Cryptocurrency trading exchange Maicoin Ltd (現代財富科技) yesterday unveiled a security token offering (STO) to help local carbon credits circulate in overseas markets through the trading of tokens.
Maicoin has not submitted its STO application to the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) for approval as the commission only recently published draft STO regulations.
The company said that it is aiming to become the first company to conduct an STO in Taiwan.
While an STO is mainly used to raise funds, Maicoin has decided to conduct an STO linked to a public benefit so that people can better understand innovative financial tools, chief executive officer Alex Liu (劉世偉) told a news conference in Taipei.
Maicoin plans to achieve carbon credits of 50,000 tonnes in cooperation with local transportation companies that utilize electric vehicles, including bus companies and electric scooter manufacturers, as well as partnering with other companies to plant trees in Nantou County, Liu said.
The company plans to issue 50,000 digital tokens, which would be traded on its own platform with the price initially set at between US$10 to US$20 per token, Liu said.
The company is using the prices of carbon emission tokens in foreign markets as a reference, he said.
Maicoin plans to launch the STO by the end of this year, after winning the commission’s approval, he added.
The company earlier said that it was interested in running a “regulatory sandbox” experiment for an STO in a bid to raise more than NT$30 million (US$966,433).
The total amount of funds raised by the first project would be less than NT$30 million as the company is trying to test the waters, Liu said.
Asked why Maicoin plans to transfer the carbon credits into securities tokens rather than regular digital tokens, Liu said investing in carbon emission trading is like investing in securities as the carbon credits are limited and valuable.
Besides, potential buyers could view the tokens as a kind of securities and list them as assets on their balance sheet, he said.
Although there is no carbon trading market in Taiwan, China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控) has agreed to buy the tokens as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility program, Liu said.
Maicoin also hopes to sell the tokens in overseas markets, but the company needs to look at the local regulations first, it said.
For instance, some nations have different regulations about whether tokens can be used to offset a buyers’ carbon footprint, Maicoin official Chen Ming-hui (陳明惠) said.
The company would invite third-party companies to examine its carbon emission projects in Taiwan and make sure the project meets international standards, Chen said.
Maicoin would also ask certified accountants to check if the price of the tokens makes sense, as well as the company’s financial ability.
The company would release a report before launching the project, she said.
If things go smoothly, the credits could be recognized by the Environmental Protection Administration, she added.
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