Marc Serafino
You know there could be problems with online brokers. Sure, the situation today is much better than it was, say, 10 years ago — but there’s still room for improvement. And blockchain could help improve this market… a lot.
So… we have an already established and regulated broker innovating in the space, using blockchain to make trading more affordable for the general public. That company is called ThinkMarkets, and it has recently announced the TradeConnect platform, which aims to democratize the industry by enabling trades to be settled in seconds rather than days.
Initially, TradeConnect will offer forex (FX) and contracts for difference (CFD) trades, and later expand to futures, bonds, options, commodities, equities and complex derivatives. The platform will be powered by ThinkCoin, the digital trading token that will make things run smoothly.
Shaking up the market
The team behind TradeConnect believes we are in the midst of a major change that could disrupt the industry, big time.
In part, this is because of blockchain tech’s ability to effectively kick the middleman out of equation. And that middleman comes in the form of big banks which tend to dominate markets all around the world.
On the other hand, the TradeConnect platform enables trades to be automatically executed through smart contracts, which are based on external sources and impartial information. Additionally, it would allow individuals to trade with each other, with all participants having “full control of their money.”
Lower costs across the board
TradeConnect will have its own wallet with support for a few cryptocurrencies, including (obviously) ThinkCoin, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Monero, Dash and Litecoin. However, only ThinkCoin will be used to perform trades on the network.
The platform will charge the so called “connect fee” for each completed trade, and 75 percent of the revenue generated will be returned to participants in the ecosystem, with the rest being used to further develop the network.
Investors will also have the ability to purchase “micro shares,” which represent fractions of equity instead of a full share in a publicly listed company. This feature, according to TradeConnect, coupled with lower fees will “vastly lower the cost of trading” while providing flexibility to people who only have small amounts of money to invest.
The plan
ThinkMarkets is currently in the pre-ICO phase which ends on April 23, after which a second phase will kick in and last through May 14. The ICO itself is scheduled to take place from May 10 to 25.
It is during these times that users will be able to buy ThinkCoins, and all funds raised will be used to attract more users users and diversify the trading products which will be available through TradeConnect.
ThinkCoin is also set to be listed on several cryptocurrency exchanges in May when the TradeConnect Wallet will also be launched. A beta version of the Blockchain network is planned to go live in August, with the functionality for FX and CFD trades coming in October.
From there, TradeConnect will start adding new products, and eventually — if everything goes as planned — hit the home running with an IPO in the summer of 2019. Bold plan, we might add; we’ll see whether they manage to follow through…
