Gecko Governance Receives Regulatory Approval for ICO Compliance Solution

Gecko Governance, a regtech blockchain startup based in Ireland, has launched a new compliance solution called Gecko Crypto1 after receiving approval from the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority. The new solution aims to address the issues of accountability and transparency within the ICO market by allowing issuers to manage their projects before, during and after the fundraising period and ensuring continuous compliance with national and international regulations.

ICOs raised US$6.8 billion in 2017 showcasing the potential of the fundraising method to finance ambitious products and startups. But the lack of governance standards within the ICO market is a barrier to the continued growth of the global blockchain ecosystem and may even become a point of failure, said Shane Brett, co-founder and CEO of Gecko Governance.

“Gecko aims to bring transparency, accountability, and reliability to the ICO market – facilitating its maturation into a scalable and secure industry in which to do business,” Brett said.

The new Gecko Crypto1 platform enables ICOs and token sale campaigns to be vetted by investors, while providing an independent audit trail for regulators including information on all ICO participants, the company said.

Gecko Governance received approval on May 31, 2018 by the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority for the Gecko Crypto1 platform to be used by companies and organizations conducting token sales.

“We are extremely excited to announce that we have received full approval from regulators from the Isle of Man. This is a wonderful moment for GECKO as we move in a new direction, bringing the same level of accountability and transparency to the ICO market as we have been providing to the funds compliance industry for years,” said Brett.

Gecko Crypto1 will be implemented on the Ethereum blockchain to ensure trusted, secure, decentralized compliance across the entire ecosystem of data providers and consumers.

Gecko Governance will be conducting its very own ICO in the coming months. The tokens issued (GECKO) will be marketed and registered as a security and will underpin the platform’s key functionalities and will be usable by ICO contributors, token issuers, banks and fund managers, legal providers, as well as third party contractors such as KYC providers to access and pay for various services on the Gecko network. 

“Our ICO will not only allow us to effectively scale our platform to address the requirements of the global blockchain ecosystem, but gives us the opportunity to showcase the best-practices which Gecko will bring to the fore in the international token market,” said Brett.

The announcement of the Gecko Governance ICO follows the company’s US$1 million seed funding investment raised in January from Cosimo Ventures.

Founded in 2015, Gecko Governance has developed a fund management regulatory solution that allows clients to schedule, manage and monitor a large portfolio of investment fund’s regulatory and compliance requirements in real-time.

Advisors to Gecko Governance include Jeff Parker, former CEO of Thompson Financial and, as of today, Dan Viola, current partner and head of regulatory and compliance group at Sadis & Goldberg LLP and former senior compliance examiner for the US Securities and Exchange Commission.