A company that has been approved to offer the second token under Bermuda’s Initial Coin Offering Act, is aiming to raise $45 million during the next 12 months.

That funding will be used to complete the development of a digital advertising marketplace, that it says will be “ad fraud free”, and to launch it in the second half of the year.

Matt Gallant, chief executive officer of Bermudian-registered tribeOS, said there is a likelihood the company will have staff on the island as it rolls out its platform.

TribeOS has about 20 employees at present, and has a team of technology engineers in Bosnia. Last August, it raised $3 million in seed funding from Bitmain Technology, a developer of bitcoin mining products.

This month, the company announced it had been approved to offer its token, called Fire, under Bermuda’s Initial Coin Offering Act 2018. It is the first security token, and second token in general, to be approved under the island’s new regulations.

The token enables investors to participate in revenue sharing in tribeOS.

The company aims to combat the problem of online ad fraud. Industry statistics point to $51 million being stolen each day from digital ad programs through ad fraud. Advertisers pay a fee for online views or “clicks” on their adverts, but can be cheated by fraudulent clicks, spambots and phantom views.

TribeOS is integrating blockchain with two of its own technologies, AdShield and Golden Lantern, to create a solution.

Mr Gallant explained that AdShield will block fraudulent activity, such views and clicks created by bots [autonomous computer programs], click farms and people attempting to cheat the system. He said part of AdShield will be put on the blockchain, thereby allowing advertisers to verify that they are getting legitimate hits on their ads.

“Blockchain will show what is happening,” Mr Gallant said. The almost tamper-proof nature of a blockchain ledger will give advertisers reassurance as they directly pay publishers on bids for web traffic in real time, with performance and transactions verified on the blockchain.

“Golden Lantern is the final piece of the puzzle,” said Mr Gallant. It is an ad management platform that includes web tracking and focuses on attribution. Through the tribeOS system it will allow advertisers to track, verify and report on traffic — that is the views and interactions from online users — that they are purchasing.

The company searched for a supportive jurisdiction in which to set up, and picked Bermuda.

“We spent a lot of time looking at all the options. [Bermuda] had the clearest legislation out of any country that we looked at,” Mr Gallant said.

He has previously praised the island for setting itself apart from others by showing commitment to legitimising digital assets and tokens, and passing the Initial Coin Offering Act, and the Digital Asset Business Act 2018.

Looking ahead, he said tribeOS will continue raising funds in the second quarter, and launch its platform in the third. He added: “We are bringing in advertiser with letters of intent. Advertisers want to solve the problem.”

TribeOS has a website at https://tribeos.io/