ProtonMail CTO, Bart Butler has hinted that the encrypted email service provider is well on its way to launching an ambitious initial coin offering (ICO). The announcement by ProtonMail was met by negative speculation about the company launching a job listing based ICO. Bart Butler responded on Twitter by stating that ProtonMail was looking into launching an ICO as an alternative to the traditional VC funding. If plans to initiate the ICO go as planned, then the new coin will be known as ProtonCoin according to what appears to be the official site of this new project. The Swiss-based firm founded 4 years ago by a group of CERN researchers has long offered crypto payments support for its VPN and premium email services and the move launch their own coin is a huge step up.
The new project’s website does not reveal much detail about ProtonCoin’s technological basis, sales logistics, and functionality but it does reveal an overall purpose of the coin’s purpose and also indicates a way in which members of the general public can participate in the growth of ProtonMail and the entire Proton network which revolves around security and privacy. News of the impending ICO just broke out on Twitter but the reality is that plans to launch the ICO had been on the pipeline for a while. A description of the new project indicates that the company is in the hunt for an expert on developing secure Ethereum smart contracts. This suggests that the ProtonMail will likely launch their project based on the second-largest crypto-currency, Ethereum.
ProtonMail is not the sole encrypted email service provider supporting crypto-currencies at the moment. A week ago encrypted email service Tutanota opened its doors to crypto-currency donations with an ambition of soon integrating crypto payments for their premium accounts. A ProtonMail spokesperson recently threw a spanner in the works by hinting that news of a potential ICO was mere speculation citing that there had been no official announcement or confirmation by the firm about a planned initial coin offering (ICO). The official, however, stated that if the ICO launch were to take place, it would be within the year
The spokesperson also echoed Butler’s statement that the encrypted email service viewed an ICO as a viable alternative to the all too common and traditional VC funding. If ProtonMail confirms the rumors about an imminent ICO and goes ahead with the ambitious launch, it would mark yet another foray by the encrypted email service into crypto-currency. The firm initially got involved in crypto last year when they announced that they would be accepting Bitcoin (BTC) as a payment method. It remains to be seen whether ProtonMail will ahead with the ICO launch.
