LeadCoin’s Crypto Public Offering Brought in $50 million

LeadCoin, a startup promising to create a blockchain-based web marketing service, raised $50 million through a public offering of its cryptocurrency, the company said Thursday.

For daily updates, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here.

Promoting itself as an alternative to Google and Facebook, which dominate the digital advertising market, LeadCoin is developing a decentralized marketplace for business leads.

In the LeadCoin network, companies will get to own and trade the consumer they generate through digital advertising. So, for example, if a consumer clicks on an ad to visit a company’s website but ends up not buying anything, that activity registers as a lead that the company can sell to other companies. An algorithm developed by Leadcoin will then match unused leads with the profile specified by companies.

The service also enables consumers interested in goods and services to requests targeted offers.

LeadCoin will be powered by Ethereum smart contracts, a technology that enables real-time sharing of data on a transparent network with no middlemen.

Like many startups in the blockchain scene, LeadCoin is registered in Gibraltar, an autonomous territory that was early to regulate the industry.

Israeli entrepreneur Shmulik Grizim founded LeadCoin last year, recruiting Sirin Labs co-CEO Moshe Hogeg to serve as an advisor.