto market in Asia, Hong Kong's future might be one of decentralised ledgers, Bitcoin and Crypto-Currencies. Now second only to South Korea as the biggest crypto market in Asia, Hong Kong's future might be one of decentralised ledgers, Bitcoin and Crypto-Currencies. Hong Kong will always hold a special place in my heart. For just shy of two years from 2016 to 2018 I lived and worked in the city, and still today it sits close to the top of the list of my preferred jurisdictions for business incorporation. Hong Kong is, as ever, a great place to do business and with its grit and its tenacity is very much the New York City of East Asia, or at least, it was. Every so often a need arises to clear up some business or banking in the city and so I find myself landing at its world class airport and dining at its world class restaurants with old friends and contacts. People who are close to the action and keyed in to the city's inner workings. Yet, as an infrequent visitor my eyes and ears observe changes not so obvious to those stuck in the daily grind, in the same way the ageing process is invisible from one day to the next, but stark and profound as the years roll by. Hong Kong is struggling to reinvent itself. Before you boomers get all giddy with your 'muh China', hold on. This isn't an article about the Chinese Government, I rather want to lay out my thoughts around Hong Kong itself, as well as the city relative to its immediate region. I don't intend to make the case for Singapore, which, despite being arguably the greatest beneficiary of Hong Kong's headaches, is still a top contender for title of the most boring place in Asia. I intend only to outline the unique challenges and opportunities faced by one of the most magnificent - and least boring - cities in the world. Gateway to the Middle Kingdom Incorporating your business in Hong Kong still makes sense in many cases. Hong Kong is pragmatic, with systems and infrastructure that is well established to facilitate commerce and trade. Structures can be highly tax efficient, and while getting a bank account has become more difficult, once established, the banking services at your disposal are second-to-none. Hong Kong is still a respected jurisdiction globally. Yet for entrepreneurs and companies alike the case for incorporating in Hong Kong has often been as part of an overall strategy to do business in and with the mainland. Because of the prevalence of a legal system and system of governance with its foundations in the British style, foreigners could come to Hong Kong and feel just enough familiarity not to be scurrying back to wherever they came from (and often this meant quite a lot of familiarity was on offer). Recently a contact of mine who does business in the mainland linked me to a new structure in Shanghai for establishing 100% foreign owned companies. While the corporate tax rate on the mainland is higher (25% vs 16.5% in Hong Kong), the fees associated with establishing such an entity are far lower, and skipping Hong Kong to go directly to the supplier or client has the benefit of reduced friction and complexity. There is no obvious remedy to this dilemma for Hong Kong. As companies have become more confident engaging directly with the mainland, the appeal of Hong Kong in this respect has waned. Added to this the fact that Hong Kong itself is too small to be a genuine start-up hub, there exists a need for the city to take a new approach. Economic Woes At the same time as Hong Kong's role as gateway to the mainland has diminished, there has been an ever growing inflow of both capital and people from the mainland. Every year the prevalence of Mandarin on the streets of the city grows, but, in the wake of the pandemic, this growth has been offset by an exodus of both Hong Kongers (primarily to the UK, Canada and Australia) and Western Expats. This population shuffle fundamentally changes the fabric of Hong Kong society, and is a phenomenon seen elsewhere, including for example in Germany. Those leaving Hong Kong are by-and-large wealthier than the average Hong Konger, and with them goes their skills and capital worsening the city's already pessimistic demographic outlook (with a Total Fertility Rate of 0.7 according to the World Bank, Hong Kong's ageing population - an almost worldwide issue - is one of its greatest challenges in the years ahead). population shuffle population shuffle Arrivals from the mainland have helped to offset this exodus, but only so much, and with the collapse in the Yen, Tokyo is increasingly attractive to wealthy Chinese looking to diversify themselves both financially and by way of residency. The fact that Hong Kong remains one of the most expensive places in the world only adds fuel to the fire. As the saying goes, one man's (or city's) loss is another's gain , and as already mentioned, Singapore has been effective in attracting capital and businesses included in the exodus. At the same time, countries such as Malaysia with its sizeable Chinese diaspora and corporate structures offering tax rates as low as 3% (via the Labuan incorporation route), are also seeing an uptick in interest from those who might otherwise have stayed in the Fragrant Harbour. one man's (or city's) loss is another's gain While the economy on the mainland has been sluggish, the PBOC has adjusted rates downwards. Hong Kong's peg however has dictated