State-backed venture capital (VC) firm Ben Franklin Technology Partners has rolled out a blockchain-based onboarding and tokenization platform. The development was revealed in a blog post on Thursday, April 11.
Ben Franklin Technology Partners is an initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, that has reportedly invested over $200 million into more than 2,000 emerging technology projects in the Philadelphia region. Today, the organization released a blockchain platform for issuing and managing digital securities on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, specifically “GO Philly Tokens.”
Per the release, the new platform enables limited partnership interests in the Global Opportunity Philadelphia Fund (GO Philly Fund) to be represented as digital GO Philly Tokens that are compliant with the ERC-20 standard. The platform also contains Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) procedures and accredited investor compliance. Scott Nissenbaum, Ben Franklin's Chief Investment Officer, said:
"The GO Philly Fund intends to utilize rapidly emerging standard technologies to streamline and manage investor interests in the fund. Through the use of blockchain technology, we are now facilitating and streamlining individual investor participation from around the globe while allowing for cryptocurrency to be accepted."
The tokens will reportedly be issued electronically by the fund, with subscriptions for the tokens to be purchased through the platform by individual investors either with U.S. dollars, or digital currencies Bitcoin (BTC) and ETH.
Earlier this week, Cointelegraph reported that Facebook is reportedly seeking support from various venture capital (VC) firms to develop its supposed digital token. Citing sources familiar with the matter, New York Times technology reporter Nathaniel Popper stated that Facebook is seeking a $1 billion sum to develop its cryptocurrency project.
In regards to venture capital, founding partner of Future Perfect Ventures Jalak Jobanputra said in February that the crypto bear market had deeply affected VC firms. When asked whether there is a trend of discounted venture evaluations across the digital currency space, Jobanputra said that “given how much the volumes have decreased in the last year, I wouldn’t be surprised if we are seeing valuations come down on the secondary markets for some of these companies.”