What is Polymath?
Polymath (POLY) is an Ethereum-based platform that specializes in the creation of security-backed tokens. Their goal is to crypto-commoditize securities by bringing them to the blockchain, where they can be made investable via cryptocurrencies. By using Polymath and issuing tokens representative of a security on the Ethereum blockchain, companies can enjoy a wide array of benefits not offered by traditional equity and market platforms, including raising funds in cryptocurrencies, having 24/7 access to markets, eliminating costly middlemen and accessing investment capital from the population of the world that is “unbanked,” which is roughly estimated to be about 2 billion people. As of now, most private equity, venture capital, stock and bond markets have yet to be integrated with the blockchain, and Polymath hopes to change this by providing a readily available and legally compatible solution.
History of Polymath
Polymath was co-founded in 2017 by Trevor Koverko and Chris Housser. After raising almost $59 million in a private placement of tokens to accredited investors, they formed partnerships with Token.com and the Barbados Stock Exchange in order to help grow their business. POLY tokens, the native currency of the platform, first hit the exchanges in February 2018, and less than 3 weeks later the coin briefly surpassed a market capitalization of $300 million.
How Polymath Works
Polymath takes advantage of the blockchain revolution when it comes to raising capital and the crypto-equitization of securities. Noting that over $4 billion has been raised via ICOs over the last few years, and that traditional finance has been largely disrupted by blockchain-based solutions, Polymath has created a step-by-step process to insure any company can properly create a security-backed Ethereum token that is legally compliant and meets all regulatory standards. After registering an ERC20 token on the blockchain, companies are provided with a wide array of options to choose from in terms of advisors, legal compliance, KYC/AML policies, and marketing, putting the company being tokenized in direct contact with their vendor of choice for these specialized services. In addition, companies can configure their own “Security Token Offerings” with Polymath, setting parameters for a public token sale, such as start and end dates, denomination of currency accepted (POLY or ETH), soft and hard caps, and purchase rates.
Why Polymath?
As far as platforms that assist in the token creation process are concerned, Polymath is a step beyond all the others because it considers a wide array of components that no similar platform is doing. Among these are:
Programmable equity. Polymath lets companies, big or small, assume full control of the equity issuance process through highly-customizable code.
Blockchain-based solutions for finance. Through the use of Ethereum smart contracts and API, Polymath finds solutions to increase the performance and liquidity of virtually any type of financial product currently available.
Guidance for regulatory compliance. Polymath offers a number of different options in specialists to help guide companies with legal, KYC/AML and marketing issues.
Security of the Ethereum blockchain. All information regarding token creation and corresponding Security Token Offers is recorded to the Ethereum blockchain, which means it cannot be altered or tampered with.