that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has followed the Fed's increases over the past few years. This has resulted in a policy rate that sits at 5.25% vs 3.10% for the PBOC at the time of writing (5 years ago the PBOC rate stood at 4.31% while the HKMA policy rate was around 1%). While the increase in rates in the USA was implemented to reign in inflation, Hong Kong suffered no such comparable phenomenon - although it did suffer significant capital outflows - and the increase in rates has been in direct contradiction to conventional economic wisdom that may have encouraged a policy of easing rather than tightening over the last few years had it not been for the peg. Crypto In February 2022, with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia marking a dramatic escalation in hostilities, Chinese policy makers and tycoons alike were undoubtedly keenly observing the geopolitical fallout. If not already clear, this event and the close to three years since has demonstrated the closeness of these two civilisational states. However, and perhaps more importantly, it has exposed the extent to which the United States will go to both pursue sanctions and weaponise the financial system that it controls via the greenback. Many, including myself, did not think that Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin would do it, and many others believed that the Russia - which had popularly, and falsely, been described by many in the West as a 'gas station masquerading as a country' (John McCain, 2015) - would quickly crumble under the weight of economic exclusion. As is usually the case, pretty much nothing happened according to consensus. Russia which had been so successful in its quick, practically bloodless annexation of Crimea, did not scare the Ukrainians back to the negotiating table. Conversely, the Russian economy has actually experienced something of an economic boom. However, and the point I want to drive home, from the perspective of those in Asia, it was a test case for what Hong Kong may face in the wake of any escalation in the straits of Taiwan. China's approach to crypto-currencies has been mixed at best. While officially there are bans on crypto, it is no coincidence that Hong Kong, which initially pushed back so hard on this financial innovation, has now seen a dramatic uptick in crypto assets. In a recent report by Chainalysis Hong Kong saw the fastest growth in its region at 86% from July 2023 to June 2024. In light of the situation in Ukraine, it is possible that crypto could be considered a useful tool in mitigating the effects of an economic war, such as that which the West has waged on Russia. At the very least, it does provide an incentive for regulators to look the other way or turn a blind eye. report Conclusion With approximately 7.5 million inhabitants, Hong Kong just doesn't have the scale to make it a stand-out start-up hub, and its role as a conduit into the mainland will in all probability be further eroded by the likes of Shanghai and Shenzhen. Nevertheless, its role as a critical financial centre may be reinvigorated by a realignment towards crypto-assets and the newly emerging financial paradigm unfolding before our very eyes. Whether Trump's reelection will inspire a rapprochement and deescalation of the now vivid geopolitical schism calving up the world is yet to be seen. Nevertheless, one thing is abundantly clear, if Hong Kong is to retain its prestige and replicate its past success, things will need to change.

Hong Kong and the Crypto Boom: Economic Woes, Money Flows and Sanctions

Startups of The Year 2023 Winners: North America 

Blockchains are virtual cities: districts of economic and cultural exchange, where common infrastructure gives rise to a mutual sense of place and a shared social fabric. Bitcoin is a city. The original application-specific chain. Despite its minimal feature set, Bitcoin is surrounded by a rich ecosystem of clients, exchanges, and layer-2s. Likewise, Ethereum is a sprawling metropolis with a rapidly expanding financial district, so much so that the cost of living is pushing people to the suburbs. There are plenty of small cities that serve their residents perfectly well, but many next generation blockchains are built to , defined narrowly as increasing the number of transactions, validators, or shards. As a result, these platforms end up imposing arbitrary blueprints onto prospective residents. Utopian projects like should serve as cautionary tales for such top-down planning. scale Brasília 1958 Brasília under construction © Marcel Gautherot, Instituto Moreira Salles While cities for an imaginary civilization can be built in the middle of nowhere, this isn’t how we should go about making a place we want to live. Urbanization is best understood as a consequence, not a precondition or an end unto itself. Instead, cities emerge to serve the needs of their citizens, to foster exchange of goods, services, and ideas, to establish protocols and norms that facilitate cooperation, information exchange, creation, and discovery. Great cities aren’t built to show off the latest construction material, or to indulge the machinations of influential architects, but grown, organically, by and for their citizenry. The Cosmos Hub is a Port City Of course, cities do not exist in isolation. They are embedded in the larger political landscape of empires, nation states, republics, and