Strategy

August 13, 2020 @ 10:48 am By Therese Torris  |  

Rotem Shneor, Ph.D., and two colleagues, Liang Zhao, and Bjørn-Tore Flåten, are publishing “Advances in Crowdfunding – Research and Practice,” a 500-page compendium of articles by 30 contributors, mostly academic researchers, about everything you ever wanted to know about crowdfunding across business models, sectors, and… Read More

August 7, 2020 @ 5:00 pm By Andrew Corn  |  

A shark is never your friend, even if he or she happens to be carrying big bags of money. After all, sharks eat people.  They do this literally in the ocean and figuratively in shark tank competitions. Best case: they invest in your deal at… Read More

July 27, 2020 @ 11:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The UK’s Fintech sector is the largest in Europe. It managed to secure $4.9 billion in total investments last year, across 359 different deals. There also appears to be some sort of consistent or coherent Fintech Sector Strategy for Saudi Arabia, and also a strategy… Read More

July 18, 2020 @ 7:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Gina DeCorla, a Senior Analyst for the Boston-based Informa Financial Intelligence, a company that helps financial institutions make informed decisions and take decisive action, has argued that credit unions do not need to partner with Fintech firms in order to survive. DeCorla notes that the… Read More

July 15, 2020 @ 11:57 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

David Bouchoucha from BNP Paribas’ asset management division has argued that private debt and real assets could potentially offer good opportunities to investors during the COVID-19 outbreak. Bouchoucha noted that these options can be attractive because private debt and real assets have proven to be… Read More

July 10, 2020 @ 12:00 pm By Peter Azu  |  

Almost every startup company will need some sort of external funding source to get going, but navigating the UK funding world can be quite difficult. Not only are there a lot of options that can seem almost identical, but there are many requirements and rules… Read More

June 29, 2020 @ 8:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bitcoin and distributed systems expert Andreas Antonopoulos recently acknowledged that decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms allow users to earn passively by using their cryptocurrency holdings. Antonopoulos, who mainly supports developments related to the Bitcoin (BTC) protocol, argued that DeFi is one of the few ways to… Read More

June 27, 2020 @ 11:41 am By Dr. Alexander Shkolnik  |  

Less than 9 hours after launching its Reg CF campaign on StartEngine in early January 2020, LiquidPiston, a developer of compact, powerful, efficient combustion engines, met its goal of $1.07 million and continued to oversubscribe its account by several million dollars. When a raise is… Read More

June 2, 2020 @ 9:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange (BitMEX), one of the largest cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges in the world, says that they “no longer think that dated volatility-related bets are an effective way to protect portfolios because they are now too expensive.” THe BitMEX team stated: “We believe that inflation… Read More

May 10, 2020 @ 10:00 pm By Dror Futter  |  

  Buried in the model Series A Certificate of Incorporation of the National Venture Capital Association is the following notation: This Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation includes a sample “pay-to-play” provision, pursuant to which Preferred Stock investors are penalized if they fail to invest… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 9:30 am By JD Alois  |  

  A report conducted by crypto research firm Diar calls crypto trading on derivative exchanges “more akin to gambling than sustainable trading strategies.” Ironically, the report was paid for by crypto derivatives exchange ZUBR. The report states that Bitcoin liquidations on popular derivatives exchanges have… Read More

April 29, 2020 @ 6:30 pm By Trilliam Jeong  |  

What happens when a business is forced to try something new amid a crisis? Usually a lot of pain and a lot of failed attempts. But today’s capital market players may have it easy. While major Wall Street banks and asset managers are being forced… Read More

April 27, 2020 @ 7:30 am By Dror Futter  |  

  If your venture is confronting a down round, you should not wear it as a badge of shame. Even in normal times, few ventures make an uninterrupted march up and to the right on the valuation curve. More importantly, if you are doing a… Read More

April 22, 2020 @ 7:30 pm By Michael Burtov  |  

It’s no secret that there has always been a disconnect between the Venture Capital (VC) industry and the Startups that they fund. VCs are the embodiment of old school funding and their investments have, until recently, been the judge, jury, and executioner for countless innovation… Read More

April 18, 2020 @ 4:48 pm By Marcie Terman  |  

The heady days of a booming token sales market driven by FOMO are long gone. Firms looking to raise money on the blockchain in 2020 are faced with a far more cautious investor base, and with good reason. A high percentage of early tokens failed—… Read More

April 15, 2020 @ 3:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Special Purpose Vehicles or “SPVs” have long been requested by FINRA regulated platforms participating in the Reg CF sector of crowdfunding. Under current rules, SPVs are not allowed to be utilized. This may soon change as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed enabling… Read More

April 11, 2020 @ 5:00 pm By Ben DiScipio  |  

Earlier this month, The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a set of amendments to the exemptive framework under the Securities Act of 1933. This includes a notable update to Reg CF – increasing the funding cap from its current $1.07 million to $5 million…. Read More

April 9, 2020 @ 4:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday (April 8, 2020), the US Department of Homeland Security issued an alert – warning consumers about COVID-19 related scams. The joint statement actually included the Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) due to the depth of the… Read More

April 2, 2020 @ 12:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

Peer to peer lending research firm 4thWay is out with a short note on the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the P2P industry.  According to 4thWay, a minority of investors are selling their loans due to the affiliated risk of the outbreak. The… Read More

March 24, 2020 @ 7:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

CrowdStreet is one of a group of real estate crowdfunding platforms that got in early and appears to have established a sustainable model. Founded to democratize investment opportunity in commercial real estate, CrowdStreet provides direct access to a range of vetted, institutional-quality commercial real estate… Read More