Tagged: perspective

David Weild: The Collapse of the Small IPO is Undermining Entrepreneurship, Tokenization May Help Fix the Problem

Last week Crowdfund Insider attended the KoreSummit in Miami – a security token focused event. The opening presentation was delivered by David Weild, a former Vice Chairman of NASDAQ and now CEO of his own firm Weild & Co. Weild, a staunch proponent of the… Read More

CEO of Sowefund: French Equity Crowdfunding is Not in Decline

Recently, the French Crowdfunding Association (Financement Participatif France or FPF) published their annual crowdfunding barometer. The report indicated that alternative finance continues to grow in France but when you separate equity crowdfunding, this segment indicates a decline. Crowdfund Insider published an article on the FPF… Read More

The Gig Economy: Embedding Freelance Workers into Modern Lending Practices

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Recent disruption in financial services has been driven by several factors – technologically savvy and connected customers, tighter government regulations, aggressive new Fintech market entrants and more. However, another potentially huge disruptor has been bubbling below the surface for several years now and is finally… Read More

Gender Bias Contributes to Blocking Female Founders Out of Investment & Venture Capital. We Need to Fix This.

The world of business equity raising is still dominated by men. Melinda Gates wrote in ReCode back in 2017:  “We like to think that venture capital is driven by the power of good ideas. But by the numbers, it’s men who have the keys.”  Gates argued that… Read More

There are 46 FINRA Regulated Reg CF Portals. In 2018 $109.3 Million was Raised Using this Security Exemption

Periodically, Crowdfund Insider reviews the status of Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) the smallest crowdfunding exemption in the US. Reg CF has been in use since May of 2016. According to a recent report published by Crowdfund Capital Advisors (CCA), $194 million has been raised in… Read More

Tokenization: The Meaning of “Equity Securities” Under 
Section 12(g) – It’s Broader than You May Think

2017 saw a roaring ICO market, with billions of dollars raised by blockchain-based digital asset issuers selling “utility tokens” in initial coin offerings. As the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) began cracking down on token issuers for failing to follow securities laws, in late… Read More

European Crowdfunding Service Provider Regime Eagerly Awaited in Europe

The European Parliament Elections are looming in May – and so far, there is no progress in sight regarding the European Crowdfunding Service Provider Regime. It remains unclear whether the Romanian Finance Minister TEODOROVICI will make the conclusion of the negotiation process a priority. The… Read More

Alternative Finance in France Grows Driven by Crowdlending While Equity Crowdfunding Continues its Decline

Baromètre du Crowdfunding en France 2018 Recently the French Crowdfunding Association (Financement Participatif France or FPF) published their annual report on alternative finance in France. The report, produced in partnership with KPMG, is now in its third year and provides an important snapshot of sector growth for online… Read More

The House Financial Services Committee: What Should Fintech Expect from Chair Maxine Waters?

The House Financial Services Committee is one of the most powerful Congressional committees on the Hill. The Committee oversees not only the entire financial services industry but its policy portfolio also includes other overlapping responsibilities such as Housing, entrepreneurship and international financial organizations. Last election… Read More

Farewell Venture Capital: The Shift to Crowdfunding and Other Sources for Scaling Startups

A successful startup needs successful venture capital (VC) backing, right? Well, not always. The status quo of startup funding is beginning to shift as smaller, more nimble outfits backed by crowdfunding campaigns have proven that they, too, can reach stratospheric heights. Moreover, the founders of… Read More

Crowdcube Has Completed 100 raises over £1 Million, 32 of which were in 2018

Yesterday, Crowdfund Insider covered the annual Deal report from Beauhurst. The research targeting equity investment in the UK provides a fascinating snapshot of the progress of capital formation for promising young firms in Great Britain. The authors note that while overall investment declined during 2018,… Read More

The STATE of Investment Crowdfunding: How Intrastate Crowdfunding is Beating REG-CF on the Cost of Capital (and how to fix it)

There’s a Fintech revolution happening in Minnesota. Since passing its own version of intrastate crowdfunding legislation in 2015 and quietly opening its doors in 2016 the state has taken the regional lead in raising more money for more businesses under its “MNvest” exemption as well… Read More

Breaking Down Kik’s Fight Against the SEC and their $100 Million ICO

Kik Interactive Inc. (“Kik”), a company based in Canada, raised close to $100 million selling Kin tokens during the initial coin offering (ICO) boom of 2017, making it one of the most successful ICOs. It first sold tokens to accredited investors through a SAFT (Simple… Read More

Chamber of Digital Commerce Calls on the US Government, Including Congress, to Formulate a Blockchain Action Plan

The Chamber of Digital Commerce is calling on the US to act when it comes to policy regarding blockchain (or distributed ledger technology – DLT) and digital assets. The Chamber has long been at the forefront of the policy debate when it comes to cryptocurrency… Read More

JP Morgan: Cryptocurrencies a Dystopian Hedge at Best

JP Morgan analysts have written that the main value of cryptocurrencies would be in situations of “dystopia” where investors have, “lost faith in all major reserve assets (dollar, euro, yen, gold) and in the payments system,” Business Insider reports. According to “a note dated January 24th,”… Read More

Doug Ellenoff Comments on FINRA’s Priorities Letter & Intent to Target Online Securities Platforms, Points a Finger at ICOs

FINRA recently posted their annual Risk Monitoring and Examination Priorities Letter. As part of the letter, FINRA stated they would be evaluating how firms conduct suitability analyses as well as communications and AML requirements for both Reg D 506c and Reg A+ offerings. These two exemptions… Read More

Smart Regulation Will Help Blockchain. We Need to Get Involved

We often hear that “code is law”. It means that all transactions happening on decentralized networks are final and immutable. It does not mean, however, that code derives from the law. The legal frameworks we operate within are not God-given. They are social agreements that… Read More

ICOs 2.0: Security Tokens Set to Take Centre Stage

Make way for the next generation of blockchain crowdfunding Alongside the rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) saw explosive growth in 2017, with more than 1,500 ICOs raising a combined total of over $28 billion in the last two years alone…. Read More

Reg CF Closes the Year at $161.5 Million in Crowdfunding. Total for 2018 was Flat versus Year Prior

The StartEngine Index tracking Reg CF crowdfunding issuers was published a few days ago. According to StartEngine, total successful offerings since the securities exemption was launched in May of 2016 now stands at $161.5 million. So how does 2018 compare to the year prior? Excellent question…. Read More

Security Token Offerings: A Cautionary Tale of Reg D Offerings

In 2012 the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama. It required the SEC to write rules and issue studies on capital formation, disclosure, and registration requirements. There were three main areas that the investment community took notice… Read More

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