loose federations of sovereign city states. Connected globally by shipping lines and trade-routes, airports and distribution centers, they are caught in a perennial ebb and flow of sovereignty and hegemony, isolation and interconnection. While each city is unique, some cities play a special role in supporting this great web. These are port cities, gateways to uncharted territories and places beyond borders. You’ll find port cities where the trade winds empty into new worlds, on peninsulas and river deltas where oceans meet inland waterways. From there, trade routes form; markets where merchants exchange spices for silk and maps for navigating the stars. Port cities are where distant cultures and economies and imaginations come together as dynamic, vibrant living spaces. Apollo 11 star chart used in training for the 1969 lunar landing mission. National Air and Space Museum The Cosmos Hub is one such port city, with trade routes to the largest blockchain economies. It’s a city that’s enriched by connection. A city that supports those with whom it connects. Rather than impose a political and economic system onto its inhabitants, the Hub competes on even footing to provide the best possible service. It does so by attracting the best validators, merchants, developers, and blockchains who want to form connections, exchange, and participate, whether it’s establishing themselves on the Hub, or simply passing through. Systems of Flows, from the Office for Metropolitan Architecture’s Palermo Atlas (2018) So what kind of place are we trying to create together? And what culture can the Hub bring about? We want to build a city where people actually want to live and grow. A city that has a vibrant economy and unique culture; a good quality of life, opportunities for newcomers; a place people are proud to live because its rich history is something they want to be a part of. New York, Hong Kong, Istanbul: these are cities that people fall in love with. Their ports receive people who cross oceans to find inspiration and possibility—places where they find community, a sense of pride, and civic responsibility. That’s what we want for the Cosmos Hub. William Zeckendorf’s unrealized Manhattan Airport (1946) What’s in a Hub A hub isn’t a kingdom, but a port city. It’s not a central bank, but a clearing house. It’s not an ISP, but an exchange point. It’s not an airline, but an airport. A good hub isn’t a ruling dictator, but a servant leader. The Cosmos Hub will play precisely this leading role in the expanding universe of blockchains in need of interchain services. The Hub will be a place that facilitates discovery, secures trade, promotes exchange, brings people and resources and opportunities together to create their own self-determined, self-governed communities that represent the next wave of interchain infrastructure, commerce, and culture. The Hub will be valuable for the growing interchain for the same reason a great city is valuable to people with ambition and talent and creativity, because it’s where you find new people, new ideas, new possibilities. It’s a place with the best tools, resources and collaborators to start a new project, and see it grow as the city grows with it. Today the Hub has a minimal set of facilities for decentralized organizing, but these coordination capabilities will need to be expanded significantly to become a premier venue for developing interchain products and services, and bringing them to market. A self-improving social and technical infrastructure will enable the Hub to become a nexus for a wide variety of individuals, collectives, companies, institutions, DAOs, and autonomous agents to work together, aligning incentives toward a common goal. Bernard Tschumi, Manhattan Transcripts (1983) ATOM then, is a stake in this flourishing economy and the talents of the community invested in the Hub’s success. To date the Cosmos Hub’s core teams, validators, and investors have built the technology securing upwards of $30B, but the Hub’s true value proposition, and that of the greater Cosmos ecosystem will only be fully realised with the activation of IBC. With Stargate shipped, these stakeholders are now turning their attention to a single question: what’s in a hub? The first port city of the new interchain economy. The Hub will need a core set of infrastructure, much of which is already in development and planned for launch in phases over the coming months and years. This roadmap includes essential interchain services like chain registries, automated market makers, bridges to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the wider digital economy. It includes shared security and fundraising for new blockchains, interchain accounts and facilities for capital formation. Together, this infrastructure will offer new functionality for ATOMs, an improved experience for blockchain users, simpler means to deploy high-security blockchains, and countless services for the thriving ecosystem of sovereign, interoperable blockchains beyond the Cosmos Hub. Five years ago the original Cosmos white paper laid out the vision of interoperable, application-specific blockchains. With the release of Stargate, its foundations are now complete. But with the dawn of interoperability, the Hub’s story is just beginning. It’s time for the next chapter; for a shared vision of where the Cosmos Hub goes from here. Now it’s time to lead by