Mariano Torrecilla's latest project is stockproject.io, a digital financial market for security tokens with an MTF licence operating at a European level, regulated by security tokens. A large part of his presentation focused on how this kind of security token, a type of financial instrument, works in view of the latest disruptive changes experienced in the financial industry and the use of bitcoins and cryptocurrencies. This innovative project developed by the Zaragoza-born entrepreneur aims to become a regulator that enables financial assets to be traded at a supranational level.
Stock Project was founded within the context of the somewhat anti-regulatory origins of cryptocurrencies with the aim of becoming a trustworthy regulated market for investors and companies throughout Europe. Within this financial scenario lacking in regulation, a level of legality is required that enables us to know and differentiate between utility tokens and security tokens, because "financial instruments cannot just be sold to anybody. The legislation already exists". At Stockproject, companies can be listed (to be traded on the market) and issue their digitized (tokenized) shares. It is fairly similar to a more familiar type of stock exchange but with all the benefits of speed, costs and flexibility that this system offers.
As far as Mariano is concerned, when the idea of setting an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) first comes up, whether it is financed by crowdfunding or privately, a regulated exchange is needed with digital securities. Within this framework, the entrepreneurial project Stock Project has been developed. "We are creating a regulated market with a European licence, which involves a lot of bureaucratic procedures, the aim of which is to enable any company or startup to go to market with liquid assets and full confidence in what they are doing in accordance with the law". The timeframe for making their project a reality will be around 9 months.
Inspired by the blockchain philosophy and the system of teams and nodes handled by miners, Torrecilla emphasized aspects of blockchain including decentralization, scalability and security, adding that the main challenge is achieving all three of these aspects in a single blockchain, which is referred to as the trilemma.
Stock Project is based in Ireland because, que "it is the financial hub of Europe and it want to become a pioneering market in digital assets. There is with a real desire to innovate there" explained Mariano. He went on to highlight the growing interest in this king of cryptocurrency standards in countries such as Malta and Gibraltar, but there are risks involved in relation to Brexit and neither of the countries enjoys the same level of credibility as Ireland. Other countries active in bitcoins include Switzerland, Singapore, Malta and Gibraltar, although there are projects all over the world.
Bitcoins are based on trust and "provide traceability, as well as no possibility of fraud" explained Mariano, emphasizing the multiple applications of the crypto currency for smart contracts, transfers and permits in which the "chain of custody is always recorded". As a result, everything is automated, and access is given to all the information connected to all companies. "This facilities protocols around the world a great deal". One example would be a global healthcare card, with the users' data in all countries, which Mariano sees as a "common operating system at a global level, where we are all writing in the same place".
In terms of the applications of this type of security tokens for cryptocurrencies, Mariano Torrecilla explained that they are working well for NGOs "in which transparency is required, which this system provides", arbitration systems and particularly in the real estate and logistics sectors. Despite a significant level of uncertainty and fear of the unknown at a business level, his forecasts for the future of cryptocurrencies and digital assets are optimistic: "The process of change has begun in the financial world and it will gradually permeate everywhere else."
