Global ICO Transparency Alliance (GITA) was formally announced to government representatives in the Taiwanese Parliament alongside the Code of Conduct for Crypto Exchanges.
A press conference was held on September 21, 2018 in the Legislative Yuan (the legislature of the Taiwanese government, based in Taipei) to formally introduce the Global ICO Transparency Alliance (“GITA”) and ICO Transparency Platform to the Taiwanese government and the public, alongside the official announcement of the Code of Conduct for Exchanges by the legislator Jason Hsu and Mr. Wang Ke-Yan.
GITA and its platform provides a solution to two problems: lack of transparency and absence of modern standards for token sales.
Jaclyn Tsai announced that the current minimum disclosure requirement (or GITA standard) for ICOs/STOs includes 80 items, and the platform will show the percentage of disclosures made by each project. GITA will stipulate a minimum disclosure standard in accordance with the requirements of governments and industries all over the world (“GITA Disclosure Standards”) and manage to make the GITA Disclosure Standards a globally accepted principle.
Kevin Lo showcased the demo of the Transparency Platform during the press conference.
Some features were:
1) Information posted on the platform will remain visible to the public, including previous disclosures made by the project.
2) People who register with their real names and are verified by KYC may post comments on the platform, and the project team may also respond to comments posted.
At the press conference, Jaclyn Tsai stressed that light-touch regulations may help startups enter the global market. In her view, in the past, businesses raised funds through initial public offerings (“IPO”), but in the digital era, a different perspective should be adopted. IPOs are regional activities regulated by the governments of each country, while an ICO is a global fundraising activity.
If IPOs are considered fully regulated, the Taiwanese government should consider establishing regulations for ICOs from the ground up, rather than removing established requirements imposed on entities raising funds through IPOs. Governments should consider cooperating with the industry to create a global fundraising tool in this new era, which is vital for startups to enter the global market. GITA and the ICO Transparency Platform may alleviate the difficulty of governments to regulate extraterritorial activities and effectively protect consumers’ rights.
Mikhail Mironov (GITA foundation council) spoke at the press conference to introduce GITA. He mentioned that GITA Transparency Platform will help investors have better insights into projects they fund as much as it will help startups to have their crowdfunding campaigns on blockchain be more transparent. He invited blockchain organisations to join GITA from other countries that share the same goals and mission of GITA: transparency, modern standards for token sales and self regulation. Together with global leaders of the industry GITA will create a solid foundation for the new financial system of fundraising.
What does Global ICO Transparency Alliance (GITA) stand for?
The idea of establishing GITA was first introduced on July 19, 2018 in Seoul by Jaclyn Tsai of the Taiwan Fintech Association, and realized in collaboration with seven other members, each a member of leading blockchain organizations or ICO industries in their countries. GITA foundation council and Supernode members include Korea Blockchain Association, Hong Kong Blockchain Association, Thailand Blockchain Association, ICORating and Regulus Investment Vietnam as well as representatives from Crypto Valley and ACCESS Singapore.
The GITA mission is to
- protect investors by providing access to in-depth information about crowdfunding campaigns on blockchain and their progress after the crowd sale
- create an industry standard for self-disclosure
- become a forum for knowledge-sharing and industry improvement
In identifying the emerging problems of recent ICO projects, including insufficient and clear regulations, lengthy legislative process, doubts over how the startups might suffer because of overly restrictive regulations, disparity between the information held by issuers and investors, GITA is formed to assist the ICO issuers and investors in tackling the aforementioned problems by creating an ICO Transparency Platform.
Based on the principles of blockchain, GITA is decentralized and consists of the Foundation Council, Supernodes, Nodes, and Steering Committees. The current Foundation Council is composed of the aforementioned founding members from the aforementioned eight jurisdictions.
The responsibilities of the Foundation Council include meeting regularly with members from global blockchain industry and relevant agencies, maintenance of the Transparency Platform, etc. The responsibilities of Supernodes include acting as the leader of different communities, procuring and collaborating with members and Nodes to collect information in relation to rules and regulations of the jurisdictions, trend of industry and technology trend, etc.
Currently, there are six Supernodes including Taiwan Fintech Association, Thai Blockchain Association, Korea Blockchain Association, ICORating, Regulus Investment, and Hong Kong Blockchain Association.
For media enquiries, please contact
Global ICO Transparency Alliance – Secretariat Office
Contact Person: Mikhail Mironov
Email: info@gita.foundation
Tel.: +31 683624781
Website: GITA Foundation
Taiwan representative:
Jaclyn Tsai
Email: jaclyntsai@leetsai.com
Tel.: +886-2-23785780 #2218
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