CrowdCrypto Newsletter

Please email us your feedback, suggestions, and comments so that we can continue to improve our newsletter based on what's most important to you.

• Another delay for Bitcoin ETFs at the hands of the SEC, this time for the ETF from Van Eck Securities Corp. The SEC is soliciting more feedback from the public even though more than 1,400 letters have already been received, many purportedly supporting the ETF (and others) (BTC Manager)

  ---

• This week the New York State Attorney General’s office released the Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative Report, blasting three major cryptocurrency exchanges (Binance, gate.io, and Kraken) for potentially operating without a license in the state and referring them to the state’s Department of FInancial Services for investigation. However, information for this report was collected via the 34-point questionnaire that was sent out to 14 exchanges, with the three named above being the only exchanges besides Huobi Global Limited that failed to respond (CCN)

  ---

• The 32-page Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative Report can be found here and focused on three main areas, including abusive trading, conflicts of interest amongst the exchanges and a lack of safety measures to prevent fraud (NY Attorney General’s office, BTC Manager)

  ---

• Another Japanese crypto exchange suffered a debilitating hack, losing approximately $60M worth of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and MonaCoin. The licensed exchange Zaif was attacked on September 14 and was forced to accept a $44.5M investment for majority control from Japanese firm Fisco to assist in repaying lost funds due to the hack (Coindesk)

  ---

• Ripple spiked on September 20th, with the price skyrocketing over 64% at some points to place its valuation over Ethereum by over $400M, only to slide back into third place behind Ethereum and Bitcoin while still maintaining overall momentum. No immediate cause was apparent for the jump (CCN)

• Crypto security is a complicated topic, but cryptojacking is up 459% and the reports of crypto hacking are becoming more and more common, so here are five things you need to know about how secure your crypto may (or may not) be (CCN, Forbes)

  ---

• Cryptocurrency miners have moved to the far reaches of New York State as cheap electricity flows via hydropower, even as they’ve experienced higher electricity rates once they’ve registered as crypto miners in these areas (New York Times)

  ---

• More than half of the Bitcoins available are currently held in “whale wallets”, the term given for wallets that contain over 200 Bitcoin, and 42% of those wallets saw no outbound movement during the crypto spike of December 2017, bringing hope to investors around the globe that another peak is on the horizon (BTC Manager)

  ---

• United State Representative Thomas Emmer is back at it again, introducing three new bills supporting blockchain technology and cryptocurrency that continue to foster development and create a safe harbor provision for taxpayers with “forked” digital assets (CoinTelegraph)

  ---

• ?? Hong-Kong based real estate firm Grandshores Technology Group is initiating a fundraise with a goal to raise over $12M to finance a cryptocurrency project developing a stable coin backed by the Japanese Yen (BTC Manager)

  ---

• ?? The Swiss Bankers Association demonstrated they felt the heat of a massive crypto exodus this week as they issued guidelines for Swiss banks to work with crypto startups after many companies moved out of the country after failed attempts to work with traditional banking institutions (Crypto New Media)

  ---

• Join us at the StartEngine Summit on October 19th in Santa Monica, CA! We’re excited to hear more about “Tokenizing the World” with speakers such as former SEC chairman Christopher Cox and Cameron Chell, founder of ICOx and chairman of KODAKOne. Buy tickets here and use code SOSNOW for 20% off! 

  ---

• World Crypto Con takes place in Las Vegas this year and features a variety of panel discussions and presentations on the tokenized world and evolution of blockchain. Securitize will be hosting the Monster Security Token Event inside the conference. Details are available here. October 31-November 2, Aria Hotel and Casino.

• Chris Woodrow is a traditional American investor who founded MovieCoin, a company issuing two tokens in a public presale this month, with one being a utility token and one a security token issued under a Reg D offering. Possession of the security tokens provide ownership in film and television assets, with MovieCoin financing 60 movies using the proceeds from the sale (Forbes)

  ---

• Wondering how to draft your own Security Token Offering white paper? CCN is publishing a two-part tutorial detailing the steps needed to develop a legitimate white paper supporting an STO, with the first part being published this morning (CCN)

  ---

• Recently established US-based tokenized real estate fund, BlockEstate, has partnered with Polymath and CoinList’s ComplyAPI to raise US$50 million from accredited investors in its STO (InvestInBlockchain)

  ---

• The standardization of security tokens could be on the horizon. TokenSoft, a white label token sale platform that offers integrated custody solutions for ICOs, published an Ethereum Improvement Proposal that could establish an Ethereum-based security token standard, potentially allowing for the creation of an “STO explosion” (CryptoSlate)

• Groundfloor, an online lending platform that uses crowdfunding to raise debt for real estate investments, has fundraised $4.2M so far in its 2018 Reg A+ offering. Historically, the platform raised $2M in 2017 with a combination of investors from venture capital firms and non-accredited investors. Its total fundraising proceeds are now at $13.8M (Housing Wire)

  ---

• According to Crowdfund Insider, there are now 44 FINRA approved Reg CF platforms, up from 41 in June! We’re excited to watch this industry grow here at CrowdCrypto News!