A new cryptocurrency has been launched in response to the Financial Conduct Authority’s desire for a safer environment for consumers using crypto technologies.
Yesterday, Chris Woolard, the FCA director of strategy and competition cited peer-to-peer lending regulation as a benchmark for its approach to cryptoassets. Speaking at the LendIt Fintech conference in London, he said the FCA wants the UK to be a ‘good place’ for cryptoassets but it must be safe for consumers.
At the same time, comparison site, Moneybrain, announced the launch of the world’s first global Utility Token to be minted by a regulated entity.
Unique to any other cryptocurrency, the BiPS Token, created by Moneybrain with Peer to Peer sister company JustUs, is thought to be the first asset-backed token, when it goes on public sale, created and minted by a regulated entity.
Founder and CEO Lee Birkett, said: “Our aim is to bring trust to the crypto world by creating an underlying value in the BiPS token. It offers a revolutionary way of taking the crypto model, removing the volatility and adding the one big thing that’s missing, an asset-backed cryptocurrency with substance.
“It would have been easy to say we’re not doing this in the UK and opt for an offshore designated area, but we felt it was really important that the work we have done evolves onto the blockchain and is recognised as United Kingdom work.”
“JustUs completed a five-year journey to regulation, becoming fully-regulated in October 2017. BiPS builds on that five-year investment working at the forefront of fintech and with the FCA, alongside technology, teambuilding, controls and corporate governance.
“We’ve the backing of some brilliant people including Richard Farr a highly skilled FCA expert who has been instrumental in the compliance journey and global branding experts Sir John Hegarty and Tom Teichman.”
Using the blockchain theory and protocol, which is widely accepted as the most secure and versatile way of creating digital currency, the Token was created to give holders access to the best asset classes, compliance frameworks and ultra-secure methods of currency exchange currently available globally.
As part of the BiPS network, community members can buy Tokens not shares, which can be used globally as a payment or exchange, with the trade being visible on the public blockchain ledger. The BiPS network, once public, will have underlying resources and real-world stores of value via property and/or other assets. The more raised, the bigger and stronger the network will become and the faster it can grow.
Launched via private presale and by application only BiPS token holders will have global access to the BiPS platform and assets upon public sale. Moneybrain Ltd, as the issuer of the BiPS tokens, has committed to register and support the Global Digital Finance Code of Conduct, which is an industry body promoting internationally recognised standards in crypto currencies and assets.
Only people who pass the stringent KYC anti-laundering protocols will be accepted into the BiPS network.
Ten percent of Tokens will be released as Utility Tokens at pre-launch for founding members and contributors only, with subsequent Asset Tokens being issued concurrently over the course of the next 35 months on a first come first served basis.
Next year, when the Token goes on public sale, 95 percent of the public sale token proceeds raised will be used to acquire property or other real-world assets.
All profits from Asset Token sales in the UK will be taxable, putting money into the purse of the country, UK PLC.
Further information including a BiPS white paper is available via the website. Applications to join the network can be made via https://bips.moneybrain.com.
