Shares of nano-cap Internet advertising tech company Social Reality Inc (NASDAQ: SRAX) spiked more than 70 percent heading into Tuesday's closing bell, after the
announcement of its own Initial Coin Offering: BIGtoken.
What Is BIGtoken?
The idea behind BIGtoken is to reward users who share certain information that’s valuable to marketers by giving them tokens. In
turn, this information can be sold, with users receiving extra tokens each time their information is purchased.
“We have become accustomed to letting others use and sell our personal data in exchange for access to basic news, brief
entertainment, efficient utilities and social connections,” according to Social Reality’s corporate deck. “Our values, preferences,
tastes, perspectives, passions, history, and relationships are sold - all without our awareness or benefit.”
This is exactly what BIGtoken seeks to change. The company wants to provide users with information about who’s purchasing their
data and how it’s being used, and wants to pay them accordingly.
See Also: The
Definitive ICO Checklist: What To Look For, And What To Avoid
What’s particularly interesting about this project is that, for the first time in years, consumers will decide which data is
collected, shared and sold.
Next steps toward BIGtoken’s ICO include hiring a product team and establishing token sale commitments before the end of this
year. The pre-sale and sale of tokens is planned for Jan. 2018, with a product alpha test starting in June, and a beta test
commencing in September.
ICOs
While interesting and appealing, ICOs are still quite risky due to the relatively little regulation in cryptocurrencies market.
The SEC recently warned the public
about the risk of potential scams and “pumps and dumps” in ICOs conducted by publicly traded companies.
Social Reality shares closed at $4.90, up 70.7 percent.
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