One of the features of the TokenizEU platform will be issuing security tokens on Ravencoin. We know it may raise some eyebrows as Ravencoin is still relatively unknown for the public (not for the industry insiders though), and it’s a big leap of faith and a big bet, but we believe in the project, and below we are outlining some of the reasons why.

What is Ravencoin?

Shortly, Ravencoin (RVN) is an open source platform for assets. It’s designed to help users issue assets/tokens securely. Tokens can be anything: securities, collectables, money, gift cards, in-game items, land deeds or something else. The creator of the token decides its purpose and properties such as name, a number of tokens, how they are issued, are they reissuable or not etc. Token creation costs 500 Ravencoins which the protocol burns thus decreasing the remaining supply of Ravencoins.

And, one of the best use cases for Ravencoin may very well be Security Token Offerings.

What is the history behind Ravencoin?

Ravencoin development began as a code fork of Bitcoin on the ninth anniversary of Bitcoin on October 31, 2017. The project was initially announced at MIT, Texas Bitcoin Conference, and other industry events and social media in the same month. Ravencoin network went live on January 3, 2018, and within a day over 100 miners emerged — within a week there were thousands of miners and the network hash rate has grown significantly since.

Ravencoin is an open source project and the development of Ravencoin has been supported by volunteers. A lot of generous companies and people have donated serious amounts of time and money. Biggest funding contributor has been Medici Ventures, a blockchain investment company owned by Overstock. You do not need permission from anyone to build on the Ravencoin network.

Project economics & launch

Ravencoin had the fairest launch we’ve seen:

There was no ICO.

There was no pre-mine.

No founder or dev fee.

No fundraising of any type.

All coins are issued by proof of work mining.

No corporate structure, official leadership or anything such — completely decentralized protocol.

Ravencoin code

Initially a fork of Bitcoin — has diverged since from Bitcoin to become a platform for assets.

Mining algorithm is X16R, which was created for Ravencoin by Joel Weight and Tron Black.

21 billion coin fixed limit.

1 min block time.

5000 Ravencoin block reward.

Same halving schedule as Bitcoin.

Asset/token creation burns 500 Ravencoins. Asset creator can also create sub-assets.

All assets/tokens have unique names.

Security Token Offering: Ravencoin vs. Ethereum ERC20 tokens

Most STO providers and crypto space people are familiar with the term “ERC20” which is a fairly simple smart contract. ERC20 allows issuance of a token of any quantity and possibility to transfer the tokens. This kind of standardized way of issuing tokens caused the ERC20 to be the platform of choice for most of the ICOs. So what makes Ravencoin a serious candidate for security token offerings?

1. Ravencoin was built for creating assets

Ravencoin is built purposely for asset creation and asset transfer — meaning it’s easier to issue and transact. With Ravencoin, it’s all done on the protocol level and it removes the problems of navigating smart contracts. Ethereum, on the other hand, is built for all kinds of different applications; it runs general purpose code contracts and was not designed with asset transfer as its primary use case. It will probably never be as easy to use as Ravencoin is today.

2. Ravencoin messaging system

Ravencoin allows a built-in messaging system to broadcast messages to token holders. This capability is extremely important and valuable. Imagine all the different reasons (simplicity, cost, proof that message was sent to token holders etc) you might want to send messages for your token-holders. Many parties issuing Ethereum based ERC20 tokens have learned to their disappointment that Ethereum doesn’t have a inherit message broadcast system.

3. Ravencoin voting system

Ravencoin allows voting by distributing vote tokens to your token holders. Vote tokens can be sent to the specific address to vote. Imagine how simple it is to message and vote on different matters?

4. Ravencoin dividend system

Ravencoin allows dividend or reward payments to asset token holders anywhere in the world paid in RVN. So Ravencoin protocol allows messaging, voting and dividend payments. This set of features makes the protocol very powerful. Ravencoin makes it simple to reward your token holders no matter where they are in the world.

There are also a bunch of other reasons making the Ravencoin protocol very strong candidate for STOs.

For example, Ravencoin asset names are unique, with ERC20 tokens there can be any amount of tokens with identical names. Ravencoin also allows the creations of sub-assets and unique assets with multiple use cases.

Each issued token can include an Interplanetary Filesystem (IPFS) hash which includes metadata related to the token. This metadata can include for example info about the purpose of the token, contact information, description, or even a digitally signed file linked to the token. Ravencoin allows the issuer to prove they have signed the documents that are immutably associated to the token.

These features bring transparency and accountability, which help bridge the gap between the tokenized asset and the token’s real-world value.

Ravencoin is a decentralized project which has the security and immutability of a UTXO based crypto-currency.

All of these features will create an entire ecosystem and the use cases for assets on the Ravencoin blockchain are virtually limitless.

Written by Mikk Maal (CEO of TokenizEU and Comistar Estonia)

TokenizEU is a security token issuance platform. We help to structure security token offerings and comply with the regulations in the European Union, as well as issue tokens and enable investors to participate in the offerings. To enable non-EU residents to participate in the offerings, we support creating SPVs (special purpose vehicle) in the European Union through Estonian e-residency program.