Opinion

September 6, 2017 @ 4:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Initial Coin Offering (ICO) market is going through a turbulent period of change and regulation. Following an incredible rise of the new form of raising capital online, regulators around the world are pumping their rule making breaks to slow down cryptocurrency based securities offerings…. Read More

September 1, 2017 @ 3:46 pm By AdaPia d'Errico  |  

Modern Portfolio Theory is based on the idea that certain types of investment risk can be mitigated through a strategic pattern of diversification and asset allocation. Diversification is important because it spreads risk across multiple types of investments within a single portfolio. By diversifying into… Read More

September 1, 2017 @ 12:11 pm By Barry James  |  

Crowdfunding is about to enter a new and more powerful phase. Having become ensnared in a tangle of aging regulation designed for a disconnected, opaque world of fast-talking strangers Crowdfunding – in all it’s forms but especially Equity (ECF) – has yet to live up… Read More

August 31, 2017 @ 5:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

Over the past several years, traditional financial services firms have thrown shade at alternative finance platforms by labeling them “Shadow Finance.” This oblique reference to Fintech firms seeking to disrupt and dethrone old school banks is standard banter on the various financial news networks. Even… Read More

August 30, 2017 @ 11:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

Here is an interesting factoid, recently discovered. The ASX, or Australian Securities Exchange, the country’s primary market for trading securities is killing it in Initial Public Offerings in comparison to many of its global cousins. In fact, when you compare the ASX to some of… Read More

August 30, 2017 @ 3:48 pm By Dara Albright  |  

On Friday, August 18, 2017, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSSE) made IPO history by becoming the world’s largest Reg A+ IPO, raising $30M at a pre-money valuation of $120M, and the first Reg A+ to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market, Nasdaq’s… Read More

August 29, 2017 @ 12:50 pm By Niels Turfboer  |  

Sites like Expedia and Booking.com have transformed the travel industry; can comparison sites do the same for financial services? By now we are all familiar with travel comparison sites like Expedia and Booking.com. Plug in your details and the computer will come up with a selection of options –… Read More

August 28, 2017 @ 3:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the powerful House Financial Services Committee, published a letter last week directed toward thes Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Representative Waters asked the Chairman to hold at least one public hearing on the application by… Read More

August 26, 2017 @ 1:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

We all know that Floyd Mayweather stands to make a killing in his fight with the 29 year old mixed martial arts pro Conor McGregor. But will he make a “$hit T$n” of money in this upcoming Initial Coin Offering? The Mayweather – McGregor fight… Read More

August 23, 2017 @ 7:24 am By Swati Chataverdi  |  

Imagine if the going rate for your iPad 2 was $100 trillion. Apart from costing five times the GDP of the United States, such a device would be almost impossible to manufacture in a sustainable manner. In the 1940s, however, the technology needed to power… Read More

August 21, 2017 @ 8:00 am By Jor Law  |  

So you were ready to do an initial coin offering (ICO), and then the Securities Exchange Commission released an investigative report concluding that DAO tokens were securities.  Seasoned securities attorneys have always known that token sales could implicate securities laws if the tokens were treated… Read More

August 20, 2017 @ 10:01 am By Martin Graham  |  

Narrowly looking only at a company’s published financial accounts when investing in it could prove to be a costly mistake. Every company is also about people, and every company is only as good as the people who embody its mission. Quantitative assessment of a company… Read More

August 18, 2017 @ 9:49 am By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this month the Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) fired off a counter salvo in the legal battle regarding the OCC Fintech Charter. The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) launched an attack against the OCC this past spring. Many Fintech industry participants… Read More

August 17, 2017 @ 11:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

Singapore has worked hard to gain, and retain, the crown of Asian Fintech Hub and you can guarantee it won’t give it up without a fight. There are several countries that are in the race. Recently both Australia and Hong Kong have staked a claim… Read More

August 16, 2017 @ 2:31 pm By Amy Pearl  |  

  “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead, Anthropologist This quote is often used to nudge small groups of activists into increased optimism. To remind us that sweeping… Read More

August 14, 2017 @ 1:14 pm By JD Alois  |  

The regulatory environment continues to evolve for investment crowdfunding. While many people may have heard of the various federal exemptions that allow non-public companies to sell securities online (Reg D 506c, Reg A+ and Reg CF) most people are probably unaware of the fact that… Read More

August 13, 2017 @ 9:50 pm By JD Alois  |  

  This one has been out there for a couple of weeks but it is simply too good to pass up. Fred Wilson co-founder of Union Square Ventures who is kind of a VC rock star having backed some of the biggest tech names around…. Read More

August 10, 2017 @ 10:00 pm By AdaPia d'Errico  |  

Real estate investing is on the rise again. Online real estate investing is quickly becoming the preferred method of investing for many people. Forbes reported earlier this year that real estate crowdfunding was a $3.5 billion industry in 2016, up from $1 billion in 2014…. Read More

August 9, 2017 @ 3:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last month PwC and the Crowdfunding Center partnered on a report regarding women and crowdfunding. Referencing data collected by the Crowdfunding Center that analyzed 450,000 rewards based crowdfunding campaigns, the document entitled “Women Unbound: Crowdfunding – Unleashing Female Entrepreneurial Potential,” showed that women-led campaigns reached their… Read More

August 8, 2017 @ 12:42 pm By Timothy Li  |  

Familiar Faces This is the second year that I travelled to China for the LangDi FinTech Conference in Shanghai. What a difference a year makes? Last year, the conference had a massive showing of over 1,300 attendees. This year, the conference nearly doubled to 2,400… Read More