Venture capital fund Rockshield Capital announced this month that it had invested in a series of blockchain-based companies, foremost on its Neptune Dash, a company focused on building and operating Dash masternodes and expanding the Dash ecosystem. Late last year, Neptune Dash closed a $20.7 million round of financing, enough to acquire over 25 masternodes at present prices.
Dash Force News spoke with Neptune Dash’s co-founder and CFO Troy Wong about the company’s place in the Dash ecosystem.
Dash Force News: In an increasingly packed cryptocurrency field, why Dash, especially with exclusivity and such significant investment?
Troy Wong: Before starting Neptune Dash Technologies Corp. (TSX-V: DASH), my co-founder and I (Cale Moodie) started Neptune Asset Group Inc., a digital currency focused private equity firm. We performed an unbiased analysis of the various blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies in the ecosystem, and focused on Dash for a number of reasons:
a). A strong and united community that was committed to scaling and advancement of the Dash blockchain from a technical infastructure perspective.
b). A DAO governance model that takes into account a balanced stakeholder incentive system.
c). The Dash development roadmap regarding Dash Evolution.
d). The block reward allocation system between miners, masternode holders, and Dash Treasury.
How long has company leadership been involved in the cryptocurrency space?
TW: I first got started in blockchain investing in 2013 as a bitcoin trader. I have worked full time in blockchain and cryptocurrencies for about 10 months firstly as a trader and then as Financial Consultant to Jaxx Wallet & Decentral before starting Neptune Dash.
Guy Halford-Thompson (Chairmen of the Board) – has worked full-time in blockchain for over three and a half years as Founder and CEO of Canada’s first public blockchain company (BTL Group Ltd.).
Jackson Warren (Independent Director) – has worked full time in blockchain for over four years, most notably for bringing the world’s first Bitcoin ATM to market in Vancouver in 2013.
Kalle Radage (Chief Operating Officer) – has worked full time in the payments and venture capital space for most of his career. Kalle served as President of Payfirma (a public payments processing Company in Canada) for over 6 years.
Cale Moodie (President & CEO) – Is an investor and financier in the blockchain space since 2013. He has been working with me full-time in blockchain for over five months, and is responsible for public markets activities.
How does this differ from an ETF such as we’ve seen with Bitcoin?
TW:Neptune Dash is a Dash masternode operating company. Our mandate is to own dash cryptocurrency and hardware to facilitate transactions on the Dash blockchain. We also plan on supporting the Dash eco-system through ancilliary businesses. ETF’s are a very different investment vehicle that facilitate the buying and selling of the underlying asset itself with no operating activities beyond that mandate.
Some Dash investors have been rattled by the rising and falling of the cryptocurrency market cap rankings, does this unnerve you as well?
TW: The cryptocurrency landscape is constantly changing. At Neptune Dash we are focused on long term projects with underlying ecosystems, development, a strong governance model, and a core community. We see all of those characteristics in Dash. We are not nervous at all with the recent run-up in alternative blockchains that have gained a lot of attention to date. We are confident Dash is building something for the long term – and we have also seen a great return on our investment to date as well.
What are Neptune Dash’s inclinations regarding masternode voting?
TW:This issue is something we have thought long and hard about as a Board of Directors. We have not yet voted on any Treasury Proposals that have been put forth to date, and are currently not planning on it. We would like to put forth some proposals of our own for a few events that we are planning on holding later in 2018, but for now we have not yet taken an official position regarding masternode voting. One of the things we love about Dash is that the community is united and can make decisions quickly. We are also very supportive of Ryan Taylor and what a great job he is doing running the Dash the DAO. For now our position is to remain as independent as possible which includes abstaining from Treasury Proposals. Should we cast any votes, we will liase with the Dash community regarding our thought process.
How many nodes do you think you will want to run? How many are you aiming for this year?
TW:Currently the Company has 8 masternodes and we will be constructing and operating many more. As a company seeking to go public we cannot comment on forward looking statements at this time.
