Matthew Unger, IComply Investor Services

Published: 2018-01-11 12:09:45

Written by Alexandra Moxin

“In today’s shifting marketplace, your ability to keep your customer is threatened because the rate of digital transformation is accelerating across every sector.” Matthew Unger

Matthew Unger is CEO and Founder of iComply Investor Services Inc. (iComply ICO) a regulatory technology (regtech) platform that automates compliance procedures for initial coin offerings (ICOs), enabling them to be securely utilized as efficient financial instruments.

iComply ICO streamlines legal, due diligence and accounting processes providing automated checks and balances throughout the issuance, purchase and resale of encrypted digital share certificates. Investors, accountants, lawyers, regulators, ICO issuers and marketing firms all benefit from an ecosystem that supports financial literacy, trust, democratization, decentralization and integrity. Find out more at iComplyICO.com and join their telegram channel iComplyICOofficial

Matthew is passionate about unlocking the opportunities that new technology has to offer us, and future generations. Along with his mandate at iComply ICO, Matthew worked with financial services, government, small businesses, and nonprofits to identify ways to better use their technology to create sustainable and ethical automation.

Matthew’s team is releasing the whitelabel of their product for the end of January 2018 and a beta of their platform for private equity markets by end of Q1 2018. Their full platform, which will be able to compete directly on compliance with publically traded markets, will be released later this year.

We cover a lot in this episode, so get comfortable and hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it!

In this episode we cover

Matthew’s background in technology and the investment community

What motivated him to start iComply Investor Services (iComply ICO)

Decentralizing stock exchanges via Blockchain

What Matthew is hoping to achieve with iComply ICO

The Internet of Value

Some of the emerging trends he sees in the ICO regulatory space

Bill C-1241

Bit license

Technical Investor Status - HR-1585

GDPR: privacy legislation and penalties (up to $20M per instance)

iComply ICO’s appearance at Tech Crunch Disrupt in Berlin

Contrasting the financial and innovation climate in Eastern Europe vs. Silicon Valley

Blockchain and Ethereum platforms as layer 0 and where the cryptocurrency space could go: projects, opportunities and killer apps

Utilities vs. Securities and secondary trading

SEC jurisdiction and trade treaties

CME and CBOE trading futures and options

Institutional trading

The wild west of cryptocurrency

Future coin / token structure and distribution

Munchee ICO’s trouble with the SEC

What not to do when you launch an ICO

Tezos and the open class action suits against their token

Mind in matter priciple in accordance with taxation law

Potential bias when accepting advice from legal and other service-based firms

Raising capital via ICO vs. IPO

The benefits and cost of raising funds via ICO vs. traditional methods

How building in regulation to how a token functions unlocks potential 3T in capital markets

Engaging shareholders as market champions via tokens

Regulation, governance, compliance and enforcement in public, private and decentralized capital markets

Combating FUD from traditional players and institutions

Canada moving backward by changing requirements to confirm identity, why biometrics are better

How iComply ICO’s platform addresses the concerns SEC regulatory panel raised in their summer session

Smart contracts vs. natural language contracts

Common pitfalls people encounter when launching an ICO

Why an ICO is not free money

Security tokens vs. utility tokens

Suggested timeframe to launch an ICO (minimum: 6 months)

Key metrics to include when launching an ICO (make sure you have a solid product, build and engage your team and community)

Decoding the lingo: ICO - Initial Coin Offering; coin/token - could represent access, utility or security

iComply ICO’s Platform enables users to put guard rails on the token so that issuers can focus on raising money

In January 2018 - Transactional Compliance Monitoring: KYC, anti-money laundering, terrorist financing sanctions, global ID, document verification

Next Phase - Trust Layer: due diligence and assurance around interfacing with third parties onboarding assets and projects onto blockchain

iComply ICO’s Value Prop: how their platform benefits regulators, issuers, investors

How traditional stock exchanges may employ crypto

Matthew’s involvement with Surfrider Foundation and the impact he made as Chair of the Vancouver Chapter and Board Member of Surfrider Canada

Look for Matthew and the iComply ICO team at the Bitcoin Superconference in Dallas, Money 2020 in Singapore and many other conferences in Europe and Australia throughout 2018!