Slovakian start-up altFINS joins ranks of start-ups upgrading cryptocurrency infrastructure

After securing one million euros in seed funding in July, the Slovak crypto-trading start-up altFINS recently launched a web app to help prospective traders scan, analyse, and trade crypto assets. In doing so, altFINS has joined a growing trend of cryptocurrency start-ups upgrading market infrastructure though venture capital funding.

altFINS CEO, Richard Fetyko, expects there to be significant changes in the market going forward, with implications for any start-up trying to make it in the crypto space.

“With the appeal of ICOs gone, most crypto and blockchain start-ups will have to rely on VCs to fund them through the stages,” he says.

In the past, most crypto market players used initial coin offerings (ICOs). An ICO is not unlike an offering of shares, only in an ICO a start-up finances itself by selling a crypto asset — a cryptocurrency token.

But recently, the ICO rush has subsided. It is being replaced by Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) bolstered by VC funding. According to Mr Fetyko, this is a good thing.

“It has produced far fewer but higher quality offerings. It was a step in the right direction in bringing higher quality and accountability into the process. In fact, most IEOs are projects that have already secured VC or seed funding for their companies,” he explains.

He adds that in the post-ICO-rush landscape, venture capital firms have stepped up. Grayscale Investments, an institutional cryptocurrency fund, recorded its largest quarterly inflows of 906 million US dollars (around 770 million euros) in the second quarter of this year, almost twice its first quarter inflow of 504 million US dollars (428 million euros).

Along with this change in how cryptocurrency start-ups are financed, traditional investors are becoming increasingly interested in the crypto and blockchain markets. A recent survey by Acuiti and CME Group found that of traditional trading firms that currently do not trade digital assets, 97 per cent plan to reconsider within two years, and 45 plan to revisit the possibility of trading in digital assets within six months.

This interest by traditional players will lead to positive change in the crypto space, according to Mr Fetyko.

“I’d expect the quality and success rates of the projects to increase dramatically as VCs conduct a thorough due diligence on the technology, IP, competitive positioning, management team and financials,” he tells Emerging Europe.

A newly emerging ecosystem of digital assets and crypto trading will benefit the market, including altFINS itself. Where many companies in the space are focused on trade execution, altFINS provides its users with the ability to conduct in depth pre-trade analysis and research, thus helping traders make sense of a market that is still very fragmented.

“For example, altFINS enables traders to scan thousands of assets over 20 crypto exchanges to find those that are trending up or showing momentum breakouts. Traders can create their own screener by combining over 55 technical indicators and set alerts to get notified of trading opportunities,” Mr Fetyko explains.

Ultimately, altFINS may have a role to play in the speeding along the adoption of digital assets trading, both for retail and institutional investors.

“Our tools are ideal for trend following investment style used by beginners as well as swing trading styles used by advanced users. The platform was built for crypto natively with a clean, ad-free UI that focuses on a single objective to make crypto investing profitable and time efficient,” Mr Fetyko concludes.

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