Feb 7th, 2018 at the Harvard Club of New York
Sherwood Neiss, is a Principal at Crowdfund Capital Advisors and a Partner at Crowd Capital Ventures. He is an expert at building successful businesses.
Blaine McLaughlin is the Chief Operating Officer of VIA Folio, an innovative IPO, private and alternative investment platform that makes it easy for online platforms, issuers, investors, brokers and advisors to engage with IPOs, private and alternative debt and equity offerings.
Georgia P. Quinn is the CEO and co-founder of iDisclose, an adaptive web-based application that enables entrepreneurs to prepare customized institutional grade private placement
Sara Hanks, co-founder, and CEO of CrowdCheck, is an attorney with over 30 years of experience in the corporate and securities field.
By Paul Niederer, Founder Raiseworth. (Here is a post from 2015 when I started pushing for Crowdfunding to be moved to the Blockchain) If I go back to 2008, in the very early days of Equity Crowdfunding, the ASSOB platform has already been operating for around four years. This meant there were plenty of learnings in place even before any other equity platforms had started. There are parallels here with ICO’s as in the early days many people that approached us to raise capital on ASSOB had not much more than an idea or a sketch on paper. We learnt as the years went by that the existing regulatory structure was not detailed enough to protect investors so we put in place the ASSOB compliance framework. This stood the test of time as 300 odd raises later no evidence of fraud has emerged. This included an “offer document” not dissimilar to the “White Papers” that set out all aspects of the raise including: OPPORTUNITY KEY DETAILS KEY INVESTOR HIGHLIGHTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ABOUT THE COMPANY CORPORATE OBJECTIVES COMPETITION & RISK ABOUT THIS OFFER HOW TO APPLY FOR SHARES OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE STRATEGIC GROWTH PLAN USE OF FUNDS DIRECTORS DECLARATION DISCLAIMER GLOSSARY OF TERMS This was not […]
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 (10:00 AM) – Committee on Financial Services Hearing: “Examining the SEC’s Agenda, ICO’s Crowdfunding, Operations, and Budget”
By Navroop Sahdev Centre for Blockchain Technologies, University College London, UK Centre d’Économie de l’Université Paris-Nord, France June 2017 Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. The Advent of Crowdfunding 3. Market design and Liquidity Considerations for CFE Trading on the Blockchain 3.1. Liquidity and Price Discovery 3.2. A game of Information 3.3. Asset Servicing and Voting 3.4. Market Making versus Tokenization 3.5. The impact of Transparent Holdings 4. Concluding remarks 5. Endnotes 6. References CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT Abstract Blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin, promises to be nothing less than Internet 2.0. The financial services industry, in particular, is preparing for the disruption blockchain/distributed ledger technology promises to cause. In the current business environment, the majority of startups and small businesses have to look for alternative sources of funding given that ‘going public’ is increasingly expensive. The crowdfunding space has seen tremendous growth as an alternative way to raise capital by businesses. However, these crowdfunded shares cannot be traded for 7 – 10 years on average on any given platform in the U.S. currently. To build a trading platform on the blockchain which is completely P2P, immutable, fully transparent and low-cost presents some key design issues. […]
By: Sherwood Neiss and Jason Best, Principals Crowdfund Capital Advisors, LLC Into the second year of Regulation Crowdfunding there are now over 475 companies that have filed offering documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $1,070,000 from their customers, communities, friends and family. But in which industries are these investors most interested in deploying their capital? The good news for companies considering using Regulation Crowdfunding, is that these online investors have a diverse appetite. While software/gaming application companies receive the most commitments, breweries, entertainment companies, personal transportation vehicles, restaurants and personal services (i.e. fitness training, veterinary, grooming, etc) aren’t far behind. They key data points for potential issuers to understand are: 1) How much money do you need to raise for your business in relation to the average amount raised for your industry? 2) Where is the crowd is engaged in deals and dollars? Meaning is there enough interest in your business (industry) to crowdfund. And 3) what is the crowd’s average check size – to determine how much you can realistically raise from your network compared with what you need? At Crowdfund Capital Advisors, we track all Regulation Crowdfunding offerings across the […]
by Brandon Raatikka According to FactRight’s tracking, the SEC qualified 21 Reg A+ Tier 2 offerings in the second quarter of 2017, maintaining a brisk pace by the standards of Reg A+’s relatively short history. Approximately 45% of the 96 Tier 2 offerings qualified since late 2015 (not later withdrawn or used for merger purposes) have been qualified in just the first half of this year. Three issuers made headlines in June 2017, when each listed common equity (that had been previously issued under Regulation A offerings) on a national securities exchange: Myomo, Inc. (NYSE: MYO), Adomani, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADOM), and ShiftPixy, Inc. (Nasdaq: PIXY). In the wake of successful public listings, it will be interesting to see whether a growing proportion of issuers will seek to use Regulation A as a stepping stone to becoming a fully public company. Interact with FactRight’s database through the charts below to glean additional insights about the state of the Regulation A space through the second quarter of 2017. The charts below are dynamic; if you click on a single data point in any chart, it will filter the data displayed on the sidebar at left and in the remaining charts. (For instance, if you click […]
