Politics, Legal & Regulation

March 7, 2018 @ 11:28 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),  Divisions of Enforcement and Trading and Markets, has published a statement on “online trading platforms,” or cryptocurrency exchanges, that trade in tokens minted by initial coin offerings (ICOs) and digital assets in general. The SEC stated: “The platforms often… Read More

March 7, 2018 @ 7:39 am By JD Alois  |  

CFTC States Until Congress Clarifies  Crypto, the Commission will Consider it Not Legal Tender & Continue to Treat as a Commodity. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has received a preliminary injunction order agains CabbageTech, DBA Coin Drop Markets, and Patrick McDonnell. The CFTC complaint… Read More

March 6, 2018 @ 5:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

The US House of Representatives has just passed a Bill, HR 4768, that will require the US Department of the Treasury, in consultation with various U.S. agencies, to develop a national strategy to combat the financial networks of transnational organized criminals. The Bill passed the… Read More

March 6, 2018 @ 4:18 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

The World Economic Forum announced the creation of a new consortium to strengthen cybersecurity for fintech companies and data aggregators. The consortium’s founding members include global bank Citigroup, insurance company Zurich Insurance Group, fintech lender Kabbage, infotech company Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), and financial infrastructure… Read More

March 5, 2018 @ 6:49 am By JD Alois  |  

Bank Negara Malaysia (the central bank of Malaysia) has published an Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism Policy for Digital Currencies. The document sets out the minimum requirements that a reporting institution must observe to increase the transparency of activities relating to digital currencies, such… Read More

March 4, 2018 @ 6:35 pm By JD Alois  |  

    The very first initial coin offering (ICO) took place in June of 2013 when Mastercoin raised around $5 million in Bitcoin. That was the same year that Title II of the JOBS Act launched allowing general solicitation (SEC lingo for advertising) under Regulation… Read More

March 4, 2018 @ 1:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued another order of trading suspension for a company, HD View 360 (OTC:HDVW) that ostensibly was in talks to “explore and implement” Blockchain technology. The SEC stated: “It appears to the Securities and Exchange Commission that there… Read More

March 4, 2018 @ 12:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last month, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) posted a memo to all staff providing guidance regarding holding and transactions using cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. In brief, the memo from Daniel Davis, General Counsel of the CFTC, said it was ok to invest in crypto –… Read More

March 3, 2018 @ 9:36 am By JD Alois  |  

Techcrunch founder Michael Arrington is on the receiving end of a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding initial coin offerings (ICOs), according to a report from CNBC. Arrington, who departed Techcrunch quite some time ago, is involved in a cryptocurrency fund. Arrington… Read More

March 2, 2018 @ 5:41 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Milken Institute is out with a comprehensive report this week that drills down into existing legislative action by Congress that addresses the emerging Fintech industry. This is the first report of its kind and provides a solid perspective on what Congress has accomplished to… Read More

March 2, 2018 @ 12:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

As reported earlier today, Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, delivered a speech today address the rise of cryptocurrencies and the future of money. In Carney’s opinion, cryptocurrencies are “failing as money.” He outlined his opinion why crypto, including Bitcoin, simply does… Read More

March 2, 2018 @ 10:57 am By JD Alois  |  

As we reported last month, the Swiss financial regulator, the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), published guidelines on initial coin offerings (ICOs). At that time, Mark Branson FINMA CEO explained they were taking a “balanced approach” in helping ICO issuers to navigate the regulatory landscape. Switzerland, more… Read More

March 2, 2018 @ 8:48 am By JD Alois  |  

What is money? In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith defines money by the roles it plays in society, in particular, how well it serves as: –  A store of value with which to transfer purchasing power from today to some future time; –  A… Read More

March 1, 2018 @ 10:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

The French Crowdfunding Association (Financement Participatif or FPF) has asked the French authorities to increase the investment crowdfunding cap to €8 million. Today platforms may raise up to €2.5 million (a bit over USD$ 3million), a level that has been deemed far too low. When crowdfunding rules… Read More

March 1, 2018 @ 12:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

The fact the Securities and Exchange Commission has been issuing subpoenas to initial coin offering (ICOs) issuers has been rumored for quite some time. Recently, multiple publications, including Crowdfund Insider, revealed this fact. The SEC has been warning of this sort of activity for many months… Read More

February 28, 2018 @ 11:35 pm By JD Alois  |  

The environment for initial coin offerings (ICOs) in the US has changed dramatically in the past few months. In July of 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued the DAO report that identified the token offering as a security indicating at least some of the… Read More

February 28, 2018 @ 4:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against Steven J. Muehler, his wife Claudia M. Muehler, his associate Koorosh “Danny” Rahimi and and three companies under control. The SEC enforcement action alleges operating an unregistered broker dealer, facilitating unregistered securities, defrauding small businesses while promising… Read More

February 28, 2018 @ 10:13 am By JD Alois  |  

The Bundesminiserium der Finanzen in Germany (Federal Ministry of Finance) posted a notice yesterday regarding VAT tax treatment of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies. The document, in German, is embedded below.  In brief, the German government will not tax In brief, using Bitcoin as a… Read More

February 28, 2018 @ 9:08 am By JD Alois  |  

Towards the end of last year, Maksim Zaslavskiy was hit with several lawsuits regarding an inital coin offering (ICO) that was deemed an unregistered security by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) along with alleged acts of fraud. The SEC charged Zaslavskiy,  REcoin Group Foundation, DRC World, Diamond Reserve Club, … Read More

February 27, 2018 @ 3:03 pm By JD Alois  |  

Switzerland has become known as a center of excellence for the cryptocurrency industry. In fact, many initial coin offerings (ICO) call Zug, Switzerland home – even if they are not really based there. The Swiss regulators (FINMA) have recognized the emergence of digital currencies as… Read More