example, to demonstrate what it means to serve Cosmos as a Hub for the Internet of Blockchains. Aurora borealis illustration, A Our Earth and its Story: A Popular Treatise on Physical Geography (1887) Appendix: A Survey of Post-Stargate Features These proposed features contribute to the security of the network and its ability to grow as an Interchain marketplace for goods and services. The Hub should be the premier place to custody and manage cryptocurrency assets and to house blockchain-native organizations, i.e. “A great city to live.” The Hub’s services marketplace should make it the most attractive venue for Interchain economic flows i.e. “A great port to route through.” While the Hub should strive to provide real utility and delight users, it should remain application-specific, focusing on this core value offering. By applying a principle of practical Hub minimalism, we can strike the right balance. Including features like shared security will allow the Hub to safely expand the scope of offerings secured by ATOM, while keeping the security surface of the main chain to a minimum. While we believe this vision and initial feature set will be important for the Hub’s success, there are countless opportunities for community members to help shape the direction of the Cosmos Hub and participate in bringing this city to life. Follow development on the new Cosmos Hub GitHub project board . Written by: Ethan Buchman & Sam Hart Previously published here

What Makes the Cosmos Hub a Virtual Port City

We’re starting a new column with this article — . The author of the column is , our investment expert and co-founder of . It’s here where we’ll scan the market for the newest and most remarkable upcoming ICOs and analyze them in-depth, and our focus will be on the viability of the business concepts behind these projects. This won’t concern pre-ICO/ICO price gaps, no gasps and groans about the team, and no code checking. Here, we will try to break everything down to see if there are any market prospects for the product if, and only if, that product can be delivered. #icobusted Alexander Savinkin Howtotoken We would appreciate any feedback you may have about our new format, so please feel free to express your opinions in the comments section — which parts were you the most interested in and how we could improve the topics to make them more interesting to you. To stay up to date about what we’re doing, follow us on: Twitter Facebook Telegram Or just subscribe to our email newsletters (to receive updates and exclusive materials that are only distributed through email): One of the most interesting upcoming ICOs that is about to pop up is called . In a few words, Akropolis aims to be the first pension fund marketplace. It is one of the few projects that is going to leverage the blockchain within the traditional sectors of economy. And that particular sector happens to be pretty darn big. Akropolis Product The core idea is to build a platform that unites separate pension funds into one marketplace where individuals can compare and choose the most appropriate pension fund and plan (from the wide variety that’s out there), and fund managers will be able to use the platform for customer acquisition. Data trustworthiness and data ownership will be supported via smart contracts. I won’t say that it’s impossible to make such a service without the blockchain; but the blockchain can provide the advantages of truthfulness as a public control mechanism, mostly because of the distributed ledger for the history of interactions and a fund’s performance/reputation. Also, can be utilized to reduce fractions between pension funds and fund managers, for example. It’s also a great way to experiment and see how the things work out in practiсe while having a centralized backup. DAO Akropolis has decided to begin with a semi-decentralized solution, because the blockchain is not a necessary element in this case, especially in the beginning. But as we have all seen, the retirement fund market is very unstructured and difficult to properly analyze. In this way, the blockchain architecture of data storage might be one of the ways of bringing order into this chaotic market. Also, this might bolster smart-contract usage on the neutral territory of Akropolis’ platform, which by itself might turn this into a more customer-oriented market. And sure, blockchain implementation into Akropolis’ platform is also a good reason to have an ICO. These days, the typical way of choosing a pension fund is to consult with your bank manager, insurance agent, or financial consultant. And most of these intermediaries will just send you off to their partners. Meaning your choices will be severely limited and biased, since these “partners” usually pay out a finders fee. Yes, there are a lot of on how to manage your pension savings. There are a range of out there that try to help you make a choice. There are also some fund-rating sites and . Still, with the lack of uniformity that this market is facing, customers come along with a lack of data and extended expenses. surveys and calculators projects in the UK the US But there is no such marketplace yet where you can compare all the choices by different characteristics, buy them directly on the site, or even make your own personal order for a pension program and set an auction for the funds you’re interested in. So if anyone can provide an