January 7, 2018 @ 4:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

The regulatory drums are getting louder when it comes to initial coin offerings (ICOs). The first shot across the virtual bow was the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Report addressing the DAO and the fact it was an unregistered security. Since last July, there have been… Read More

January 6, 2018 @ 12:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Texas State Securities Board has issued an Emergency Cease and Desist Order targeting BiConnect, a UK based cryptocurrency platform. BitConnect is planning a new initial coin offering (ICO) later this month and Texas is stating the tokens are unregistered securities. The Texas regulators say… Read More

January 6, 2018 @ 12:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

While most people in the developed world have access to a fair selection of financial services in the undeveloped world this story is different. In fact, the World Bank estimates that around 2 billion people are underbanked or not banked at all. In many parts… Read More

January 5, 2018 @ 12:53 pm By JD Alois  |  

Coinbase, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, published a post yesterday saying they have not made any decision to add any additional digital assets to either GDAX or Coinbase. The statement by Coinbase effectively squashed rumors that Ripple would soon be listed… Read More

January 5, 2018 @ 12:22 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) says it has noticed an increase in initial coin offerings (ICOs) and the solicitation of the general public – including senior citizens. The cautionary statement by the SC was apparently cased by the forthcoming CopyCashCoin ICO that is scheduled to… Read More

January 5, 2018 @ 11:58 am By JD Alois  |  

HM Treasury appointed Charles Randell CBE as the new Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The appointment commences on April 1st and is for a 5 year term. Randell is currently an external member of the Prudential Regulation Committee of the Bank of England and… Read More

January 5, 2018 @ 10:39 am By JD Alois  |  

Blockchain based identity firm SelfKey has shared that its Pre-Public Sale hit its cap of $15.84 million four days before the scheduled closing date. The public initial coin offering (ICO), is scheduled to kick off on January 14th at 12AM UTC. If you are are… Read More

January 5, 2018 @ 9:45 am By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfunding platform Crowd2Fund has launched a £30 million “institutional fundraise” while opening up the offer to platform investors. According to the company, over 100 site users have already invested £1.5 million in the offer. Reportedly, demand was sufficient enough to open up an additional £8.5… Read More

January 5, 2018 @ 9:18 am By JD Alois  |  

Long Blockchain Corporation (NASDAQ:LBCC) has signed an agreement to purchase 1000 Bitcoin mining machines manufactured by Bitmain.  The hardware, Antminer S9 mining rigs and 1,000 APW3++ PSUs, is expected to arrive this month and will be deployed at a data center in an experienced crypto mining… Read More

January 5, 2018 @ 8:22 am By JD Alois  |  

Long Blockchain Corporation has received approval from NASDAQ to change it’s ticker symbol to “LBCC“.  Previously, the ticker was “LTEA” and more indicative of its prior corporate name “Long Island Iced Tea” corporation. Last month, the company announced its intent to change its name to… Read More

January 4, 2018 @ 9:51 pm By JD Alois  |  

  Ron Suber is one of the best known names in the marketplace lending world and a staunch champion of the future of online lending. For many years, Suber was President of Prosper – a leading platform that targets the consumer lending sector – mainly… Read More

January 4, 2018 @ 12:22 pm By JD Alois  |  

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has published a list of concerns and red flags regarding cryptocurrency investment offers. NASAA is the lobbying group that represents state and provincial securities regulators. Joseph Borg, the Director of the Alabama Securities Commission and current NASAA President… Read More

January 4, 2018 @ 12:09 pm By JD Alois  |  

The IOTA Foundation, the decentralized platform with big ambitions, has formed a new partnership with the International Transportation Innovation Center (ITIC) to build a global alliance of smart mobility testbeds. ITIC’s focus is described as building a global network of open and closed testbeds to… Read More

January 4, 2018 @ 10:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Downing Crowd, the crowdfunding platform affiliated with Downing LLP,  is helping Oakman Bedfordshire Holdings raise £1.82 million in relation to the acquisition of the freehold of The White Hart, a pub restaurant property based in Bedfordshire which is leased to Oakman Inns and Restaurants. The… Read More

January 4, 2018 @ 9:08 am By JD Alois  |  

Merrill Lynch has blocked all of their retail customers from investing in Grayscale’s Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTC: GBTC). This follows a ban on enabling investors from purchasing futures trading on the CBOE and CME. This follows a report from WSJ that quoted an internal memo stating;… Read More

January 4, 2018 @ 8:01 am By JD Alois  |  

Any US based initial coin offering (ICO) that raised a fair amount of money and did not file for a securities exemption should be quite nervous now. Giga Watt, an ICO that raised $20 million last summer, was hit with a class action lawsuit by… Read More

January 4, 2018 @ 7:32 am By JD Alois  |  

CoinLion has just announced their advisory board and it has some interesting names on it. CoinLion has just launched its initial coin offering (ICO) seeking a hard cap of $18 million. The company is preparing to launch a digital assets management platform and exchange. An… Read More

January 3, 2018 @ 1:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

Hindsight is usually 20-20. And there are times when maybe you just want to close your eyes and go back in time. Below is an interesting tweet back that shares some interesting information from the early days of AngelList and Uber, when the ride sharing… Read More

January 3, 2018 @ 10:10 am By JD Alois  |  

Ant Financial, part of tech conglomerate Alibaba, announced its intent to purchase MoneyGram (NASDAQ: MGI)  a year ago. The acquisition would have combined MoneyGram’s money transfer network of 2.4 billion bank and mobile accounts with Alibaba’s fast growing global Fintech presence. MoneyGram is currently active in… Read More

January 3, 2018 @ 9:20 am By JD Alois  |  

A report by Yonhap News says the South Korean government will ban all anonymous transactions in cryptocurrencies as soon as January 20th.  According to the article, only real name bank accounts will be allowed for deposits and transactions on exchanges. Simultaneously, new virtual cryptocurrency accounts… Read More