Crypto Crash Leaves BlockEx with Only £5.5 Million of ICO Funds

A year ago, seemed like one of the most promising startups in the crypto space following its outstanding ICO event, where the London-based company has managed to raise over $24 in presale and institutional investment.
This happened in January 2018 when cryptocurrencies were in the midst of a hockey-stick ascent. But in January of this year, the plunge in the crypto market is weighing on the fintech startup that caters to financial institutions.

According to end of year update, seen by Finance Magnates, after the ICO dust settled, the majority of investment funds weren’t actually available to the business.
The company’s CEO Adam Leonard revealed that a consortium of token buyers that contracted or committed to invest £9 million failed to deliver their contributions due to the crypto bear market.
According to the company’s report, BlockEx’s collected funds have come from accredited capitalists including individuals, cryptocurrency hedge funds, family offices, and institutional investors for equity purchase.

BlockEx has also suffered because they kept a portion of their funds in digital assets, whether in tokens they sold through initial coin offerings or in crypto coins. As by more than 90 percent in some cases, and their so-called digital wallets thinned out, the company has lost £4.3 million of asset value. BlockEx attributed part of theses losses to changes in EUR/GBP exchange rates between raise and liquidation of the assets.
“So in reality, out of the £20m raise, we were actually left with just £5.5m of available funds for the business on a go forward basis,” the statement further explained.
CEO remained upbeat, however
When BlockEx discovered it could fall in a financial crunch, and couldn’t raise funds that initial backers promised, it started seeking additional investors. But compared to a year ago, the process is more complicated in a bear market. The startup already signed a private investor to pump £5 million, but the funding failed to materialise after the investor indicated that “they were now too exposed to a further softened crypto market.”
BlockEx CEO remained upbeat, however. Leonard sought to soothe shareholder unrest, telling the investors interest in his company’s offering has remained robust despite the downturn. Specifically, he says BlockEx received a new investment proposal from a “significant and credible investor” who can help take its technology into quickly regulating markets.
Leonard expects to close the deal in two months “if all goes well.”
 that “manages the entire lifecycle of blockchain based digital assets, including origination, issuance, exchange, settlement, and redemption,” according to its website. Its services are three: a cryptocurrency exchange building service, an ICO marketplace connecting projects and investors, and a  which uses blockchain technology to manage investor-to-company loans.
BlockEx is the latest cryptocurrency-linked firm said to have , as cryptocurrency prices struggle to recover from a steep decline throughout 2018. However, they seem a bit luckier than others as crypto landscape is littered with the carcasses of ill-fated startups. Other cryptocurrency operators have been of their workforces over the past few months as the market crash hits businesses.