unbiased and easy-to-understand tool to select the most suitable and reliable pension fund, then it’s a big opportunity to hit the jackpot. Market Akropolis’ potential market is really, really big. In 2017, US pension assets reached , and it is about half of the total global volume of pension assets. $25,400 billion with a 12.7% annual growth rate By the way, all that happened at a time when the average level of unfunded government pension liabilities analyzed in 20 OECD countries was ~190% of the GDP, dwarfing the reported amount of all government debt, which totals only at 109% of the GDP (due to CityGroup report cited in Akropolis’ white paper)! The central idea for the market is this: the ageing population in developed countries is a steady process that coincides with worsening state finances. Everyone has to earn his or her pension mostly for themselves. Akropolis can pretend to fund marketing budgets for customer acquisition. To assess the size of potential stake let’s take mutual funds for instance, which are the main client hunters in the market. have managed a total of $11.6 trillion in 2016. This industry’s revenue is in the order of $100 billion, with over one third of this amount representing expenditures in marketing, which largely consists of sales loads and broker commissions (known as 12b-1 fees). Active mutual funds in the U.S. So if Akropolis becomes a customer’s point of entry to pension funds, then it could have a potential market in the volume of at least $30 billion per year. Analogues As a matter of fact, there is not much innovation in the traditional pension fund industry. And any project promising a real step forward for both the customers and service providers can expect a good market response. We can take the as an example, which provides an investment advisory application designed for the management of employees’ 401k accounts (for $10 per month with an estimated average of $5,000 in annual savings). Blooom collects basic user data like name, email, age, and timeframe to retirement and provides free allocation and fee analysis. For a monthly fee, clients can sign up to have their accounts managed by Blooom. Blooom project In less than three years, Blooom had reached $2 billion in assets under management by January 2018. Round A (October 2015) was at $4 million and then Blooom landed $9 million for Round B (January 2017). Blooom revenue is not available, but by multiplying the 16,000 clients declared on the site by the $120 annual fee we get a figure that it’s about $2 million. Assuming that 90 million Americans, on their own, are bungling their most valuable retirement asset — the 401K — only 1% of the market is needed to boost Blooom revenue beyond $100 million. It looks like quite a unicorn, guys! Summary Akropolis doesn’t seem to have a high risk of development failure, and they could very well deliver on all of their promises. The $25 million hardcap also looks reasonable for such an endeavour. But the problem here is that, according to Akropolis’ draft of materials, $12.5 million in technology and talent expenses seems like a lot, and the $2.5 million for marketing also raises questions. Is it really enough money for a nationwide B2C (business-to-customer) marketing campaign, let alone for global marketing? It may come to pass that extra funding will be required before the project starts to earn enough by itself. And it is my own personal belief that having a security token is a must. Whatever is embedded in a utility token, nothing else will secure investor`s future profits with 100% guarantee. This is not a cryptocurrency to cash in on during a stock-price uprise. And final : pro et contra (+) Huge and rising national market, and global as well (+) Lack of direct and strong competitors in the marketplace (+) Product is not so hard to deliver (-) Unthought-out budget (at least in the draft version) (-) Token is not a security one, although dividend payouts suggest otherwise All in all, Akropolis deserves a more detailed consideration from investors. You can read now only a draft of the WP. And folks, please, make your WP beta-version more human-readable! ___________________________________________________________________ Useful materials Why people are abandoning their 401(k)s by Marketplace Weekend Staff Global pension assets study 2018 by Thinking Ahead Institute Pension Research Reports by Society of Actuaries (SOA) 2018 Corporate Pension Funding Study by Milliman Building a better retirement income solution by Ernst & Young (EY) New Jersey issues RFI for investment options for private-sector retirement marketplace by Robert Steyer New Jersey Small Business Retirement Marketplace by State of New Jersey New Retirement Plan Marketplace Makes It Easier for Americans to Save by John Mangan Research & commentary by Vanguard Best Retirement Plans: Choose the Right Plan for You by Dayana Yochim Marketing Mutual Funds by Nikolai Roussanov, Hongxun Ruan, and Yanhao Wei Washington State Launches Online Retirement Marketplace by Melanie Waddell A New Frontier for Saving for Retirement? The Creation of State Retirement Savings Marketplaces by Rockefeller Institute of Government All materials are for informational purposes only. None of the material should be interpreted as investment advice. Originally published at howtotoken.com on August 28, 2018.

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