December 24, 2020 @ 11:19 am By JD Alois  |  

While stating that stablecoins may serve to improve efficiencies in payments and transfers, the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (PWG) says responsible innovation must exist in line with existing law. Treasury Deputy Secretary Justin Muzinich issued the following statement: “The statement reflects a commitment… Read More

December 24, 2020 @ 9:28 am By JD Alois  |  

A Blast from the Past. Bitgrail, a bankrupt crypto exchange that previously operated in Italy, has surfaced in the media once again. Back in 2018 news emerged of a significant crypto theft of around $150 million in Nano (XRB). At that time a post on… Read More

December 23, 2020 @ 7:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

Equitise, one of the first platforms to receive an Australian retail crowdfunding license back in 2018, has shared some data platforms for platform performance for 2020.  As we all know, 2020 was a challenging year as COVID impacted all industries to varying degrees. But like… Read More

December 23, 2020 @ 2:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple is the largest enforcement action attacking the sale of a cryptocurrency to date. The SEC alleges the sale of an unregistered security in the issuance of XRP, Ripple’s native token. Ripple has been quick to defend… Read More

December 23, 2020 @ 1:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

Bitwise Asset Management, a crypto fund manager since 2017, has announced that the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (OTCQX: BITW) has liquidated its position in XRP. A Tweet indicated that Bitwise had held an emergency meeting yesterday where the decision was taken to liquidate the… Read More

December 23, 2020 @ 12:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a statement and request for comment regarding the custody of digital asset securities by broker-dealers. The Commission states that this consultation is in order to encourage innovation around the application of Securities Exchange Act Rule 15c3-3 to digital… Read More

December 23, 2020 @ 10:40 am By JD Alois  |  

Following the announcement of an enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleging Ripple engaged in the sale of unregistered securities pertaining to XRP, Ripple has countered and executives have publicly countered the claims. Meanwhile, the lawsuit has caused several digital asset exchanges… Read More

December 23, 2020 @ 9:49 am By JD Alois  |  

Just last week, OSL became the first licensed digital asset trading platform in Hong Kong. It received approval by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to conduct  Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 7 (automated trading service -ATS) regulated activities and claims to be… Read More

December 23, 2020 @ 9:25 am By JD Alois  |  

Equa, a “crypto-backed” platform that helps organizations to manage stakeholders from a company’s formation to fundraising and growth, has announced a new service as part of its portfolio of offerings. Equa now enables incentive plans such as ESOPs (employee stock ownership plans) to better help… Read More

December 22, 2020 @ 9:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) has filed a lawsuit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), as well as Acting Comptroller Brian Brooks, regarding the agency’s ability to issue federal bank charters to Fintechs. The complaint mentions Figure Technologies, a… Read More

December 22, 2020 @ 7:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Crypto Rating Council, launched in 2019 by a handful of high profile blockchain-based firms, rates Ripple’s native crypto XRP a 4 out of a scale from 1 to 5 in assessing whether the digital asset is a security under the CRC Securities Framework Asset… Read More

December 22, 2020 @ 6:14 pm By JD Alois  |  

Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has invested $3 million, paid in Lumens, in the Settle Network, a Latin American digital assets settlement network facilitating payments and exchange. The investment is described as boosting stablecoin usage with a “world’s first” stablecoin exchange Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive… Read More

December 22, 2020 @ 3:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has publicly posted the complaint charging Ripple with the sale of an unregistered security. Including in the enforcement action are Christian Larsen, the company’s co-founder, executive chairman of its board, and former CEO; and Bradley Garlinghouse, the company’s current… Read More

December 22, 2020 @ 12:09 pm By JD Alois  |  

To issue securities under Reg CF (Regulation Crowdfunding), a platform must either be a FINRA regulated funding portal or a broker-dealer. In this sector of online capital formation, both types of regulated entities issue securities under this rule. Periodically, we re-visit the number of FINRA… Read More

December 22, 2020 @ 10:48 am By JD Alois  |  

Brickowner, a property investment platform, has selected Kenneth Green as Head of Compliance, according to a note from the Proptech. Green is a former Barclays executive with over 10 years of experience providing compliance and risk advice to financial services firms. Green said he is… Read More

December 22, 2020 @ 8:38 am By JD Alois  |  

Ripple has posted a response to a Wells Notice received by the blockchain firm. A Wells Notice is a document sent to an entity or individual giving notice of a pending enforcement action following an investigation by the securities regulator. Yesterday, it was reported that… Read More

December 21, 2020 @ 9:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

Ripple, the creator of XRP the third-largest crypto by market cap of over $22 billion, is the target of a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement action. Rumors have been circulating for some time now that Ripple had received a Wells Notice – an indication… Read More

December 21, 2020 @ 8:45 pm By JD Alois  |  

Digital investment platform Robinhood has slashed its margin rate in half from 5% to 2.5%. The margin rate is the interest paid by account holders when they borrow against assets held in an account. Typically, a brokerage account holder is allowed to borrow up to… Read More

December 21, 2020 @ 7:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accepted an offer to settle from ShipChain, a company that apparently raised $27.5 million in an initial coin offering (ICO) for SHIP tokens. The SEC states that ShipChain is a private company that was engaged in developing a… Read More

December 21, 2020 @ 2:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

Very Good Security has raised $60 million in Series C funding led by Vertex Ventures US with participation from existing investors, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Goldman Sachs Growth (GS Growth). About a year ago, VGS raised $35 million in a Series B round. The… Read More