CrowdCrypto Newsletter

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• Last Wednesday, the SEC landed another blow to bitcoin ETFs, rejecting eight more applications. All was not lost, however, as three of the rulings were stayed as the SEC has decided to review the orders of rejection. To explain the reversal, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce tweeted “the Commission (Chairman and Commissioners) delegates some tasks to its staff.  When the staff acts in such cases, it acts on behalf of the Commission. The Commission may review the staff's action, as will now happen here.” (CNBC, Bitcoinist, Twitter)

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• North Korea plans to host an international crypto conference in October, reportedly hoping to gain access to technology to evade sanctions imposed upon the hermit kingdom (CoinGeek)

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• A New York state judge permanently banned a NY-based crypto promoter who allegedly scammed investors by offering trading advice in exchange for crypto. The action was kicked off by the CFTC in January when they charged the promoter with fraud and misappropriation of funds (NullTX)

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• In other NY news, a crypto mining company plans to use the power generated by the Valatie Falls in Northern New York to run their mining farm in its entirety, after reports surfaced earlier this year that the New York State Public Service Commission was permitting power authorities to upcharge crypto mining businesses (CCN)

There was a fair amount of news about security tokens this week, and we couldn’t relegate it to the sidelines, so we're featuring some of our favorite stories and big headlines about this emerging class of securities here:

• We always like to start with a refresher on the difference between ICOs and STOs 

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• The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Exchange are developing a secure platform for the sale of tokenized securities, working with Deloitte, Nasdaq, and tech firm Anquan to create a Delivery versus Payment platform that can simultaneously transact securities assets and the funds for payment (Coindesk)

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• OKEx, the Hong Kong digital assets exchange, is joining forces with SharesPost Security Token Network to increase global trading of security tokens (Crowdfund Insider)

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• Security token platform Polymath and V Stock Transfer, a registrar and stock transfer firm, have joined together to facilitate the transfer and registration of security tokens (Crowdfund Insider)

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• CrowdEngine and Aboveboard have also partnered to make the launch of a security token more efficient, with CrowdEngine running the offering and Aboveboard dealing with post-issuance token management (Crowdfund Insider)

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• One more partnership to note: Securitize, the platform that allows assets to be tokenized, and SharesPost, an alternative trading system, have partnered up, which allows for issuers using Securitize to access the SharePost marketplaces to sell their tokenized securities (Crowdfund Insider)

• Self-regulatory body Virtual Commodity Association (VCA), created by the Winklevoss twins, added some high profile exchanges (including Bittrex and Bitstamp) in recent weeks in efforts to enhance and legitimize the self-regulation attempts of the organization (Bitcoin Magazine)

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• The Binance Labs Incubation Project has been launched to encourage the growth of cryptocurrency startups, offering $500K for a 10% stake of each startup, with access to technical assistance, crypto professionals, and mentorship along the way (Bitcoinist)

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• tZero filed an updated Form D, highlighting the closing of the security token offering which raised $134M, including a Reg S offering for foreign investors (Crowdfund Insider)

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• The New York Times reviews how the crypto crash may have impacted some investors, including vitriolic statements from those who may also believe that “crypto is a crock” (NYTimes) 

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• China continues cracking down on cryptocurrency today, blocking access to over 120 digital currency exchanges that are hosted offshore amidst a continuous push towards eliminating “illegal” fundraising activities (Bitcoin Magazine)

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• Venezuela continues its economic freefall, with the central bank revealing an Android application that allows citizens to calculate the new value of the crypto-backed sovereign bolivar currency in real time (Bitcoinist)

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• Hosted at the luxurious Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay outside of San Francisco, the next iteration of the Crypto Finance Conference features speakers and panels surrounding risk management, tax implications, regulatory discussion, and other hot topics. September 5th-7th, Half Moon Bay, CA

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• Token Fest is heading to Boston this September! While featuring three separate agendas for general discussion, institutional investing and blockchain enterprise, Token Fest also boasts a robust list of prominent speakers that you can check out here. September 13th- 14th, Boston, MA

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• StartEngine's Summit on Tokenizing the World arrives on October 19th in Santa Monica, CA, featuring industry professionals exploring why the movement towards tokenized securities and alternative assets on the blockchain has the potential to revolutionize the world's financial markets. Tickets can be found here!

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• Looking for more events in the cryptosphere? Check out our updated event calendar here!

• Indiegogo, the popular crowdfunding site, announced the sale of tokens on the blockchain for accredited investors to buy shares in the St. Regis Aspen Resort, the first offering of its type (Silicon Angle)

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• Europe’s leading crowdfunding platform Seedrs has announced a partnership with US-based platform Republic, offering opportunities for UK issuers to raise money in the United States (Finextra)

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• Last week, multiple reports surfaced stating that the High Times IPO would not, in fact, be directly accepting cryptocurrency as payment, despite claims to the contrary earlier in the month. We ourselves reported on this in last week’s newsletter. However, Prime Trust, the SEC-qualified custodian facilitating the offering, explained to us the unique way in which their service is enabling owners of cryptocurrency to invest in the High Times IPO. Prime Trust can recieve a variety of assets from customers, including BTC and ETH, which are then converted to USD and placed into the escrow account of the securities offering they are investing in; thus, High Times (and other issuers) only accept USD into escrow, regardless of how an investor makes that happen. We were really excited to learn more about this opportunity for investors and are looking forward to more offerings like this in the future!