Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne today announced the details of subsidiary company tZERO’s proposed initial coin offering (ICO). The tZERO presale will be offered as a “Simple Agreement for Future Token” or SAFT and is expected to open on November 15th on SAFTLaunch.com and will run until December 31, 2017. SAFTLaunch, a US-based company is committed to providing investors a secure and compliant ICO platform.
An seminal partnership was formed last month when tZERO announced plans to work with the Argon Group and RenGen in order to launch a U.S. regulated Alternative Trading System (ATS) and platform capable of trading both security tokens and app tokens issued via ICOs and SAFTs. Now, tZERO will lead by example with its current proposed initial coin offering (ICO).
The underlying tZERO token to be issued pursuant to the SAFT is expected to constitute a security, within the meaning of U.S. securities laws, and will therefore be considered a “security token,” rather than an app or functional token.
The proceeds from the sale are expected to fund, among other things, scaling tZERO’s technology development and regulatory teams in order to maintain its leading edge, and potentially acquiring or establishing a custody and clearing firm to complement tZERO’s existing infrastructure. tZERO believes its token will be the first to offer a percentage of company profits, distributed as a quarterly distribution paid into tZERO token holders’ digital wallets.
- WHAT IS A SAFT? – A SAFT is a “Simple Agreement for Future Token” which is a contract for the purchase of a token that has not yet been released or created. A SAFT is an SEC exempt security allowing for the future sale of non-security app tokens. The SAFT is like a forward contract, obligating the seller to deliver tokens by a certain date and the agreement typically details terms such as launch date, investor discount rate and minimum and maximum investment amounts. A SAFT is similar to the SAFE (Simple Agreement Future Equity) commonly used by technology startups.
- WHAT DO I OWN WHEN BUYING A SAFT? – When buying a SAFT, you own the right to receive tokens of the issuer on a future date subject to any limitations that are detailed in the SAFT itself.
Pursuant to tZERO’s SAFT, purchasers will enter into agreements that will produce digital tokens of tZERO that will be issued at a later date and are expected to trade on the ATS to be further developed by tZERO. tZERO is one of the few companies entering the token market with an existing, proven blockchain technology platform and the world’s only SEC-compliant registered ATS capable of trading digital securities.
