Ark, an all in one blockchain solution, is now incorporated within France as a cooperative society (SCIC). Being the first of its kind in the crypto world, it is now one of the first blockchain projects to be in the European Union as well.
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The designation SCIC is a new French concept, bringing people together that produce goods or services “of collective interest for the benefit of a territory or a sector of activity”.
All members of this cooperative are shareholders assigned to one designation: Founders, Advisers, or Employees. Each shareholder is given 1 vote to voice their opinions on different topics.
The ARK crew will be the initial shareholders, and select the executive board of the cooperative, allowing ARK to carry forward with their current legal structure.
The decision to incorporate with France was made after much consideration from ARK’s legal team, and after a decision that incorporation with the Swiss Foundation, which popular for many blockchain projects, was not the best move for the ARK ecosystem.
SCIC’s requirements compliment nicely with how ARK wants to conduct things: with corporate governance based on a board of directors taking feedback from the community. SCIC also has a clear structure regarding capital gains and taxation, preventing any legal grey areas when it comes to operation.
Additional shareholders can be appointed to the board by current members, except founders and employees. Pubic institutions can become shareholders if the board deems it fit, allowing for flexibility in who joins the ARK board.
SCIC’s must typically keep 52.5% of company’s profits as legal reserves but since there is no plan from ARK to distribute profits to shareholders, it will be able to maintain 100% of profits for use in further development, marketing, or operations.
ARK becoming an SCIC has not only boosted credibility for France, the EU, ARK, and cryptocurrency in general, but during the process ARK was even invited to AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers), France’s regulatory body for financial markets to present what the ARK ecosystem is all about, and conditions for ARK TEC. This productive dialogue between ARK and the French government on how to best comply with French laws will only prove to be beneficial in the future for the relationship between ARK and France, and making France into a pro-crypto environment for other innovative projects that select France as their base of operations.
With legal technicalities out of the way, ARK looks to continue increasing consumer adoption by focusing all of their energies on two areas: A fast secure core technology and practical services for real people. Instead of focusing on speculative instruments, ARK looks to promising blockchain technology, integrate it in their ecosystem, and provide it as a service for their users.
About ARK
ARK provides users, developers, and startups with innovative blockchain technologies. We aim to create an entire ecosystem of linked chains and a virtual spiderweb of endless use-cases that make ARK highly flexible, adaptable, and scalable. ARK is a secure platform designed for mass adoption and will deliver the services that consumers want and developers need.