By Trudy-Anne McLeary, Associate, Corporate and Finance | Benjamin T. Brickner, Associate, Corporate and Finance In an investigative report and investor bulletin, the SEC concludes that offers and sales of cryptocurrency coins and tokens may be subject to federal securities laws. On July 25, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) released an investigative report with important implications for issuers and sponsors of initial coin offerings (ICOs) that raise funds for cryptocurrency ventures. The report, prompted by the recent proliferation of such activity, concluded that coins offered to purchasers in ICOs constitute securities regulated by the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act). As a result, absent an exemption, such offerings must be registered with the Commission, similar to other public offerings. The press release accompanying the report notably quotes the new Commission chairman and the new heads of the Corporation Finance and Enforcement divisions. This combined statement gives the report unusual weight and makes clear to Commission Staff that its contents describe senior officials’ current thinking on cryptocurrency regulation. Background In early 2015, The DAO, an unincorporated association, organized an IPO-style offering in which investors were offered DAO Tokens in exchange for Ether, a cryptocurrency […]
Crowdfund Beat News Wire, SEC issued an investigative report stating, “tokens offered and sold by a ‘virtual’ organization known as ‘The DAO’ were securities and therefore subject to the federal securities laws.” U.S. Securities Laws May Apply to Offers, Sales, and Trading of Interests in Virtual Organizations FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2017-131 Washington D.C., July 25, 2017— The Securities and Exchange Commission issued an investigative report today cautioning market participants that offers and sales of digital assets by “virtual” organizations are subject to the requirements of the federal securities laws. Such offers and sales, conducted by organizations using distributed ledger or blockchain technology, have been referred to, among other things, as “Initial Coin Offerings” or “Token Sales.” Whether a particular investment transaction involves the offer or sale of a security – regardless of the terminology or technology used – will depend on the facts and circumstances, including the economic realities of the transaction. The SEC’s Report of Investigation found that tokens offered and sold by a “virtual” organization known as “The DAO” were securities and therefore subject to the federal securities laws. The Report confirms that issues of distributed ledger or blockchain technology-based securities must register offers and sales of such securities unless a valid exemption applies. Those participating in unregistered offerings also […]
With tech titans the most valuable companies on the planet, the notion of self-regulation is no longer appropriate or fit for purpose. Is now the time for governments to step in to protect consumers and ensure a more competitive environment? The role of the technology... Read More
The post The Time Has Come to Regulate the Tech Titans: A Tiered Approach to Regulation in Favour of Competition, Innovation and Consumer Rights appeared first on Crowdfund Insider.
A report in Ibena from last week indicates that the US government is confiscating Bitcoins held by Iranians and the confiscation is ongoing. According to Sepehr Mohammadi from the Iranian Blockchain Community, the US has seized 500 bitcoins or more. In May of this year,... Read More
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Last week the subcommittee on Monetary Policy, part of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, held a hearing entitled “The Future of Money: Digital Currency.” This is not the first Congressional committee to tackle this emerging sector of Fintech and there will certainly be many more... Read More
The post Event Organizer and VC Alon Goren Invites Congressman Sherman to Debate his Negative Stance on Cryptocurrency appeared first on Crowdfund Insider.
JPMorgan was in the news this week for a move than can only be described as crypto positive. A patent filed by JPM some months ago has just percolated up on the US Patent database. According to the filing JPM is seeking “Systems and methods... Read More
The post JPMorgan Joins List of Firms Filing Patents for Blockchain appeared first on Crowdfund Insider.
British Pearl, a property crowdfunding platform offering both debt and equity investments, is reporting a £7 million investment led by Lord Stanley Fink. British Pearl says the investment is indicative of a resilient property market even as Brexit looms. Lord Stanley Fink , has been engaged... Read More
The post Backed by Lord Stanley Fink, British Pearl Raises £7 Million Funding Round for Debt & Equity Property Platform appeared first on Crowdfund Insider.
Online real estate agency eMoov announced it is closing its latest Crowdcube campaign earlier than originally planned. The funding round launched at the end of June and quickly secured its initial £1 million funding target in less than 24 hours. It has now surpassed more than... Read More
The post Update: Emoov Surpasses £1.7 Million During the Final Days on Crowdcube appeared first on Crowdfund Insider.
Even, a U.S.-based personal finance platform, announced this week it secured $40 million through its latest round of funding, which was led by Keith Rabois of Khosla Ventures, with participation from Valar Ventures, Allen & Company, Harrison Metal, Ron Conway, Silicon Valley Bank, and BCVP.... Read More
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The Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a report on crypto-assets, including cryptocurrency and blockchain based securities, last week. The document is being presented to the G20. The document is a byproduct of the G20 meeting which took place in Buenos Aires in March. The member... Read More
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The emergence of cryptocurrency and initial coin offerings has helped to bring Switzerland back into the lime light when it comes to financial services. Once a noted haven for “numbered” bank accounts and strict anonymity rules, the Swiss banking industry has dimmed in recent years... Read More
The post Report: Switzerland Struggles to Maintain Crypto Prominence as Banks Turn Away from Emerging Sector appeared first on Crowdfund Insider.
Chinese Fintech Enterprises Raised ¥230 billion (USD $ 2.64 billion) in the First Half of the Year The integration of technology and finance has become a major trend in the development of the financial industry. The investment enthusiasm of the capital market for financial technology... Read More
The post China: WeiyangX Fintech Review appeared first on Crowdfund Insider.
