Tagged: perspective

April 12, 2021 @ 12:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this month, Coinbase announced that its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list its shares on the Nasdaq, under ticker symbol COIN, had been approved. The public listing of Coinbase will thus represent a seminal event in the digital asset industry…. Read More

April 11, 2021 @ 3:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

Several months ago, FinCEN submitted for publication in the Federal Register its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding certain transactions that involve virtual currency or digital assets. FinCEN or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is a bureau of the US Department of the Treasury that… Read More

March 30, 2021 @ 11:00 am By Ariel Glasner and Amit Roitman  |  

President Joe Biden’s young administration is poised to deliver heightened – and perhaps unprecedented – regulatory scrutiny of the exploding Fintech industry.  The groundwork for a more active regulatory regime has been set over the course of the past decade.  Prior administrations harnessed existing enforcement… Read More

March 25, 2021 @ 9:35 am By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday it was reported that the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had provisionally decided to not allow the merger between Seedrs and Crowdcube. The two securities crowdfunding platforms combined were seen as dominating online capital formation for early-stage ventures to the point it would… Read More

March 23, 2021 @ 12:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

Lawrence C. Lee is a top merger and acquisitions attorney operating in the Fintech sector. A partner at Baker McKenzie and based in Palo Alto, Lee was previously in-house counsel for Coinbase where he led strategic transactions and investments. More recently, Lee and his team… Read More

March 22, 2021 @ 1:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

Like many people, I use several traditional banks but also have several digital-only accounts. A combination of necessity and inertia has led me to be a customer of incumbent banks for years. Like many people, I am looking at multiple options in the digital banking… Read More

March 22, 2021 @ 7:57 am By Lee Schneider  |  

CryptoUK issued a clarion call to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK financial and anti-money laundering (AML) regulator, demanding that FCA grant licenses as prescribed by AML rules.  Too many applications have gone unanswered since those rules came into effect over one year ago. … Read More

March 18, 2021 @ 11:44 am By JD Alois  |  

Bank of America has published a report on Bitcoin and it is swimming against the tide as the bank throws shade at the world’s most popular crypto as just a vehicle for speculation. The story has been picked up by many outlets at a time… Read More

March 16, 2021 @ 8:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

It is hard not to know something about the booming Non-Fungible Token or NFT market. Following Beeple’s sale of a digital work of art “Everydays—The First 5000 Days,” auctioned by Christie’s for a whopping $69 million, NFTs officially became a “thing” with non-stop coverage on… Read More

March 15, 2021 @ 3:00 pm By Lee Schneider  |  

Once the Coinbase registration statement becomes effective and Coinbase shares trade publicly, a sea change will have occurred in the US without most people recognizing it.  Part of that unacknowledged difference will be the broader awareness of blockchain and cryptoasset trading it brings. It is… Read More

March 14, 2021 @ 12:50 pm By JD Alois  |  

Financial technology or Fintech has been growing at a rapid pace for years now. Starting with online capital formation, today a growing number of sophisticated financial services are going through a much-needed. digital transformation. This can mean better/cheaper access to services for more consumers and… Read More

March 3, 2021 @ 2:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak presented the budget for 2021. Obviously, the government policy on spending comes at a difficult time as COVID-19 is still very much with us yet glimmers of relief are showing as the vaccine takes hold. The Chancellor… Read More

February 22, 2021 @ 6:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last year, the European Union approved pan-European crowdfunding rules that will apply to all member states thus finally offering a harmonized approach to online capital formation. Crowdfunding advocates and European platforms had long recognized the unnecessary friction intrinsic to raising capital based on national regulations… Read More

February 19, 2021 @ 10:44 am By Oliver Woolley  |  

Social media-hyped stocks took a beating on 18th February, with shares of game retailer GameStop (NYSE:GME) closing at around $40. The share price dove from an all-time high of $483 earlier this month, ending a wild ride for amateur investors still holding their position. The… Read More

February 17, 2021 @ 11:01 am By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, JOFF Fintech (NASD:JOFFU) filed an 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in regards to its initial public offering (IPO) that floated on the Nasdaq on February 9th. The SPAC indicated that it had raised $414 million, including warrants, in a hunt for… Read More

February 16, 2021 @ 7:41 pm By Lee A. Schneider  |  

Fellow DeFi adherents, let’s slow down on the outrage about GameStop (NYSE:GME) and the traditional finance system (TradFi).   Blockchain and DeFi offer lots of advantages over TradFi, but TradFi is not completely broken and DeFi is not necessarily vastly superior.  Two core characteristics make… Read More

February 12, 2021 @ 9:37 am By JD Alois  |  

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is going all-in on Bitcoin as he announced via Twitter that he has requested the city manager to research a vendor to facilitate Bitcoin payments as well as paying employees in Bitcoin. Crypto insiders quickly embraced the move with Anthony Pompliano… Read More

February 5, 2021 @ 1:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

Recently, the SEC’s Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation (OASB) shared a presentation outlining the performance of securities exemptions during 2020. The presentation reviewed the utilization of Reg D, Reg A+, and Reg CF as these are the main avenues to raise… Read More

February 2, 2021 @ 4:00 pm By Lee A. Schneider  |  

  Let me start with a confession: I am not smart enough to be a tax lawyer, certainly not a US tax lawyer.  The intricacies of the US tax code defy my brain’s attempts to systematize a coherent taxonomy.  The tax code is too complex… Read More

January 29, 2021 @ 2:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Last week it was reported that KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) is planning to introduce a version of its digital banking platform to serve the needs of healthcare workers. The new digital bank solution may be rolled out on March 30, 2021, which is National Doctors’ Day. The… Read More