Introduction

W12 mission is to minimize risks and increase the profitability of investing in projects at the initial stage globally. In its turn, the W12 platform provides projects with the opportunity of raising funds at no costs and without special technical expertise by creating an environment for projects in which the path from an idea to a profitable business would be as short as possible. W12 vision is to become the most significant global platform that would change the established centralized project fundraising ways limited to geographical and political frameworks and would give private investors access to the creation of projects based on the new millennium digital economy and to the building of a global future.

Decentralization, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies and ICOs

The Blockchain technology (distributed ledger) gives humanity the unprecedented opportunities for economic development:

Eliminates the need to trust either party;

Decentralises the data;

Protects digital assets;

Does away with intermediaries;

Automates processes and minimises fees; and

Facilitates smart contract execution.

One of the most vibrant applications of blockchain technology was the creation of cryptocurrencies, for example, Bitcoin. Attempts to create nonstate currencies were long before the advent of the blockchain technology, but they had an issuer and the need to trust it the funds; hence, they were not widely used.

Unlike the ‘centralised’ traditional currencies, cryptocurrencies have become popular because:

they have limited emission (which is ensured by the blockchain technology)

they are cryptographically secured

It is impossible to limit their turnover

It is impossible to limit their turnover all transfers are recorded in an open registry, and everyone can see the flow of the funds.

The model for attracting financing through the ICO was invented by developers who needed resources to create cryptocurrencies. They sold a part of not yet created cryptocurrency to a wide range of persons and spent the collected funds on further development. In terms of attracting a large number of investors, it was reminiscent of an IPO (Initial Public Offering), hence the name. Now, the term ICO is understood as the sale of tokens (cryptographically secured digital assets) for the purpose of raising project financing funds. Most tokens are currently being issued on Ethereum (a platform for creating blockchainbased decentralized online services that use smart contracts). The Ethereum platform makes it possible to create a smart contract that will issue tokens using any necessary logic. A token can be:

a security (for example, share or bond) equivalent a product token (gives the right to exchange a token for a product or service)

a product token (gives one the right to exchange a token for a product or service)

a utility token (which has functionality within a system)

cryptocurrency (a means of payment)

Typically, the emission of tokens is limited and they are “tied” to one of the project parameters (for example, profits). As this parameter value grows, so does the value of the token, thus making it attractive to investors. At the moment, any business has the technical capacity for issuing its own tokens for the purpose of decentralizing the raising of a large number of investors’ funds, and the rights to any asset can be tokenized. All this opens up new avenues for the development of the digital economy.

ICO Market

The volume of the ICO market shows rapid growth. According to ICO data in 2017, ICO projects attracted $6 billion and $94 million in 2016 (the amount does not take into account the funds raised at the crowdsdale of the hacked DAO that raised $168 million). An ICO provides an opportunity to invest in new ideas and products and raise funds for implementation from tens of thousands of investors from any part of the world. According to Coindesk, the volume of funds raised from the blockchain market through ICOs exceeded venture capital investment in blockchainrelated projects. The models of ICO fundraising have a clear advantage over traditional capital and crowdfunding, which is the liquidity of tokens purchased in exchange for investments and the speed of obtaining financing.

ICO Market Development Vision

Despite the fact that the ICO market is growing so rapidly today, there is still no easy way to buy tokens at the ICO stage of a project without significant risks for the investor. At the same time, the cost of raising funds for projects is increasing; considerable costs goes to the marketing, consultants, and technical assistance of ICO conducting, which has a high negative impact on their implementation. One of the main ideas blockchain philosophy is based upon is that of the establishment of trust between entities through smart contracts and of intermediary elimination. However, the relationship between ICO projects and investors is still not exactly the kind. We set out to create a blockchainbased infrastructural solution for the decentralization of capital around the world. The W12 technology would create trusting conditions between projects and investors, would not skip projects but increase profitability, reduce risks for investors and provide an opportunity for thousands of gifted entrepreneurs from anywhere in the world to realise their projects. Check ICO list to know more about ICOs.

W12 Token

W12 is a utility token, the internal currency of the W12 platform on the ERC20 standard, which makes it easy to integrate into user wallets. Operations performed with the token on the platform are recorded to the block account by using smart contracts