Disney-Linked Blockchain Startup Dragonchain Concludes $15 Million ICO

Blockchain startup Dragonchain has concluded a $15 million initial coin offering (ICO) for its enterprise blockchain platform that originally began as a prototype at Disney’s innovation-focused Seattle office.

Disney had originally conceived Dragonchain in 2014 as a blockchain-based asset management platform, but two years later it shelved the project and released it as open source software. Earlier this year, a group of former Disney employees resurrected the project and decided to raise funds through a utility token crowdsale that ran from October 2 to November 2.

The startup had already raised $1.4 million during a presale for its dragon tokens (DRGN), and it added approximately $13.7 billion during its public ICO, bringing its fundraising total to near $15.1 million.

As explained on the project website, the Dragonchain platform is a hybrid public-private blockchain solution that enables companies to maintain full control over sensitive internal data while also serving as a bridge to bitcoin and other public blockchains.
The developers are also building a commercial platform that will run on top of the blockchain and provide companies with turnkey blockchain products including pre-coded smart contracts. Programmers will also be able to use the platform to code smart contracts using established languages such as Java and Python. Dragon tokens – which the developers maintain are utility tokens and not securities – will be accepted as payment for these commercial elements of the platform.

According to the project roadmap, the platform is tentatively slated for a full roll-out in 2018. This release will coincide with the launch of an incubator program for startups developing tools designed for use within the ecosystem