This week at EZYcount went extremely fast. On top of the usual work, we sent our official letter to FINMA regarding EZYcount TaaL token sale, and on Thursday, I visited the SICTIC investor event with blockchain challenge. The tool of the week is appear.in for free and quick video conference.

FINMA letter sent 🎉

On Friday, we sent a letter explaining EZYcount TaaL token sale to FINMA. We play by the rules, therefore, we informed the regulatory body of the financial market of our plan.

ICO and token sales generally are still at a very early stage. At EZYcount, we believe that we do not need any authorization to pursue EZYcount TaaL sales as we sell what we always sold: software licenses. However, better sure than sorry so we sent a letter to the FINMA.

We expect to receive an answer form FINMA in the next 6 to 8 weeks.

What is FINMA?

"FINMA is Switzerland’s independent financial-markets regulator. Its mandate is to supervise banks, insurance companies, exchanges, securities dealers, collective investment schemes, and their asset managers and fund management companies. It also regulates distributors and insurance intermediaries. It is charged with protecting creditors, investors, and policyholders. FINMA is responsible for ensuring that Switzerland’s financial markets function effectively."

Definition found on https://www.finma.ch/en/finma/finma-an-overview/

How we wrote that letter.

Writing a legal document to a regulatory body is a real challenge. I felt very quickly lost in the technical jargon. Every sentence on the FINMA document needs to be to the point and with the right legal words. I was very happy and grateful to be supported by PSG-law regarding the legal part and Agavon for the technical part.

The letter we wrote to FINMA is clear, to the point and I explain thoroughly our plan to sell life-long (99 year) software licenses.

TaaL or Token-as-a-License

Token-as-a-Licence or TaaL is the future of licensing, why is it so, you ask me.

Current licensing solutions are complicated and untransparent for purchasers. It is rare for purchasers to have a proof of ownership; at best a proof of purchase.

TaaL changes this by giving a proof, the TaaL, to the purchaser. On top of it, purchasers are free to sell or transfer TaaL as they want.

Moreover, software producers can easily create TaaL by using wallets, for example on the Ardor blockchain. If software producers prefer to code TaaL themselves, this is also possible.

Regarding token validity, software producers check the validity of a token against the blockchain ensuring that only real tokens grant access to the software.

TaaL makes distribution and securization of software licenses easier.

At EZYcount, we decided to offer the life-long licenses (99 years) in a form of a TaaL to give more value to our customers. Purchasers can trade easily and freely on the secondary market. Also, EZYcount can quickly check the validity of TaaL by checking it against the Ardor blockchain.

Visit of SICTIC blockchain challenge

The room was full of startups and investors. Ton van 't Noordende, CEO of 01ventures, moderated the event with energy and fun. To be fair, I haven't met as many people that I wanted but I learned a fair share of new interesting blockchain projects.

What is SICTIC:

"The Swiss ICT Investor Club (SICTIC) is a non profit association that connects smart money investors to Swiss early-stage tech startups."

Source: SICTIC website, about us section: https://www.sictic.ch/about/

If you are an investor interested in technology (AI, deep tech, ML, VR, AR,...) I would recommend you to at least follow SICTIC to keep up with the latest Swiss tech startups.

For me, it was also the chance to start mingling with the crowd in Zug at the named "crypto valley". Lots of ideas and people wanting to change the current status quo for the better. I'll definitely come back but in a more organized way. As I rushed to the event with little preparation, I was unable to meet as many people as I wanted. Lesson learned. Next time I'll do my homework before going to an event: searching for who is there, who I should meet and also reach out to them prior to the event.

If you are part of the crypto valley and think we should meet, I'll probably visit the region in July again. Send me a tweet or an email at: [email protected]

🔨 Tool of the week: appear.in

Appear.in is a video sharing / online meeting solution. It uses the new webRTC technology (free and open) which allow browsers and mobile applications to provide phone and video capabilities.

In clear, you just open Google Chrome or Firefox and you can make calls and video conferences.

appear.in is super simple, you just open their webpage, type in the name of a room conference you want to create or enter. Then you send that URL address to the other person (or persons, yes, you can be more than 2 in a room) and HOP! You are video conferencing.

This tool is even free for up to 4 participants.

What I like about it:

• no download/no installation
• video conference up to 4 participants for free
• video sharing possibilities
• easy to use and to invite people

We use appear.in as well as Skype at EZYcount to offer the possibility to our customer to video conference with us.

To know more about it https://appear.in