Bit2Me says that what it has achieved is “without a doubt historical and not only for Spain”. The bitcoin startup that launched an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) called B2M as an alternative to a financing round has achieved its goal: 20 million euros to continue growing without diluting the capital.
In early August, the company announced its intentions: launch an ICO in Spain –although it would have been more interesting to launch it in another region–. First with a private offer, and then move on to a public one. The 20 million were known to be on paper, but they were not sure how the experiment would turn out. The operation for the private sector achieved 2.5 million euros from more institutional profiles. At least the ones that have been made known. “The councilors of the Government of Austria or the Icon fund were some of those who did want to confirm it in public,” explains Abel Peña, Chief Revenue Officer, to Hypertextual. The rest remains in the shade.
Later came the litmus test. Three rounds in which 1.25 billion tokens based on the Ethereum blockchain would come out to play. Yesterday the third culminated with a price oscillation of between 0.1 and 0.2 cents between the first and the last, and they have hung out of stock sign. The company confirms that they have had to leave many users out, because the last round was closed in just 38 seconds. And with an average ticket of 1,500 euros per user, they are not able to determine a common pattern in their new affiliates.
And with this, Bit2Me has once again stirred the arenas of controversy. Because if something is clear it is that the Spanish company has never hidden; They are the kings of crypto marketing. First they filled the main avenues of some cities with advertising in defense of bitcoin. Just when the CMNV and the Bank of Spain were not so much against, but with prudence, regarding this type of financial assets. A few days ago they attracted all eyes with a campaign in the heart of Madrid – a warning from the institutions themselves included -.
And in all this, of course, there is a strategic issue. All three phases increased the need and interest of new users and the banner pointed to the third and final round of the ICO. Bit2Me managed, then, to increase its portfolio by some 13,000 or 14,000 new users, put the question of ICOs and crypto on the table and, of course, obtain the necessary funds in a kind of crowdfunding high level. Users themselves, for their part, would have more benefits over the crypto platform. Was a win-win which, of course, increased the visibility of an already highly visible company.
Informed users? “We have emphasized training and informing what we do,” says Abel, “which does not take away from taking into account that there are many reckless people.” Nevertheless, with this advance they hope to have taken a step forward, especially with regard to regulatory institutions. “Everything so extremely recent that we have not had time to perceive any change that we can comment on regarding the Bank of Spain”, they point out, “when it comes time to talk about this we will be able to notice if there is any change or reaction.”
Without investors, Bit2Me is freer
They said in The confidential that this bitcoin race had the ultimate goal of turning Bit2Me into the next unicorn. One of the few in Spain – he would accompany Glovo and Cabify – and also one of the first in the crypto sector in Europe. For Abel Peña, the fact of being a unicorn or is not left aside for the moment, but they are clear that they want to set the standard in Europe, and from Spain.
“This is a before and after if we look at the history behind this type of operations. Crypto companies worldwide that have had their own token were worth pennies at the beginning and now it has more value.”
Abel Pena
And all without diluting capital. The ICO format, popular a few years ago and abandoned until now, allows Bit2Me to raise 20 million euros without missing out on company stakes. Perhaps a Mailchimp effect that, after years of sustained growth and without external help, kept the entire capital of the company in the hands of the founders until the moment of its sale. For Bit2Me, at the moment, bringing an investor in is more of a problem than a virtue. “Taking out a financing round in this way, without having to dilute the capital, allows you to be very agile and in our ecosystem it is essential,” he adds.
This suggests, therefore, that Bit2Me does not have a “lifelong” round of financing on the horizon. Neither did the launch of a new ICO. “There is no place to do actions like this because would not create more value, nor do we need more funds. Nor is it a private round, since with what we have done we are going to make money and we can be sustainable, “they argue.
However, and although Bit2Me does not have a new ICO planned, they are sure that there will be a replica and others will try along the way. Although, they warn, this implies years of work behind to get to that point. In your case, a 7-year trip. One that has nothing to do with the ravages of the ICOs in 2017 that had behind a large group of companies that used this formula to grow as fast as they deflated.