The Polybius ICO ended on 5th July, immediately ranking among the top five largest ICOs of 2017, raising $31 million with 27,000 participants. So what has the team behind this next generation financial institution project been doing over the last three weeks, and what are Polybius’ plans for the near future? Read in this article.
Completed activities
Immediately upon closure of the ICO, all surplus tokens were burned. Out of the initial 20 million PLBT (Polybius Tokens) issued, just under 4 million are left, 3,969,565. It is unfortunate, of course, that we didn’t reach a more rounded number.
The team spent the next few days accepting the last bank payments granting the tokens in return.
Meanwhile, all payments received remain in their accounts, as before, allowing anyone who so wishes to check the contents of their Ethereum, Emercoin, and our bitcoin-escrow wallets.
What is happening now?
The distribution of PLBT within the framework of the bounty campaign is coming to an end. In total, 79,391.299996 (or 2% of the total number) PLBT have been distributed as bounties for various support services provided to the project and the Polybius ICO sales.
Currently, there is an internal audit of the ICO underway. During the audit, our accountants will verify the tokens accrued in relation to the money received to ensure that all transactions are in good order. As the Polybius Foundation has raised more than $30 million this fiscal year, under Estonian law, it is required to undergo an obligatory accounting audit at the beginning of 2018.
Hunting, Will Hunting, where Polybius gets its bankers
Polybius is already a popular place to work. Bankers, lawyers, security and compliance specialists, as well as cryptographers and developers, are actively providing us with their CVs.
But the number one question for the Polybius team right now is “what exactly is the set up of a strong banking team?” Why is this so important?
To establish a bank — you need to get a license.
To get a license — you need to get a great team together.
To get a great team together — you have to entice them from their current jobs.
And this is where it gets fascinating!
During the ICO we were often accused of appearing to lack experienced and successful bankers in the project. That was only half-true, they really were not there, but not because we did not have them.
Polybius’ ‘Will Hunting” started long before the opening of the ICO. Of course, Polybius was nowhere near hiring bankers, but that did not stop us from getting to know highly skilled specialists who were interested in the project, many of whom declared their interest in switching to Polybius in the event of a successful ICO.
Now that the Polybius funding targets have not only been achieved but even exceeded, the departure of bankers from mighty, but inflexible old school financial institutions has begun. However, this process takes time, from one to six months. Bankers are not people who change their jobs at the click of a button, some need to provide a month’s notice, others two, and others six.
The ‘Hunting’ process is ongoing — lawyers are in negotiations, drawing up employment contracts. Building the bank’s team will start from the top. The first recruits will be the CEO and senior management of the bank, and they will take the main strategic decisions, formulate the core development parameters, and then recruit the necessary staff.
Among the decisions to be taken will be making a final choice regarding Polybius country of jurisdiction, making arrangements with regulators and obtaining a banking license, whether that is done by starting from scratch or by purchasing an already existing bank.
We regard the purchase of an existing bank as our second choice regarding obtaining a banking license. We began receiving proposals of this nature before the completion of the ICO. We are looking into a Maltese bank with particular interest. However, it is important to understand that when you buy an existing bank, you also buy its entire history. As such the most rigorous checks must be carried out. For this reason, we would prefer to start from scratch and create our own bank.
We plan to announce the name of the Polybius CEO this fall, followed by appointments to other key positions. The Polybius team (for the time being without a bank) will then start its work.
Why is there no need to worry about the token price drop
Immediately upon the listing of PLBT on several cryptocurrency exchanges on July 5, its price began to fall precipitously. It reached a low of $3.60 from a starting value of $10. However, a simple analysis shows that this has nothing to do with “panicked investors fleeing tokens for cash.” Polybius tokens have a total capitalization of ~ $18 million at current exchange rates, yet the volume of trading in PLBT rests between $100,000–150,000 per day, which is less than one percent of the total value of tokens. So what accounts for this single percent? It is most probable that it is simply a trade in tokens issued as bounties (i.e. free of charge)
In accordance with the above, we can see that those investors who paid real money for PLBTs did not succumb to panic selling and herd mentality. They realize that putting money into something like Polybius is a long-term investment. As such, 99% of tokens remain in their original buyers’ wallets. The token value has already begun to rise gradually, and will probably grow further following this publication. It will inevitably continue growing as more news emerge from Polybius.
Cool, you’ve been on TV!
For sure, HashCoins and Polybius have been inundated with various requests for help in organizing ICOs. We certainly cannot answer every one of them in detail. It is unlikely we will even be able to read all of them in full. We shall just have to select the most interesting proposals.
As an example of the above, after the hype regarding the success of the Polybius ICO (it should not be forgotten that the ICO has been conducted by an Estonian company, and by Estonian standards a crowdfunding campaign raising over $30 million is explosive), the heads of Estonian banks started contacting us. They invited HashCoins to give lectures and presentations on blockchains and cryptocurrencies. We have already begun visiting them and sharing our experience for free. If you represent a European bank or a major Russian bank, you are welcome to contact us by email at info@hashcoins.com. Let’s be friends!