Altcoin brokerage ShapeShift.io has surpassed its $1.785 million crowdfunding goal on BnkToTheFuture with 14 days left in its campaign.
ShapeShift functions more like a brokerage service, and less like a full-blown exchange like Cryptsy. Users don't have accounts or store funds, and trading isn't order book-driven. Still, the service aims to get users the best price possible for over 750 different currency pairings, and recently enhanced its price quotation model for users indicating how much currency they will trade. It also seeks to make the exchange process fast and simple.
Its mission statement on BnktoTheFuture is "to become Clearing House for instant exchange of digital assets...which will be a trillion dollar industry," adding, "The trillion dollar industry forecast is based upon our belief that in the future every financial market and asset will be represented by a digital asset or currency in the future to make them easy to transfer online. This may or may not be a correct forecast."
ShapeShift is operated by Bitcoin entrepreneur Erik Voorhees, a vocal crypto supporter and critic of Regulation for the industry. Last year, he was fined over $50,000 by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for marketing shares in Bitcoin-related websites without registration.
The current campaign has raised $1,802,256 thus far, contributed by 154 backers (as opposed to investors). On BnkToTheFuture, investors gain a share in the company, require more paperwork and can pledge before actually investing. Backers are not shareholders, instead eligible for rewards offered by the Pitch owner. They pay up front, but get a 7-day "cooling off" period should they change their mind.
The $1.785 million investment will grant investors a 31.7% stake in the startup, implying a $5.63 million valuation.
