Politics, Legal & Regulation

January 7, 2019 @ 10:57 am By JD Alois  |  

The state of Ohio approved crowdfunding legislation last month but then it died in the Senate, according to several sources. During an end of the year legislative blitz, the state of Ohio passed a law entitled “OhioInvests offerings” (SB 268) but at the last minute… Read More

January 7, 2019 @ 9:20 am By JD Alois  |  

Happy New Year. Filed on January 3rd, the busy law firm of Levi & Korsinsky filed a class action lawsuit against Nano cryptocurrency and failed crypto exchange Bitgrail along with its founder Francisco “the Bomber” Firano. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of plaintiff James… Read More

January 6, 2019 @ 5:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

Late last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo nominated Linda Lacewell to become Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services. Lacewell will replace Maria T. Vullo who announced on December 19th her intent to depart the agency after three years. Vullo will… Read More

January 5, 2019 @ 4:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

Lithuania wants to be the leading Fintech hub in Europe. Beginning in 2013, the small Baltic nation decided to take action and become one of the EU’s “hottest destinations for Fintech.” Mantas Katinas, MD of Invest Lithuania – the public entity leading the Fintech charge in… Read More

January 4, 2019 @ 5:22 pm By Cali Haan  |  

In order to align itself with the fifth EU money laundering directive and reinforce existing rules, the Irish Cabinet has passed a new bill targeting money laundering, “including the use of cryptocurrencies in funding terrorism,” according to a release from the Irish Department of Justice. The… Read More

January 4, 2019 @ 3:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

On December 24th, the French Government issued a decree (Décret n°2018-1226 du 24 décembre 2018) outlining the utilization of blockchain for securities. Specifically, for the “use of a shared electronic recording device for the representation and transmission of financial securities and for the issue and sale… Read More

January 3, 2019 @ 10:04 am By JD Alois  |  

Announced in a press release this past week, the State of New York has launched a cryptocurrency task force. The state is claiming this group will be the first of its kind to “study how to properly regulate, define and use cryptocurrency.” The task force is… Read More

January 3, 2019 @ 7:44 am By Cali Haan  |  

From taxing and curtailing miners to receiving business tax payments or administering government benefits; from raising municipal funds to courting “the blockchain sector,” regions in the US are adopting different responses to manage the cryptocurrency phenomenon, Raconteur reports. When the price of Bitcoin exploded 4X… Read More

January 2, 2019 @ 8:39 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Georgia State Senator Michael Williams has been charged with insurance fraud and making a false report of a crime after police and an insurance company debunked claims made by Williams last May relating to the reported theft from his Gainesville campaign office of $300 000 worth… Read More

January 2, 2019 @ 7:30 am By Cali Haan  |  

Dr. Philip Frost, a biotech billionaire accused of “fleecing investors…(in) lucrative market manipulation schemes” has agreed to pay $5.5 million in penalties to the American Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), CNBC reports. Frost is a business associate of Barry Honig, the accused ringleader int he alleged… Read More

January 2, 2019 @ 7:18 am By Cali Haan  |  

A freedom-of-information request filed by The Sunday Telegraph shows that four-fifths of 49 companies investigated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) resulted in warnings about those companies being issued to the public. A total of 67 investigations into crypto operations have been launched by the FCA. 18 investigations are… Read More

December 31, 2018 @ 7:00 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Iran’s Secretary of the Criminal Content Definition Task Force, Javad Javidnia, has warned Iranian’s to stay away from the Telegram messaging app’s new crypto token, “Gram,” Tehran Times (TT) reports. According to a TT paraphrase, Javidnia has told the public that: “…any cooperation with Telegram messaging app(‘s)…launch (of)… Read More

December 31, 2018 @ 7:00 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

As the year comes to a close, let’s get the scoop on Cryptocurrency predictions for 2019! Crowdfund Insider reached out to the Fintech and crypto community for its thoughts on how the sector will change during the next year. What disruptions, innovations, regulation, and partnerships can… Read More

December 30, 2018 @ 4:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

The European Commission (EC) recently announced a European investment plan designed to boost access to capital to Spanish SMEs and “midcap investment projects.” The plan is for the European Investment Bank Group and BBVA to provide €360 million for these smaller businesses. A €60 million “synthetic… Read More

December 30, 2018 @ 3:30 pm By Onki Kwan  |  

Recently, the SEC has charged the gamut of ICO players with violating the securities laws, including companies raising money with ICOs, an exchange, and people promoting ICOs. None of the recent cases contained allegations of fraud and in some cases, the companies attempted to comply… Read More

December 30, 2018 @ 10:33 am By JD Alois  |  

As part of the Capital Markets Union (CMU), updated rules for securitization will commence on January 1st, 2019 in the European Union (EU). The new “harmonized” rules are designed to streamline the process of financial services firms to leverage securitization to boost access to capital…. Read More

December 30, 2018 @ 9:45 am By Cali Haan  |  

A Taiwanese businessperson named Yang has been accused of stealing NT$ 100 million (about $3 million USD) in electricity from landlords at 17 locations where he was running surreptitious cryptocurrency mines across the country’s capital city of Taipei, Yahoo Taiwan reports. The man, who may… Read More

December 29, 2018 @ 6:37 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Florida law firm Silver Miller is making quite a name for itself as it files yet another class action lawsuit against a crypto Ponzi scheme called “Coin Signals” allegedly pervaded by Jeremy Spence of New York, Jaime Cruz-Herrera of New Jersey and associates. According to a… Read More

December 29, 2018 @ 9:05 am By Cali Haan  |  

Craig Wright, an Australian businessperson and Bitcoin enthusiast who claims to be the elusive inventor of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, has lost a bid to have a lawsuit filed against him in Florida courts dismissed. The suit claims that Wright absconded with between 300 000 and… Read More

December 28, 2018 @ 10:54 am By Therese Torris  |  

Ever since the Brexit, France has aimed to establish itself as the Continental European alternative to the London Fintech hub. The goal is ambitious. France is home to many a worldwide leading financial institution such as global Nr. 1 insurer AXA and Nr 1 non-Chinese… Read More