Blockport Week 28: Blockport recovers from €1M STO shortfall
We are restructuring after the May security-token offering (STO) fell short of its €1 million soft cap and Blockport B.V. was declared bankrupt on May 22, 2019.
Following the conclusion of our first security token offering (STO), we’re entering a period of restructuring and strategic planning. Our team remains committed to protecting user assets and exploring options for a future platform relaunch
Our one-month STO (April 16 – May 15, 2019) raised less capital than required, so operations have been scaled down, the trading platform was taken offline for withdrawals on June 10, and the core team is working on a relaunch in stealth mode.
Blockport filed for bankruptcy on May 22, but we continue to maintain the technology and token while negotiating with potential strategic partners. Founder Sebastiaan Lichter explains that the unsuccessful fundraising "means we can't uphold our planned growth trajectory and therefore have to significantly scale down our operations and team."
User protection and asset management
Despite the filing, we refunded all STO participants and kept the site online long enough to let users withdraw funds safely. The BPS security tokens offered in the STO were meant to finance U.S. licensing, European growth and new social-trading features. Those ambitions remain on our roadmap once fresh funding is secured.
Our native utility token, BPT, lost more than 80% in the 24 hours after the STO miss, but trading continues on external exchanges while we reorganize. We prioritized user asset protection throughout the process, ensuring that customer funds remained accessible during the transition period.
The operating company sought bankruptcy protection to cut fixed costs while safeguarding user assets and intellectual property. This legal structure allows us to preserve core technology and team capabilities during the restructuring process.
Strategic partnership discussions
We’re currently in talks with a non-crypto partner with millions of users. If finalized, this partnership would allow us to restart the platform using most of the existing team and core technology. These discussions focus on leveraging our social trading technology within established user bases.
Blockport launched in 2018 as a hybrid-decentralized social exchange and planned to raise up to €30 million in three STO rounds to fund expansion into new markets. After the first round closed below target, we adjusted our strategy to focus on strategic partnerships rather than additional equity raises.
We will publish the next community note once the relaunch structure is finalized or additional milestones are met. In the meantime, support remains available through the usual email channel for any user inquiries or concerns.