April 20, 2018 @ 3:01 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Well-known “Bitcoin Maximalist” and despiser of ICO’s (Initial Coin Offerings) Tone Vays has lately been so deluged with idiotic requests to advise on ICO’s that he has updated his LinkedIn profile to the following: “I am NOT interested in your ICO/Token Sale. Please send all requests… Read More

April 15, 2018 @ 1:49 pm By Aziz Bin Zainuddin  |  

2018 has been a miserable year for cryptocurrencies, as prices have dropped by as much as 70% since their highs since the start of the year. The market capitalization of the entire cryptocurrency market fell from a little over $800 billion in January to a… Read More

April 12, 2018 @ 6:43 pm By Marina Evseeva  |  

As recently noted by Omkar Godbole, only two of the top 25 cryptocurrencies, VeChain’s VET token and Binance coin (BNB), saw gains in the first quarter of this year. That fact really gave me pause for thought. Stepping back from the hype and speculation, in… Read More

April 9, 2018 @ 2:35 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

While some fintechers have announced that brick and mortar banks are dead, others are emulating key features of traditional banks. Fintech behemoth PayPal is reportedly rolling out its new innovations that harken back to mainstream brick and mortar banks. According to wsj.com, PayPal has been… Read More

April 8, 2018 @ 12:00 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Musicians are increasingly looking to crypto to secure and boost bottom lines. Korean paper The Chosun Ilbo reported in February that Korean girl band T-ara are working with Australian firm ENTCash to produce a cryptocurrency or token that fans will be able to trade for… Read More

April 7, 2018 @ 6:00 am By Cali Haan  |  

To considerable fanfare, Ethereum inventor Vitalik Buterin proposed a new type of “Decentralized Autonomous” Initial Coin Offering at ethresear.ch on January 5, 2018, a model that would allow investors to vote for the incremental release or refund of investor capital. Although the proposal was received… Read More

April 1, 2018 @ 6:02 am By JD Alois  |  

MailChimp added its name to the growing list of digital services and platforms banning cryptocurrency and initial coin offering promotions this past week. Mailchimp sends over one billion emails every single day sending more list managed emails than anyone (according to the Chimp). Most certainly… Read More

March 27, 2018 @ 11:48 am By JD Alois  |  

For companies that have used Reg CF to raise growth capital online compliance does not stop at the Form C. Issuers must file an annual report type document. If you have an end of year (December 31st) fiscal calendar, and you used Reg CF, the… Read More

March 26, 2018 @ 2:33 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

Investment in the cryptocurrency industry is currently dominated by the use of Simple Agreements for Future Tokens (SAFTs). While SAFTs were a somewhat novel approach when they were introduced, now that cryptocurrency assets have become almost universally deemed “securities” by the SEC, the use of… Read More

March 23, 2018 @ 11:05 am By Erin Hobey  |  

ORCA Alliance, an Open Banking platform designed for cryptocurrency users aims to unite fiat and crypto in a single convenient interface, is taking advantage of the European PSD2 directive. Founded by CEO Natan Avidan, ORCA Alliance aims to give its users the possibility to keep and track… Read More

March 21, 2018 @ 11:50 am By JD Alois  |  

  We recently published an article from John Auckland, from TribeFirst, about HMRC’s new SEIS / EIS guidelines. Since we released this, the crowdfunding platforms met with HMRC to discuss the potential limitations these guidelines might present for companies looking to raise money through crowdfunding, so… Read More

March 16, 2018 @ 8:55 am By David Felsenthal and Jesse Overall  |  

The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly sent a wave of subpoenas and information requests to companies engaged in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). The SEC scrutiny is perhaps not surprising, given that, as Crowdfund Insider writes, “if you invest in an ICO, the play… Read More

March 15, 2018 @ 4:00 pm By John Auckland  |  

HMRC’s new stricter guidelines around their Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme / Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS / EIS) may worry some crowdfunding campaigners, but there is a silver lining. SEIS and EIS, both startup investment tax relief schemes, protect up to 80% of your investment into… 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

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 27, 2018 @ 10:48 am By JD Alois  |  

As we reported yesterday, Circle has acquired cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex for $400 million. Not a small sum. But Poloniex has a small issue it must address soon. It is currently operating as an un-licensed securities exchange. Additional information regarding the acquisition surfaced yesterday that indicated… Read More

February 23, 2018 @ 10:55 am By Joshua Ashley Klayman, Julian Hammar, Shiukay Hung, and Anna Pinedo  |  

The recent and rapid proliferation of cryptocurrency¹ transactions involving retail or “Main Street” customers has left some — including many cryptocurrency platforms serving retail customers — grappling conceptually with the answer to a fundamental question: what constitutes “actual delivery” of cryptocurrency in the eyes of the… Read More

February 19, 2018 @ 2:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

Ethereum (and Solidity for that matter) are far from perfect. While lauded for the ability to create smart contracts that are “immutable”, when something goes wrong and money disappears with no recourse, immutability may be the number one problem. Right? Ethereum is pretty cool, but… Read More

February 15, 2018 @ 6:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

Investment banking is a highly profitable business. Goldman Sachs, perhaps the most prominent investment bank in the world, raked in $32 billion during fiscal 2017 with the majority of this revenue driven specifically by investment banking. Yet arguably, much of the value that is provided… Read More

February 12, 2018 @ 12:00 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Razitall, a phonetic play on Raise-It-All, is a new crowdfunding platform founded with both entrepreneurs and investors in mind. The goal of the New York-based platform is to help entrepreneurs raise the target amount needed during a Reg CF campaign in order to succeed and to help… Read More