NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bloq, a U.S. technology startup which helps corporations build blockchain platforms, will launch its own crypto-currency on June 18, its founders said on Tuesday, in one of the industry's most anticipated offerings this year.
The first 8 million tokens, called Metronome, will be available for purchase on that date in a seven-day auction, Bloq Chairman Matthew Roszak and Chief Executive Jeff Garzik said in an interview on the sidelines of Coindesk's Consensus conference on blockchain and crypto-currencies.
Unlike other token offerings, the sale will not include private placements with institutional investors. Proceeds will not go to Bloq, but will remain within the company's smart contract system to provide liquidity to the token's marketplace.
The tokens can be used immediately for a range of applications such as payments and transfers. Metronome can also run on different blockchains, unlike other tokens, the company said.
Blockchain is a digital ledger of transactions that has underpinned bitcoin, the original digital currency.
"At launch, the network works. Once the auction starts, it is out of our hands," said Garzik.
Bloq had hoped to launch the token, unveiled in October, by the end of 2017.
"The community has been waiting for this token for some time," said Roszak. "But building something like this takes time."
Metronome tokens, with a ticker symbol of MET, will be priced starting at 2 ether, the currency for the ethereum blockchain, and descend every minute until all tokens are sold.
The "descending price auction" method has been designed to distribute the tokens in the fairest way possible, the Bloq officials said.
"We're not putting any target on our fund raise. We're just looking for a successful offering," Roszak said.
In an interview with Reuters in February, he estimated demand for about $250 million worth of Metronome tokens.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Richard Chang)
