Why List On MPEx?

We’ve previously explored the difference between MPEx and the play Bitcoin stock exchangesi but we haven’t looked very closely at what listing on MPEx entails. Given that War of Lifeii was recently added as an MPEx security, there’s never been a better time to have a closer look.

So why list on MPEx? From IRC:

benkay: when does it make sense to do a public offering? as in – why would i ever do that
mircea_popescu: would you fuck a stranger ?
mthreat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ht9VZ9RB_w
mircea_popescu: lol

benkay: but if i make a profitable thing, why list it on mpex?
peterl: benkay: if you need more capital to grow, then you IPO to get an influx of cash. or if you want hookers and blow now instead of waiting patiently for your money?

benkay: but mike doesn’t need capital. nor kakobrekla. (mike_c, that is). is it a generous donation to the ecosystem? “here i made this thing and by my grace you can partake of its profits”?
mike_c: WoL does need capital. hence the loan from mpif
benkay: i clearly don’t understand WoL in depth.
mike_c: join the club. i’m working on that.

peterl: you are saying there is nothing you could do with more money?
benkay: what does WoL need more capital for? seeding pots?
benkay: <peterl> you are saying there is nothing you could do with more money? // riddle me this – what does bitbet do with the money?iii
peterl: I dunno exactly? Seed bets, buy advertising, maintain servers?

benkay: i wonder what kind of load bitbet supports.
benkay: hey kakobrekla can you clue us into the traffic bitbet’s pushing?
mike_c: bitbet does nothing with the money. it’s a zac

benkay: so then we come back to my question – why would an an0 company list publically?
mike_c: liquidity for the owners is a big reason. and you mean zac
benkay: right, yes i do
mike_c: an0 = asset non-zero

benkay: so there’s the answer i’m looking for – liquidity for the owners.
mike_c: that is one answer. another might have to do with mp’s desire to build an ecosystem. but i’ll leave that answer to him.

benkay: <benkay> is it a generous donation to the ecosystem? “here i made this thing and by my grace you can partake of its profits”? hey i’m learning. slowly, but…

mike_c: you are making me answer for him, which i am not qualified to do. but I would guess two things. 1) yes 2) mayhaps some people benefit from advancing the ecosystem.
benkay: the old “adoption” thing.iv

benkay: apologies, i didnt mean to imply that i was re-asking the question, more that i’d already guessed that was a reason.
peterl: benkay: so there’s the answer i’m looking for – liquidity for the owners. << as I said, they want their hookers and blow now
decimation: I think there’s a pent-up demand for bitcoin income

mike_c: why does bitcoin price go up? “adoption” seems a poor answer to me. to me it is because the value of the whole system actually increases. perhaps part of that value increase is due to having a more vibrant financial ecosystem.

mircea_popescu: <benkay> but if i make a profitable thing, why list it on mpex? << nobody’s holding a gun to your head no ?
benkay: <mircea_popescu> <benkay> but if i make a profitable thing, why list it on mpex? << nobody’s holding a gun to your head no ? // clearly. but why did bitbet list
mircea_popescu: why the existential q’s anyway ? it’s like “why get married”, “why make friends”, “why eat a steak” or w/e.
benkay: what, listing on mpex tastes good? it does, no q, but is that the sole roi? mostly ’cause i’m a derpy young thing trying to not. lose. money.

mircea_popescu: existential questions are fundamentally broken because things that exist exist in an infinity of ways, whereas things that are represented are represented in a finite manner. the existential question either exploits or bumbles into this fundamental problem. it can never have an actual answer, much like you can’t be delivered the notion of pear or the sadness of joseph.v

benkay: well, you’ll note the particular questions sprinkled in there.
mircea_popescu: i thought those were answered.
benkay: like – why did bitbet?

mircea_popescu: But in general : a listed company has some advantages, and some disadvantages. Let’s look into it. Capital : a listed company has more capital, and more ready access to capital. Networking : for one thing, your investors are your best PR. Scoring : you get to know how good you’re doing, as a manager. These also work together, like n+s : more people are paying attention, so it works like open source for your accounting, for instance. It also has some disadvantages, such as a loss of control, or association with another party or whatever. Supposedly MPEx manages to mitigate the drawbacks while supercharging the advantages, but this is really like the discussion of whether bitcoin or network difficulty are too high or too low or w/e. A more practical approach is to look at “why do people get into the WoT ?” and go from there. Why do people finish highschool ? Why do people go on to college ? Should everyone with a hs diploma strive to go to college ? etc.

mike_c: MP also has a theory that listing prevents competition because they can just invest in you instead of building a copy.
benkay: Very educational. Thank you all.

mircea_popescu: This is in fact correct. If someone wants exposure to x market, with a company in x market listed his options are “invest or roll your own” but without, his options are “roll your own”. Which is in fact often inefficient. So yes, it IS a gift to the community. Just, not in the sense you’d think. It’s the sort of gift you’re not at a loss for giving, like sharing music.
benkay: One’d only roll their own if the existing solution were such crap that it could easily be beat in the market.
mircea_popescu: Or if they need it. you know ? If you want to make whatsapp and there’s no phone carrier, now what ?

