Opinion

March 19, 2020 @ 12:12 am By JD Alois  |  

Finnest, an Austria based Fintech that provides debt capital to small and medium-sized firms via a crowdfunding platform is out with a note on the Coronavirus. The online lender says that now is the time for digital platforms to show strength during the COVID-19 induced… Read More

March 18, 2020 @ 1:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

Towards the end of 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed an update to the definition of an accredited investor. The rule change is part of a broader “concept release” that the SEC has issued to review the exempt offering ecosystem and how this… Read More

March 16, 2020 @ 9:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Recently, the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), the leading securities regulator in France, posted a legal analysis of security tokens or digital securities. The AMF posited that while there remain certain “legal obstacles,” in their opinion national authorities can adapt to these types of… Read More

March 13, 2020 @ 11:36 am By Andrew Mitchell  |  

It is fair to say that Brexit dominated headlines in the final few years of the 2010s. After the UK made the historic decision to forge its own future outside of the European Union [EU], many people and businesses were naturally concerned as to what… Read More

March 12, 2020 @ 7:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

Bitcoin, frequently labeled as an uncorrelated asset providing a safe harbor when more traditional investments, like stocks, have fallen down, has been crushed this week. Similar to just about everything else. Following a recent rise to over $1o,000 per BTC, the world’s most popular crypto… Read More

March 11, 2020 @ 3:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak delivered a speech outlining the UK Budget for 2020. A portion of the speech outlined the Government’s policy moves to mitigate the impact of the Coronavirus – an unexpected exogenous shock to the economy that could… Read More

March 10, 2020 @ 11:51 am By JD Alois  |  

This week the UK Minister of State for Trade Policy Greg Hands MP is in the United States to kick-start free trade agreement negotiations. Long discussed as a possible outcome of the UK’s divorce with Europe, a bilateral trade agreement between the US and the… Read More

March 6, 2020 @ 9:50 am By JD Alois  |  

This week the Securities and Exchange Commission released a proposal to amend multiple securities exemptions. The proposed amendments to the exemption ecosystem may dramatically impact online capital formation for the better. These changes could make it easier for firms to raise money online while helping… Read More

March 5, 2020 @ 3:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed significant changes to the exempt offering framework that should benefit issuers, investors and regulated platforms that facilitate these types of offerings. So far, industry response has been overwhelmingly positive. The proposed amendments will impact Reg CF, Reg… Read More

March 5, 2020 @ 10:44 am By Barry James  |  

CC – UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Britain has up to 2 Million ‘mortgage prisoners’ in increasing financial stress through no fault of their own, a situation created, paradoxically, by bad, outdated regulation.  There have already been 7 attempted suicides in the UK Mortgage Prisoners… Read More

March 4, 2020 @ 8:02 am By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today, Crowdfund Insider reported on the Supreme Court of India’s ruling on cryptocurrency that removed restrictions on virtual currency transactions imposed in April 2018 by the Reserve Bank of India. The ban impeded banks from providing services to entities dealing with cryptocurrencies. Of course,… Read More

March 3, 2020 @ 11:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, Crowdfund Insider reported on the apparent downfall of a once high-profile real estate crowdfunding platform Prodigy Network. In 2019, its founder and CEO Rodrigo Niño said he was stepping aside following reports of a lawsuit affiliated with a project in Chicago. Things recently… Read More

February 29, 2020 @ 6:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Towards the end of 2019, SyndicateRoom was working to revamp their entire investment crowdfunding process – a huge transition. In the past, SyndicateRoom has consistently been recognized for its high-quality individual securities offerings. Every investment listed on the platform was led by a professional investor… Read More

February 29, 2020 @ 10:49 am By JD Alois  |  

Harmoney a leading online lender operating in New Zealand is winding down its peer to peer lending business. This means retail investors will no longer be able to invest in loans originated on the platform. The news was revealed earlier this month in a blog… Read More

February 27, 2020 @ 11:27 am By Reece Mennie  |  

Recent analysis carried out by the National Housing Federation revealed an estimated 8.4 million people in England are living in unaffordable, insecure or unsuitable homes. The same data also shows that the housing crisis is affecting people from across all age groups and in every… Read More

February 24, 2020 @ 1:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last month, Crowdfund Insider reported on two debt-based investment platforms based in Estonia closing their doors leaving investors with many questions and apparently no money. Envestio tweeted that the problem had to do with a “well-planned set of actions aimed to cause significant financial and… Read More

February 24, 2020 @ 7:41 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Christopher Giancarlo, former chairman at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), recently stated that it may be time for the US Federal Reserve to introduce a digital currency. Giancarlo, whose comments came during Yahoo Finance’s On the Move show on February 21, said that… Read More

February 23, 2020 @ 10:00 am By Ilia Obraztsov  |  

Any new blockchain startup needs funding, but where does that all-important juice come from? While venerable entities (let’s not list them, presumably, you know what and who they are) certainly have the means to plank billions into their chosen ventures, they can’t be expected to… Read More

February 20, 2020 @ 5:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

As we have previously reported, Telegram is engaged in a legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in what may be the biggest SEC cryptocurrency case yet.  One the one side, you have Telegram that raised over a billion dollars from a digital… Read More

February 19, 2020 @ 11:02 am By Nick Bhargava  |  

Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed changes to the definition of “accredited investor.” Many issuers and intermediaries hoped the SEC would expand the definition of “accredited investor,” to include qualitative conditions, such as education, or by lowering quantitative thresholds, such as income and… Read More