According to the announcement on Tuesday, accredited investors had bought all the St Regis Aspen Resort coins made available through the sale.
Unlike the utility ICO tokens which reportedly serve as products or service coupons, the security tokens serve as investment contracts. Each Aspen Coin practically represents a share in a single asset REIT (Real estate investment trust) that’s worth $18 million of Aspen Equity gathered through the resort’s ICO/ STO. This sale was restricted to only accredited buyers due to the SEC restriction on securities offerings.
According to the director of Elevated Returns, Jason Kirschenbaum, the Aspen Digital closing has deep implications beyond the introduction of a new asset-backed coin. The deal also develops a blueprint for the future tokenization of real estate. Jason further added that the future of investing in real estate rests in global exposure, public access, liquidity, and transparency, all factors that can only be delivered using blockchain technology.
While it was built according to the ERC-20 token standards, the token was availed through the Indiegogo platform in partnership with the SEC and FINRA-registered operator, Templum Markets. Aspen’s coins can be stored in any Ethereum wallet, but investors seeking to trade these security tokens must use Templum’s ATS (alternative trading system) to avoid contradicting the federal securities regulations.
In an interview earlier this year, the co-founder of Indiegogo, Slava Rubin revealed that crypto-based crowd-funding is part of the firm’s natural extension. According to Rubin, the demand and potential of tokenized securities are on the rise due to the various advantages that digital ownership offers on blockchain technology, compared to legacy investments. For this reason, tech-savvy investors are starting to realize the value in real-time.
Previously, Indiegogo hosted a utility ICO token through a partnership with Micro Ventures, a licensed broker-dealer. However, Micro Ventures was quick to cancel the deal after its end, returning all the investments to the contributors. The broker-dealer cited regulatory concerns as the reason behind the move.