I 100% agree that Blockchain technology can be used to fundamentally change business, especially practices like the exchange of stock/securities.
However, why do we need to replace traditional shares in a corporation with tokens? I'm all for using blockchain tech to make trading and purchase of these shares easier, but I don't really see the need to have businesses use tokens instead of shares in some cases.
Like you've pointed out, I think we are already seeing some of the issues with unregulated tokens as "shares" in a company with all the concern around scam ICOs. Sure there are some amazing ICOs out there, but there are also a lot of people getting conned out of their money.
Regulations around investing in a corporation are there for a reason. To protect the investor.
I'm all for stuff being streamlined, especially by Blockchain technology, but we also need to recognize the need for regulation to protect investors from being taken advantage of.
The biggest issue is that an ordinary person can't log into the NASDAQ (for example) to buy and sell shares directly, yet anyone can purchase or sell tokens.
With a strong Proof of Stake (like Cadano proposes with Oroboros for example) a token could represent an exchangeable stake in a company that could behave similarly to stock.
I'm not against regulation, but I think decentralization helps to more equitably distribute power.
For sure, and I'm 100% with you when it comes to opening stuff up to more people. I just want to avoid scenarios where things are too open and easy and we get a ton of pump and dump ICOs clogging up the market rather than real companies.
Purchasing stock in the traditional sense isn't that difficult once you're in, but it's a pain to setup, takes weeks sometimes to get an approved account with a brokerage, and more days to clear funding etc.
Honestly, I see huge opportunity in helping streamline the brokerages/exchanges themselves rather than the companies. Make it easier for people to trade stocks, while still keeping safeguards in place to protect investors.
With today's technology there really should be no reason we shouldn't be able to buy and sell stock at "book" directly through an exchange, except that it could end up having the volatility of the crypto market (which would be bad for the firms and the rich).
Instead of brokers, we should have regulated exchanges and anyone should have access to the exchange. If "XYZ corp" is trading at $1, I should be able to buy a share for $1.02 (assuming a fair transaction fee) the same way I just bought 499.8 ADA for about $15US the other day. Conversely I should be able to sell my shares at book through the same exchange.