Indiegogo Lets You Buy Part of this Hotel on Blockchain

You can now buy part of a Colorado hotel using digital tokens. Crowdfunding website, Indiegogo, just announced that they’ve partnered with one of Aspen’s most luxurious hotels to promote their real estate security token. Ultimately, the hotel hopes to crowdfund $18 million using blockchain.

St. Regis Resort Offers Security Token

Not only is the St. Regis Resort one of the nicest places to stay in Aspen, but it’s a tech-savvy destination, too. The aspen hotel just teamed up with Indiegogo to promote Aspen Coin, their real estate token. Through Aspen Coin, they hope to reach $18 million in blockchain investment.

“Aspen Digital is not an ICO, but actually a security token offering, or STO,” explained Indiegogo founder Slava Rubin in an email. “Unlike an ICO, Aspen Digital is offering Aspen Coins, which represent indirect ownership shares in the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen, Colorado”.

Think of this token as a stock investment. This St. Regis security token won’t get you a free hotel room. Rather, it’s a private security interest that only exists digitally. It isn’t a cryptocurrency either. Though you can sell this real estate token, it’s value doesn’t fluctuate the same way as bitcoin‘s, for example. This is because it’s backed by a tangible asset: the hotel.

Once you buy Aspen Coin, you can keep them in the Aspen Web Wallet, a free cryptocurrency wallet that they give you. Alternatively, you can transfer your tokens to any Ethereum platform supporting wallets.

Indiegogo’s Blockchain Crowdfunding

This isn’t Indiegogo’s first venture into blockchain. In fact, the crowdfunding website has a whole division dedicated to token and blockchain investment. They’ve already crowdfunded dozens of projects.

Until very recently, Indiegogo was part of the ICO craze, too. Last December, Indiegogo began crowdfunding for the Fan-Controlled Football League (FCFL), an interactive approach to football. The FCFL was set on revolutionizing football by giving fans control over the plays, drafts and almost all aspects of the game. This would have happened through the FCFL’s cryptocurrency: FAN Token.

But in late July, Indiegogo’s partner MicroVentures nixed the idea and sent all the investors their money back. Supposedly, regulation changes complicated the ICO process for Indiegogo. In light of the SEC’s recent rejection of 9 Bitcoin ETFs, Indiegogo’s new reticence when it comes to ICOs makes sense.

Indiegogo only promotes security tokens like Aspen Coin today. “Unlike ICOs, security token offerings such as with Aspen Digital have a very clear path to compliance from regulators such as the SEC and FINRA – and we will only work with companies that are willing to meet those thresholds to launch,” wrote Rubin.

To further maintain the legality of tokens like the Aspen Coin, they restrict who and where you can buy it. This means that you cannot actually buy this real estate token on Indiegogo. Instead, they redirect you to Templum Markets, an SEC-registered investment company. Furthermore, this restricts investment to funds from accredited investors, meaning people who earn more than $200,000 a year and has a net worth of more than $1 million.

Buy Part of the St. Regis on Blockchain

Unlike Indigogo’s other campaigns, this real estate token isn’t exactly ‘crowdfunded’. However, Indiegogo is still excited to venture into more blockchain technology, which they view as a natural evolution of their decade-old platform.

Overall, Indiegogo’s real estate token is historic. This is the first time ever that you can own part of a hotel using blockchain. St. Regis’ fame symbolizes blockchain’s move further into the mainstream—and big business. Real estate just became another industry that uses blockchain. It makes sense that distributed ledger tech will be worth $700 billion in a few years.