Coinbase, Ripple Blast Company Creating Tokens in Their Name

Coinbase and Ripple are pushing back against the equity tokens the Swarm fund announced Wednesday.

AccessTimeIconJun 13, 2018 at 5:25 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 13, 2021 at 8:03 a.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Update 13 June 2018: Robinhood told CoinDesk in a statement that "We are not aware of Swarm, or any such plans, and have no further comment."


Blockchain startup Swarm announced Wednesday that it was launching new "equity tokens" that would represent equity in notable blockchain startups like Coinbase and Ripple – but those companies have pushed back swiftly against the idea.

The "blockchain for private equity" company published a blog post describing its new token project, with chief executive Philipp Pieper explaining in a statement that the tokens "democratize investing" and allow "any Swarm investor [to] hold equity in some of today's most prominent tech startups."

In a statement, a spokesperson for Swarm told CoinDesk that the "tokens are company equity either from vested options or from venture capitalists," explaining that the equity comes from "approved secondary market transactions to acquire vested employee shares, or from venture capitalists who have directly acquired equity from these companies."

Yet when reached for comment, representatives for Coinbase and Ripple struck sharply critical tones – and in the case of Coinbase, a cease-and-desist has already been sent, according to Swarm, resulting in an updated announcement that removed all references to Coinbase.

"As a private company, Coinbase does not allow trading of stock on secondary markets for a variety of reasons, including the fact that there is not full and equal information available to the market. We will take appropriate action if we find people have sold Coinbase shares in violation of our agreements not to do so," Coinbase told CoinDesk in a statement.

Though there's no indication that a cease-and-desist letter was sent by them, a representative for Ripple issued a similar rebuke.

"We have never spoken to Swarm, don't have a record of them purchasing Ripple equity and would not have approved a purchase for this purpose," the rep said.

Image via Shutterstock

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.