Protos plans ICO to raise capital for cryptocurrency fund
Protos Cryptocurrency Asset Management is planning an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) to generate money for a hedge fund that will invest in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether and Litecoin. The founders of Protos claim the rise of cryptocurrencies and blockchain is the 'third major computing revolution', which will require investors to purchase tokens rather than traditional shares in companies. Presale of the Protos token is scheduled for 25 September, with the public ICO commencing on 17 October.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Protos Cryptocurrency Asset Management today announced its plan to hold an Initial Coin Offering (“ICO”) to raise capital for a data-driven crypto hedge fund that will invest solely in cryptocurrencies and tokens. Protos tokens will be a security issued under the exemption from registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Regulation D.

The founders of Protos – Matthew Shaw, Philipp Kallerhoff, and Thomas Kineshanko – have significant experience in the funds and cryptocurrency space. They have over a decade of combined experience investing in cryptocurrencies, have managed funds of over $1 billion and Protos will be their third vehicle investing in cryptocurrencies. They have collectively managed funds/proprietary investments of over $1 billion, have founded and sold three tech startups for proceeds of $400 million and one investment bank at a valuation of more than $250 million. “We believe that Protos is taking a unique approach,” said Matthew Shaw, co-founder of Protos. “In addition to investing in new digital tokens as well as cryptocurrencies, we are among the first funds building a robust database of digital token and cryptocurrency market data and using advanced technical trading strategies.”

Protos intends to apply institutional asset management rigor to cryptocurrency and digital token investing and inform its strategy by capturing and analyzing the necessary market data. The firm intends to also invest in the digital assets of teams that solve difficult problems with highly technical solutions in defensible and scalable markets, building systems to evaluate the underlying data of these teams and their tokens.

The Protos [Cryptocurrency Asset Management] token will aim to accrue value based on the investment returns that Protos earns through its investments in cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ether and Litecoin, as well as existing and new blockchain-based digital tokens.

“We are unlocking the second major investing wave in cryptocurrency and once data on the market exists, we anticipate seeing an explosion in trading strategies similar to that experienced in stock trading,” said Philipp Kallerhoff, co-founder of Protos. “We are driving this second wave with the goal of benefiting our token holders through our crypto trading strategies.”

Protos will invest in the digital assets of the protocols it believes will be the foundational infrastructure and biggest applications in the third major computing revolution.

“The first revolution was the PC, the second was the Internet, and we feel the third is now distributed applications based on Bitcoin-like cryptographic technology,” said Thomas Kineshanko, co-founder of Protos. “To invest in the first two computing revolutions you’re required to buy shares in companies, but to invest in the blockchain revolution, you have to purchase tokens.”

The Protos token, unlike traditional hedge fund and venture capital limited partnership investments, has no lock-up (other than the 12-month holding period for Regulation D purchasers) and will provide liquidity once traded on exchanges. The token’s presale is scheduled for September 25, 2017 and the public ICO is expected to commence on October 17, 2017.

The offering is being managed by Argon Investment Management LLC, a unit of the Argon Group, a Los Angeles-based investment bank specializing in the field of cryptocurrencies and the ICO market, under the Regulation D Section 506(c) exemption from registration promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

More details of the offering will be disclosed in the Offering Memorandum, which is expected to be published on or before October 17, 2017 at https://protos.tokenhub.com.

About Protos

Protos Cryptocurrency Asset Management is one of the first data-driven hedge funds in the cryptocurrency and digital token space. The firm was founded by three partners, Matthew Shaw, Philipp Kallerhoff and Thomas Kineshanko, and is the third fund vehicle that the team has put together to invest in cryptocurrencies. The founders have extensive cryptocurreny market experience, in both investing and trading, and have been engrossed in the crypto market since inception. Protos will apply institutional asset management rigor to cryptocurrency and digital token investing and inform their strategy by capturing and analyzing the necessary market data.

About The Argon Group

The Argon Group (the "Group") is an investment bank with a focus on digital finance - the emerging cryptocurrency and token-based capital markets. The Group provides financial advisory, placement, and technology services to companies seeking to raise equity, debt, and non-dilutive capital. The Group develops technical placement solutions, including digital tokens powered by advanced smart contracts, which Argon operates through a digital asset placement platform TokenHub.com. For more information, please email info@argongroup.com, follow @theargongroup, visit www.argongroup.com.

About the Offering

The Protos tokens are being offered in the US on a limited basis to a maximum of 99 accredited investors under exemptions from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) pursuant to Regulation D, Section 506(c) under the Securities Act, and the rule promulgated thereunder. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase the Protos Tokens, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation or sale of the Protos Tokens in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The Protos Tokens have not and will not be registered under the Securities Act, the Investment Company Act of 1940 or other applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the US absent registration or pursuant to an exemption from registration requirements of the Securities Act and under applicable state laws.

In any member state of the European Economic Area, the Protos Tokens are only being offered to qualified investors as defined under Directive 2003/71/EC (as amended, including by Directive 2010/73/EU, and includes any relevant implementing measure in each member state).

This communication is directed only to persons who (i) are outside the United Kingdom; (ii) are persons falling within Article 19(5) (Investment professionals) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended, the “Order”), (iii) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) (High net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc.) of the Order, or (iv) are persons to whom an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity may otherwise lawfully be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”). This communication is directed only at relevant persons and must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this communication relates is available only to relevant persons and will be engaged in only with relevant persons.