MPEx is that fourth layer of fun for intelligent people. It’s the platform for exposure, growth, and… profit.

So if the question isn’t why list on MPEX, but why not, then the question becomes: how ?

Well, there’s really only 3 steps:

1. WoT
2. Start business
3. List

Are you ready?

___ ___ ___

  1. TL;DR: It’s sort of like the difference between Rolls Royce and Power Wheels.
  2. War of Life, aka WoL, is a game created by Mike Cirello, he of btcalpha fame, that allows you to wager Bitcoin and Altcoin. That’s right, not just any altcoin, The Altcoin. Y’know?

    Addendum on WTF is WoL, incidentally from the same #bitcoin-assets conversation:

    mike_c: minigames are bets against the house
    benkay: rgr

    peterl: so it is acting as a casino?
    ThickAsThieves: of course not!
    mike_c: don’t be silly
    mike_c: more like a cryptocurrency playground
    ThickAsThieves: like a chuck e cheese

    peterl: cryptocurrency casino?
    mike_c: ^ like TaT said. put your tokens in, get little tickets. redeem tickets for stuffed animals.
    peterl: ah, no chance of getting money back?
    mike_c: “money”. you can get bitcoin back.
    ThickAsThieves: blowstamps
    mike_c: the irs explicitly said bitcoin isn’t money
    ThickAsThieves: well… irs doesnt get to decide

    peterl: but bitcoin is what you put in
    mike_c: bitcoin is what you put in. bitcoin is what you get out. or Altcoin!

    peterl: so it looks like a casino
    *:ThickAsThieves watches planes fly over peterl’s head
    mike_c: i think of it more as a playground.
    peterl: and what are the buildings in vegas if not playgrounds too?

    mike_c: WoL doesn’t have any magicians
    peterl: why not? that would make it more fun!
    mike_c: it’s true. i’ll put it on the list

  3. Other than settling World Cup wagers, that is.
  4. Adoption need not mean merchant adoption, which, if anything at all, follows rather than leads greater adoption. Dat CoinDeskin’ conflation.
  5. Or world peace, justice for all, environmental sustainability, etc.

9 thoughts on “Why List On MPEx?

  1. Dread Knight says:

    Thanks for the article! I mentioned to an IRC buddy that I need to get funding for AncientBeast project (which will have bitcoins involved soon) and he got me into #bitcoin-assets channel and so I learned about MPEx, now I’m going through the “why list?” journey myself versus just having a crowd funding campaign, might do both :)

  2. What if you want to “keep it in the family”?

    By going public you are automatically giving the public access to “owning” your company, unless your ipo only accounts for maybe 5% of the profits…

    All of the benefits I’ve seen above can be done through private investment channels IMO.

    • Pete D. says:

      thestringpuller,

      There’s also a degree of credibility and visibility that comes with listing on MPEx. As much as it’s a way to raise capital for the founders, it’s very good marketing.

    • By way of the MPEx brand being associated with the base brand?

      Sure it’s cool to have your company to have the “MPEx seal of approval” but is this really necessary for developing credibility and visibility.

      This also means that the company under the MPEx umbrella cannot truly exist alone or under a different umbrella once this relationship is “cemented”, an irreversible situation which to me is very frightening.

      Rareware was under the umbrella of Nintendo when they took the Donkey Kong franchise and made it how most people remember it on the SNES.

      Upon being purchased by Microsoft, the Donkey Kong franchise has yet to recover under Nintendo’s guidance alone, and Rareware’s internal titles (such as Perfect Dark) were never the same without Nintendo’s umbrella.

      In my opinion, to prevent this case, it’s best to just go it alone and deal with the growing pains required to come into your own power.

      So in my opinion the marketing, branding, credibility etc., can still be acquired through private means without being tied indefinitely to MPEx.

      Now I’m not saying one should not list on MPEx, but rather the “why” list seems a little…terse.

    • Pete D. says:

      So in my opinion the marketing, branding, credibility etc., can still be acquired through private means without being tied indefinitely to MPEx.

      While there are certainly examples of this in the fiat world, there are not yet any such examples in the Bitcoin world. Then again, it’s early in the game ;)

    • Satoshi Dice would be a “proto” example of this.

  3. […] use “bot slots”ii as a lasso with which to retain the best of the best, much in the way MPEx uses share issuances or stock warrants as a financial reward bound by contractual agreement, and […]

  4. […] list on MPEx, you ask ? Ask, and ye shall receive. […]

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