MetaExchange Selling Asset Tokens for 50% Profit-Sharing

MetaExchange is a ShapeShift-like crypto swapping site, meaning it doesn’t require the creation of an account or waiting for a buyer. This month marks a pioneering move for the exchange: they’ve begun selling “fee sharing” tokens via the BitShares Asset Exchange. Co-founder Frank Ahrens explains that anyone is eligible to purchase the tokens (which will receive 50 % of the fees generated by MetaExchange), and that his team will use funds raised to increase their exchange’s liquidity.

Also read: Neither Fiat Currency nor Bitcoin are Free From Volatility

Ahrens gave Bitcoin.com an inside look at his exchange’s decision to strike out into cryptoequity, why they chose BitShares to do so, and how the sale is going.

Bitcoin.com (BC): When was MetaExchange begun?

Frank Ahrens (FA): We started working on metaexchange November 2014; we were one of the very first projects to be funded by the Bitshares blockchain. I paid the delegate registration fee and at this point Paul [my partner] and I started working together on the development of MetaExchange.

BC: Which coins do you offer?

FA: Currently we have support for Bitcoin, Bitshares, Nxt and Ether currencies, and we also have brand new support for Bitshares UIA [User-Issued Asset] tokens, which allow users to trade these “foreign” currencies on the Bitshares decentralised exchange.

“We are also running a fundraiser with our own token, METAFEES, which exists on the Bitshares blockchain, as well. We are sharing the fees we generate with people who purchase the METAFEES token by placing buy orders on the open market with 50% of our collected fees.”

You can read more about our fundraiser on our invest page.

BC: What do you feel sets you apart from competitors like ShapeShift and Blocktrades?

FA: In a word, innovation! We are the first and only instant exchange in the world to allow limit orders, and relative limit orders to be placed on our books, as well as standard market orders; this allows much greater flexibility for our users while also adding to the liquidity we are able to offer. We are able to provide the same functionality as a full Bitcoin exchange, all without ever requiring our users to register or give away their personal information.

BC: What gave you the idea to release asset tokens, and why did you choose the BitShares Asset Exchange to do so?

FA: The liquidity we are able to offer is tied directly to our inventory of each coin type; by allowing our users to add to this inventory we can offer a better overall service. Bitshares was the natural platform of choice for us because of our involvement with the community and the initial funding we received from the blockchain. The newly added Bitshares referral feature also allows us to share more with METAFEES owners – every user who signs up to Bitshares via our referral link will generate fees which we then share with METAFEES holders.

BC: What do you have in place to enable buyers to trust that they’ll receive an honest accounting of MetaExchange’s profits as well as their share of it? Or will the accounting and payouts be trustless somehow?

FA:

“Our transaction records are publicly available via our API; each one contains a field for the fees we collected, so we are publicly auditable at all times and have been since inception; we believe this is very important.”

BC: What has been the response to the token sale so far?

FA: We are very pleased with the response to date; we are already 15% of the way to our funding target and we have yet to get the promotion into full swing!

BC: You are an early mover in the space of cryptoequity. How do you see the future of cryptoequity playing out?

FA: It is a very exciting space and opens doors for a lot people who wouldn’t have had the chance to get involved in something like this before cryptocurrencies were invented. The future looks very bright, especially in countries where the governments suffer with high levels of corruption.

“The idea of owning money that is resilient against the collapse of the existing financial system is very empowering.”

MetaExchange’s asset token sale is scheduled to end once all 10,000 tokens are sold. The exchange’s invest page reads, “Every month […] we will announce in advance how many METAFEES we will buy back in BTC, NXT, ETH and BTS. We will buy back by posting market orders on the open market […] This will lead to a constant buy pressure for the METAFEES asset, raising its value.” Interested investors should always conduct their own due diligence.

What do you think of cryptoequity’s possibilities? Share in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Unmarket and MetaExchange