Opinion

October 15, 2020 @ 12:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the US Department of Justice published a white paper, crafted by the Cyber-Digital Task Force, that outlines its approach to enforcement when it comes to digital assets (or cryptoassets). US Attorney General William Barr issued the following statement on the framework: “Cryptocurrency is… Read More

October 14, 2020 @ 9:00 am By Emma Channing  |  

Back in December, I wrote a piece for Coindesk’s Year in Review 2019 entitled “Security Token Offerings Are (Finally) Set for Takeoff in 2020”.  This was before word of COVID-19 became widespread and before many of the cataclysmic events of 2020 were even imaginable.  Thus… Read More

October 13, 2020 @ 3:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the UK Financial Conduct Authority announced a ban on the sale of crypto derivatives and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) that for retail investors. The ban, which goes into effect on January 6, 2021, has no impact on spot trading of cryptoassets. Some crypto-industry insiders criticized… Read More

October 12, 2020 @ 8:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms are increasingly being used by Fintech platform developers to make more intelligent or informed decisions regarding key processes. This may include using AI to identify potentially fraudulent transactions, determining the creditworthiness of a borrower applying for a… Read More

October 12, 2020 @ 9:00 am By Therese Torris  |  

How did the pandemic impact the P2P crowdfunding sector, the part of alternative fundraising financed exclusively by individual contributors and retail investors? To answer this question, the French crowdfunding association Financement Participatif France (FPF) together with the state bank, Banque des territoires commissioned a study…. Read More

October 11, 2020 @ 10:45 am By JD Alois  |  

Last week, LendingClub (NYSE:LC) filed an 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicating its intent to stop offering retail notes by the end of the year. The leading marketplace lender in the US started as a peer to peer lender but over the… Read More

October 9, 2020 @ 8:31 am By Omar Faridi  |  

UK-based Fintech Payhawk, a corporate expense management solution provider that secured €3 million in seed funding in March 2020, notes that “the ticket to ride the rollercoaster of hype in any emerging technology is expensive.” Hristo Borisov, the co-founder and CEO at Payhawk who’s focused… Read More

October 8, 2020 @ 11:30 am By Brian Farber, General Counsel, Securitize  |  

  Tokenization Provides Endless Possibilities for Teams and their Fans. Professional sports have been deeply stitched into the fabric of American society for well over a century, providing a daily source of joy (or pain if you’re a Mets fan), and serving as a refuge… Read More

October 6, 2020 @ 6:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Joel Edgerton, COO at bitFlyer, a crypto-asset exchange that’s licensed to operate in Japan, the United States, and Europe, recently shared his views about the court case and charges brought against the Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange (BitMEX), a leading digital asset derivatives exchange. Edgerton also shared… Read More

October 6, 2020 @ 2:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the European Central Bank published a report published addressing the possibility of the issuance of a digital euro. The report was prepared by the Eurosystem High-Level Task Force on central bank digital currency (CBDC) and approved by the Governing Council thus representing he… Read More

October 6, 2020 @ 1:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a ban on cryptoasset derivative products for retail investors. The decision came after an extended consultation pertaining to the issue. The ban did not impact spot trading for cryptoassets like Bitcoin or Ethereum. The FCA outlined… Read More

October 6, 2020 @ 9:40 am By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today, the European Union approved crowdfunding rules that will apply to all member states thus finally offering a pan-European approach to online capital formation while removing much of the friction in the current ecosystem that suffers from regulatory fragmentation. Industry participants, along with industry… Read More

October 5, 2020 @ 6:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, BitMEX (Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange), a top crypto/crypto-derivatives exchange that is operated by HDR Global Trading Limited, a Republic of Seychelles incorporated entity, was hit with a civil enforcement action emanating from the Commodity Futures Trading Future Commission (CFTC). Simultaneously, a criminal lawsuit by… Read More

October 3, 2020 @ 8:12 am By JD Alois  |  

This past week, Kik, a company that raised over $100 million in an initial coin offering (ICO), lost a long legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The courts determined that Kik had raised capital in an unregistered securities offering thus transgressing securities… Read More

October 1, 2020 @ 9:25 pm By Timothy Li  |  

Hey Fintech enthusiasts, Tim here. The last two days of LendIt just flew by. I have to say that I had made the most amount of meetings and connections during this virtual event than the usual in-person event. Why? I teased that why virtual Lendit… Read More

September 30, 2020 @ 1:14 pm By Timothy Li  |  

Tim here, I gotta be honest with you, I’ve attended a handful of virtual conferences this year and LendIt Fintech USA 2020 by far took the top prize home in my books. The production value is top-notch, from the studio look and feel to the… Read More

September 28, 2020 @ 10:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

A Discussion with Franck Guiader of Gide 255 Last week, the European Commission adopted a Digital Finance Package along with legislative proposals on cryptoassets (digital assets). The move had been widely telegraphed by the Commission and, in fact, a draft of the crypto regulation was leaked… Read More

September 28, 2020 @ 8:12 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Brian Armstrong, CEO at Coinbase, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has noted that there have been many challenging events in the world this year, including the COVID-19 pandemic, social unrest, west coast wildfires, and other really difficult situations. Armstrong wrote in a blog post that everyone… Read More

September 26, 2020 @ 5:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Jay Hao, CEO at OKEx, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, notes that it seems everyone in the blockchain space is talking about carrying out a “fair launch.” He goes on to ask, “what exactly is ‘fair launch’ and is it a better model for token distribution?”… Read More

September 25, 2020 @ 5:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

  Rodrigo Bernardine, Co-founder at Digibee Inc, a company that aims to connect enterprises to the world 10x faster with “No Code” Integration methods, claims that Open Banking is a revolution that could streamline or enhance the existing financial system. He notes that banks require… Read More