November 19, 2018 @ 8:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced enforcement actions against two initial coin offerings (ICOs): Paragon (Paragon Coin Inc.) and AirFox (CarrierEQ Inc. dba Airfox). As the SEC recounted in their Administrative filing: Airfox: “Between August and October 2017, AirFox offered and then… Read More

October 23, 2018 @ 12:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) hit the popular media screen during 2017 with stories of outrageous sums of money being raised online – sometimes under questionable circumstances. In total, according to EY, $4.1 billion was raised for the top ICOs during 2017. In 2018, that number… Read More

October 18, 2018 @ 10:00 am By JD Alois  |  

iDisclose, a Legaltech firm that currently provides streamlined solutions to complete both Reg D and Reg CF securities offerings, will soon add Reg A+ to its list of services. iDisclose has announced a new partnership with Ketsal Consulting, a firm comprised of former big law… Read More

September 25, 2018 @ 9:00 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Association of Online Investment Platforms Seeks to Boost Trust, Educate Investors & Help Businesses in Need of Funding The investment crowdfunding industry in the United States was launched following the signing of the JOBS Act of 2012. This bi-partisan legislation enabled online platforms to promote… Read More

July 23, 2018 @ 5:03 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a letter forwarded to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton, a group of Fintech leaders demanded the Commission to increase Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) from the current $1.07 million max amount to $20 million – a substantial increase to current rules. The… 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

January 26, 2018 @ 9:44 am By JD Alois  |  

  This past week both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission came out with strong statements warning the exuberant initial coin offering industry (ICO) that regulators will no longer tolerate the flouting of existing securities law. ICOs have increased rapidly… Read More

January 23, 2018 @ 2:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

iDisclose, a Legaltech company which assists companies with legal documents including Form D and Form C, has announced that it has named Michael Knox as its new CEO. Knox takes over the leadership position from Georgia Quinn, the long time co-founder and CEO. Knox has been with… Read More

January 7, 2018 @ 4:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

The regulatory drums are getting louder when it comes to initial coin offerings (ICOs). The first shot across the virtual bow was the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Report addressing the DAO and the fact it was an unregistered security. Since last July, there have been… Read More

November 6, 2017 @ 12:17 pm By Samuel Guzik  |  

As a securities lawyer and a sometimes advocate for smart regulation of capital formation, I must confess: When it comes to addressing the current state of the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) marketplace, I believe that market participants face a crisis of growing proportions. No Hype… Read More

October 26, 2017 @ 11:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pumped their regulatory brakes on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) earlier this year. Pointing to the DAO debacle, the Feds said if a tokenized offering is a security it will be regulated, end of story. This  statement was a long… Read More

October 20, 2017 @ 10:06 am By JD Alois  |  

iDisclose, a New York based legal technology platform, has announced that Michael Knox, President of private equity firm, Gold Ridge Asset Management, has joined the management team. Simultaneously, iDisclose announced that Knox has made an investment in the company. Specific details of the investment were not… Read More

July 29, 2017 @ 9:26 am By Therese Torris  |  

French firms have formed an association to foster the sustainable growth of the cryptocurrency investment sector and weigh in on its governance. Among other things, they hope to build on progressive regulations such as the French decree that allowed crowdlending securities called minibons to be… Read More

July 25, 2017 @ 5:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an investigative report on the fast-growing Initial Coin Offering (ICO) market that will squelch the ICO market, at least in the US. The report, embedded below, was specifically directed at the DAO or Decentralized Autonomous Organization that launched… Read More

July 15, 2017 @ 1:50 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Initial Coin Offering (ICO) space has been rocketing recently. It seems that every few days the next hot ICO is raising incredible sums of money from global investors. ICOs have plenty of supporters and detractors with most followers advising caution in this largely unregulated… Read More

May 16, 2017 @ 10:36 am By JD Alois  |  

Doug Ellenoff is one of the most recognizable names in the crowdfunding space. A founding partner of the Manhattan law firm of Ellenoff, Grossman and Schole, LLP, he has spent the last few years acting as a JOBS Act champion and crowdfunding advocate both publicly… Read More

February 3, 2017 @ 11:39 am By JD Alois  |  

The Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA), the research arm of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has partnered with New York University’s Salomon Center on a half-day conference reviewing investment crowdfunding. The event, which is open to the public, will be held at… Read More

January 19, 2017 @ 10:59 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Fig Publishing announced on Thursday it secured $7.84 million during a Series A Funding Round, which was led by Spark Capital and Greycroft with participation from Resolute Ventures, NextView Ventures, and Draft Ventures. Fig, which was founded in 2015, allows accredited and non-accredited investors to… Read More

December 5, 2016 @ 2:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

Utilization of the updated securities exemption colloquially called Reg A+ continues to gain traction. A form of crowdfunding that has been described as a Mini-IPO type offering due to the scaled disclosure, reduced cost and the option to immediately trade shares, Reg A+ is an… Read More

November 15, 2016 @ 4:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

The SEC has had a busy week. First, the Commission held its first Fintech Forum, as suggested by Commissioner Piwowar, indicating its growing interest in financial technology disruption. This morning, SEC Chair Mary Jo White testified before the House Financial Services Committee regarding the SEC… Read More