X

Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface launches cryptocurrency firm

The rapper's firm hopes to raise $30 million during its initial coin offering, CNBC reports.

Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
Expertise I have more than 30 years' experience in journalism in the heart of the Silicon Valley.
See full bio
Steven Musil
2 min read
Ne-Yo Album Pre-Release Party - February 27, 2006

Ghostface Killah is a co-founder of a cryptocurrency firm.

 Johnny Nunez/WireImage

Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ghostface Killah has co-founded a cryptocurrency firm and hopes to raise $30 million during its initial coin offering, according to a CNBC report Wednesday.

Killah's firm, Cream Capital, apparently takes its name from Wu-Tang Clan's 1993 classic song "C.R.E.A.M." But instead of standing for "Cash rules everything around me," the acronym this time represents the trademarked Crypto Rules Everything Around Me, Cream Capital Chief Executive Brett Westbrook told CNBC.

The burgeoning market for cryptocurrencies, which has grown so quickly that one bitcoin was worth more than an ounce of gold in March, has seen digital currency entrepreneurs flocking to ICOs to create and sell digital tokens to investors, who include celebs such as Paris Hilton.

Still, regulators aren't taking to ICOs well. The practice, which Bloomberg said netted $1.6 billion in the last year, has prompted security concerns from the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

"I think the interest of celebrities is a bit of a double-edged sword," Westbrook told CNBC. "I personally think that anything that puts cryptocurrencies in front of the eyes of everyday people is a great thing for the markets overall.

"On the other hand, I believe it's important that celebrities know the importance of their endorsements and understand the underlying principles of blockchain technology," he said. "The last thing we need is a household name promoting what turns out to be a scam ICO."

Cream Capital plans to begin selling "Cream Dividend" tokens next month, which can be exchanged for Ether, the value tokens of the Ethereum blockchain.

"By 2020, we intend to capture more than half of the global cryptocurrency ATM market and make cryptocurrencies more accessible to the general public than ever before," Cream Capital said in a press release.

Tech Culture: From film and television to social media and games, here's your place for the lighter side of tech.

Batteries Not Included: The CNET team shares experiences that remind us why tech stuff is cool.