Republic, the largest securities crowdfunding platform in the world, says the launch of Republic Note next week is a step in the platform’s transformation to Republic 3.0. While I am not certain exactly what Republic 2.0 represents – probably its acquisition of Seedrs and the expansion into Asia, Republic 3.0 will focus on incorporating new technology – more specifically, blockchain.
To quote Republic:
“Monday’s launch is a precursor to Republic’s upcoming transformation to become the first Web3-enabled private investment platform. Engineered by our own tokenization team and drawing value from the entire Republic ecosystem, the Republic Note exemplifies the full-stack services we can offer all enterprise clients and investors, modeling what is to come in Republic’s future. We look forward to unveiling the next pages in this chapter to you in the following months.”
For securities crowdfunding to scale and evolve, it will need to add more services that take advantage of digital finance, catering to the needs of both issuers and investors. Republic already boasts 2.5 million users but, globally, that number is still quite small.
Most people do not want to jump from one financial service platform to another to complete transactions and engage with their financial existence. They want one or two platforms to handle all of their financial needs like savings, investing, and more.
Investing in private securities like Republic offers – is expected to continue to grow as public markets decline due to over-regulation by policymakers. While Congress, etc., could diminish private markets too, most anticipate that private markets are so vital to the economy, driving jobs and creating prosperity, no one in their right mind will damage it. Even Congress. Perhaps this is what Republic intends to become – a global platform providing access to investment opportunities and access to capital for private firms, providing ancillary services to enable each side of the equation. Perhaps on down the road, Republic will become more like a money centre investment bank. Time will tell.