Opinion

May 11, 2020 @ 9:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

San Francisco has earned a bit of a bad rap the past couple of years. Questionable leadership has led long-time inhabitants to complain about the rising level of crime and the increasing squalor of the city. The high cost of living/rent and California’s reputation as… Read More

May 11, 2020 @ 12:50 pm By JD Alois  |  

It has been widely reported that Paul Tudor Jones is buying Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation apparently picking crypto over the more plebian gold. Jones is a well-known investor and hedge fund manager Tudor Management Corporation that is worth a reported $5 billion or… Read More

May 10, 2020 @ 10:00 pm By Dror Futter  |  

  Buried in the model Series A Certificate of Incorporation of the National Venture Capital Association is the following notation: This Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation includes a sample “pay-to-play” provision, pursuant to which Preferred Stock investors are penalized if they fail to invest… Read More

May 9, 2020 @ 4:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Bitcoin (BTC) halving event, when the pseudonymous cryptocurrency’s supply will be cut in half, is approaching. It should take place on May 11, 2020, which is when 210,000 blocks of BTC transactions will have been processed since the last halving event that took place… Read More

May 5, 2020 @ 10:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, Crowdfund Insider reported on the Securities and Exchange Commission announcing “temporary final rule” streamlining Reg CF (or Regulation Crowdfunding).  In announcing the rule change, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton explained that the action responds to feedback the SEC has received from the Small Business Capital… Read More

May 4, 2020 @ 12:50 pm By Andrés Abumohor  |  

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute substantially to the global economy. They now make up 90% of businesses and 50% of employment worldwide. In emerging markets, SMEs are propelling development by introducing new products, processes, and competition. Although it is difficult to gather and track… Read More

May 1, 2020 @ 9:17 am By JD Alois  |  

May is here meaning spring is emerging for parts of the world. For all of the world, it also means that Bitcoin is on the cusp of the next Halving (or the Halvening). The Bitcoin Halving takes place every four years. This is when the… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 9:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A recent analysis of the top 10,000 Ethereum (ETH) wallet addresses suggests that the world’s second-largest digital asset (by market cap and overall adoption) could potentially see its value increase significantly in the foreseeable future. This, as the blockchain network prepares to transition from proof-of-work… Read More

April 29, 2020 @ 6:30 pm By Trilliam Jeong  |  

What happens when a business is forced to try something new amid a crisis? Usually a lot of pain and a lot of failed attempts. But today’s capital market players may have it easy. While major Wall Street banks and asset managers are being forced… Read More

April 28, 2020 @ 2:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

This is an interesting discussion. Todd H. Baker and Kathryn Judge, both from the Columbia Law School, posted an article earlier this month on banks and Fintechs in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. As most people recall, during the last big financial crisis, policymakers fumbled… Read More

April 28, 2020 @ 10:10 am By JD Alois  |  

Christian Faes is the founder and Chairman of one of the most successful Fintechs in the UK. While there may be better-known names in the Fintech world, LendInvest, a property finance platform, has emerged as a leader not only in the sector of finance it… Read More

April 23, 2020 @ 10:49 am By JD Alois  |  

The Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) in China aims to change the existing problem of the high cost of developing and deploying blockchain applications by providing public blockchain resource environments to developers. According to BSN, just like the internet, the ubiquity of access can greatly reduce… Read More

April 22, 2020 @ 7:30 pm By Michael Burtov  |  

It’s no secret that there has always been a disconnect between the Venture Capital (VC) industry and the Startups that they fund. VCs are the embodiment of old school funding and their investments have, until recently, been the judge, jury, and executioner for countless innovation… Read More

April 22, 2020 @ 3:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, Crowdfund Insider covered the news that LendingClub (NYSE:LC), the largest Fintech consumer lender in the US, was furloughing and eliminating jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis has apparently driven the elimination of 471 individual jobs. Shockingly, LendingClub’s President saw his position eliminated…. Read More

April 22, 2020 @ 10:01 am By JD Alois  |  

Rangewell, a firm that works with UK SMEs and their advisors to help them find, compare, and apply for business finance, has published another 0pen letter directed to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rushi Sunik. Late last month, Rangewell published a different open letter addressing the… Read More

April 20, 2020 @ 9:16 am By JD Alois  |  

In a widely anticipated move, HM Treasury announced a new package of bailout programs for early-stage ventures that did not qualify for programs initially set into place to support the COVID-19 battered economy. There have been profound concerns that younger, entrepreneurial firms that require ongoing… Read More

April 17, 2020 @ 2:53 pm By JD Alois  |  

As has been widely reported, the Paycheck Protection Program – part of the CARES Act that provided SMEs with 2 months of payroll loans that may be forgiven – has run out of money. The widely lauded plan has struggled to distribute the funds as… Read More

April 17, 2020 @ 9:05 am By JD Alois  |  

This is interesting because it is indicative of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally approved Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) investment in Deliveroo. Before the Coronavirus, the investment was not a given as the CMA was “concerned that… Read More

April 16, 2020 @ 12:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

The National Crowdfunding and Fintech Association of Canada (NCFA) has published an open letter demanding the Canadian government to engage and leverage Fintechs to help in the battler against the COVID-19 crisis. Addressed to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, along with several of his Ministers,… Read More

April 15, 2020 @ 3:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Special Purpose Vehicles or “SPVs” have long been requested by FINRA regulated platforms participating in the Reg CF sector of crowdfunding. Under current rules, SPVs are not allowed to be utilized. This may soon change as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed enabling… Read More