How iownit Is Revolutionizing Private Markets With Blockchain

Benzinga will be holding its annual Benzinga Global Fintech Awards, a day of dealmaking, networking, and recognition in the financial technology space, on Nov. 10, 2020.

In recognition of those disruptive innovators creating positive and diverse change within the financial services space, Benzinga sat down with Rashad Kurbanov, CEO and co-founder at iownit.

About iownit

Private placements allow companies to sell stock shares or bonds to investors, foregoing the regulatory obstacles IPOs present.

The problem with private markets? They’re opaque, costly and nontransparent.

Founded in 2017, iownit is a fintech specializing in digital private securities. The company is a pioneer in the listing, investing and trading of private securities on distributed ledger technology.

Simply put, iownit is a private permissioned blockchain for the private securities space.

“We use blockchain as an underlying technology because it works well for a variety of instruments and transaction types,” said Kurbanov.

“We introduced our technology into the private securities markets in order to make the market more efficient, reduce transaction costs, and eliminate the complexity that exists today for investors, issuers, and all the intermediaries.”

Core Product Portfolio

“Private permission blockchain offers some very interesting opportunities to digitize the private security space, without exposing the investors to such risks as we’ve seen today with many of the crypto exchanges where funds either get lost or stolen.”

According to Kurbanov, after years of licensing and certifications, iownit comes as a regulatory-friendly funding technology that does not expose transacting parties to undue risks.

“We are an actual broker dealer, alternative trading system, assisting companies, issuers, and sponsors in issuing their digital private placement securities,” the CEO said. “The secondary market transaction platform is where purchases and sales can happen, as well as provide a number of other technology and services around digital securities.”

The company’s core product portfolio removes the complexities associated with using blockchain technology for funding. The platform’s interface, according to Kurbanov, is similar to a brokerage account.

“All you need to do is create an account -- that gives you access to the securities being offered on our platform from the issuer side.”

The process works like this: on the back end, organizations seeking to raise capital come to iownit and complete pre-manufactured templates that get transferred into smart contracts encoded with compliance elements.

In as little as three minutes, front-end investors can open accounts and invest, also.

“From the issuer side it takes time. We’re focused very much on ensuring that we collect and provide the information required for somebody to make an investment decision.”

Use Case, Recent Developments

In light of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the digital transformation accelerated iownit’s innovation timeline.

As a result, iownit improved platform engagement and real-time communication tools.

“We’ve focused on enhancing and expanding the amount of information that gets shared, … so that anybody who is making an investment can make an informed decision,” the CEO added.

Innovation Outlook

“We believe this private securities market is on the cusp of significant changes.”

In light of regulatory evolution, there are a lot of tailwinds for the private securities market which will close the gap between public and private markets.

Going forward, the company plans to expand the depth and breadth of information available to investors on the platform.

“We’ve incorporated the ability to engage by sending emails, asking questions, and clarifying.”

Kurbanov noted that a major focus is making iownit’s research, trading, compliance, and clearing ecosystem sustainable and scalable; “Our focus is to provide the infrastructure, to become the core component and player underpinning the market.”

To learn more about iownit, click here.