A Singapore-based company founded by Finn Ville Oehman offered this 2.08-carat blue diamond ring in a $2 million initial coin offering. V Diamonds pledged a millionth share of the ring for $2.
The Singapore-based organizer of an initial $2 million coin offering linked to a promotion involving a 2.08-carat diamond ring and a luxury dinner raffle yesterday canceled plans to leaving thousands of investors from dozens of countries in need of refunds.
Singapore-registered company V Diamonds began selling tokens set by the ring with blue diamonds in November, pledging a millionth share of the ring, which is set in 18k rose gold-plated platinum, for just $2.
Ville Oehman, the Finnish founder of V Diamonds, agreed to buy the ring and dinner from Russia-based World of Diamonds Group as part of a wider promotion. In November, he started selling the tokens for $2 or more. According to the presale website, investors also had a chance to win an “ultimate dining experience” in Singapore with a three-hour yacht cruise, gold-plated chopsticks and an 18-course Michelin-star meal on a private jet.
“The World of Diamonds Group’s sale of the world’s most expensive dinner to V Diamonds has been canceled by a joint decision of the companies,” the companies said in a joint statement. “The token sale scheduled by V Diamonds has been cancelled, and all pre-subscriptions to the token sale will be refunded to attendees.”
No reason was given for the cancellation. Karan Tilani, director of the World of Diamonds Group, which did not participate in the coin offering plan, said its dining campaign will be restarted with the option to pay in cryptocurrency. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to charity, he said.
The joint statement did not provide any information on the total number of tokens sold to date or the origin of the investors.
But a record of over 3,000 transactions shared exclusively with The Associated Press showed participants came from at least 61 countries, including Singapore, the UK and the US, where 1,021 investors were based.
Kirk Reiter, a university student from Wisconsin, bought a single token last December. “I’ve invested in the ring but haven’t heard much about it. It sounded like a fun opportunity, and for $2 I thought I’d invest,” he said.
“It seemed… very extravagant and over the top, so it seemed like something cool to try,” businessman Matt Schroeder, founder of US retailer Shelly Cove, told The Associated Press. Schroeder, who says he has invested tens of thousands of dollars in multiple cryptocurrencies, said he has bought five.
World of Diamonds Group’s Tilani had expressed his concerns about Oehman’s sale of the tokens, citing a lack of transparency and recent corrections in the cryptocurrency market.
Several attempts to reach Oehman were unsuccessful.
A Singapore businessman who declined to be named said he received a $45,000 refund for 15,000 tokens.
Outside of the cryptocurrency world, there is no equivalent for initial coin offerings, where investors typically purchase digital tokens that can be stored, sold, or traded.
Initial coin offerings have been banned in China and South Korea for fear of possible financial fraud.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore has called for “extreme caution” when investing in cryptocurrencies that lack regulatory protections.-`
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