BitBay Partners With German Firm to Enable Equity Token Trading with Fiat Currencies

Cryptocurrency exchange BitBay has partnered with a Berlin-based blockchain-powered equity fundraising platform Neufund, according to an August 2 press release. The partnership will reportedly enable investors to buy and sell equity tokens with fiat currencies.

According to the press release, Neufund is aiming to become the first end-to-end primary issuance platform for security tokens, specializing in equity tokens. The company backs up its objective with a study conducted by Toronto-based firm Polymath, which says that by 2020 the security token market will hit a value of $10 trillion. Neufund believes that tokenized securities will provide necessary liquidity to traditional investment assets, including equity instruments.

The partnership with BitBay follows Neufund’s recent collaboration with the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance and the Malta Stock Exchange. Additionally, seven companies from five countries will conduct Equity Token Offerings (ETOs) through Neufund.

As per the statement, BitBay will be the first Neufund partner that allows companies to liquidate their equity tokens against fiat currency as the crypto exchange’s trading pairs include the euro, the U.S. dollar, and the Polish zloty.

ETOs are purported to be a new kind of fundraising, which enables any company, whether it is blockchain-based or not, to issue tokens on a blockchain in a public or private placement. Neufund claims that ETOs incorporate advantages of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and a venture capital fund.

In May, BitBay was forced to move its operations from Poland to crypto friendly Malta when local banks withheld cooperation with the exchange amid a wake of toughening policy from the Polish government toward cryptocurrencies. Malta has been taking great strides to become a blockchain and cryptocurrency hub. Apart from BitBay, several large digital currency exchanges, such as OKEx, BitBay, Binance, have also moved their operations to the island state.