UK-BASED startup Coinlancer launched its freelancing platform in the Philippines as part of a global marketing campaign for its initial coin offering (ICO), which seeks to raise a total of $50 million.
Coinlancer is a new blockchain-based job market for freelancers that promotes the use of cryptocurrencies to settle payments. Its cryptocurrency is called the Coinlancer token (CL).
“We are raising $1 million for marketing in the Philippines. We are expecting one million users for next year,” Sai Teja, Coinlancer advisor, said at a press conference held at the Crowne Plaza in Ortigas.
Coinlancer launched its ICO at a price of $0.25 per token, with a total of 300 million tokens to be offered from October 14 to November 15, 2017.
Teja said freelancers will benefit from the Coinlancer platform given the lower transaction fee of just 3 percent compared to other platforms whose fees range from 10 percent to as high as 20 percent.
Amarjit Singh, Coinlancer advisor, said only 300 million tokens were on offer to create value in the long term.
“That is how you create value, when you have something in limitation,” Singh said. “Anything that is scarce creates good value in the long term,” he added.
Singh emphasized that the Coinlancer token is not a security coin but a utility coin, meaning it is not subject to regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“We don’t create security-based cryptocurrencies. The Coinlancer token is not a security token. It is a utility token,” Singh said.
A utility coin provides its users access to products or services. The Coinlancer token can be used to pay for freelancing services, and offers payment options across different ecommerce platforms.
Before launching in the Philippines, Coinlancer launched its platform in Malaysia.
“The stand in Malaysia is they want to see what is the adoption rate, how many users like it,” Singh said.
Teja said that Coinlancer plans to have an office in the Philippines once it becomes marketable to Filipinos.
“If we get many users in the Philippines, we will set up an office in Manila too,” according to Teja.
Coinlancer Philippines Marketing Director Jonathan Tinoco said there is no guarantee as to the success of Coinlancer. “The only investment is belief. The only risk is being out of the market,” Tinoco said.
“It is also time for us to adopt this technology. We don’t know what will happen in five to 10 years from now if we are not a part of it,” according to Tinoco.
Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker from The Manila Times