CrowdCrypto Newsletter

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• ???The SEC crackdown on crypto continued this week, with the regulatory body issuing 80 subpoenas for cryptocurrency firms, including the $100M cryptofund of TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington. It is reported that cryptocurrency subpoenas were issued from the New York, Boston and San Francisco SEC offices. The probe is rumored to last at least a year, with Arrington stating that investor interest is slowly moving to higher-quality projects from other countries due to the "frozen" nature of US crypto regulation.
• Contributing to heightened regulatory speculation, the SEC released a statement this week directly targeting crypto exchanges. From the statement: “If a platform offers trading of digital assets that are securities and operates as an “exchange,” as defined by the federal securities laws, then the platform must register with the SEC as a national securities exchange or be exempt from registration.”
• Following news of subpoenas and the SEC statement on exchanges mentioned above, crypto exchange Bittrex claimed Wednesday that their token review process ensures that all tokens listed on the exchange are compliant with US laws and are not considered securities.
• ??The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the regulatory body tasked with enforcing money laundering laws, made public a letter this week claiming that in their view anyone who sells tokens is an unregistered money transfer business. With this designation, token sales are subject to the regulations of the Bank Secrecy Act and are required to register with the federal government and collect more comprehensive information about their customers.

• Credit Suisse Group AG and ING Groep NV completed a lending transaction totaling more than $30M using blockchain-based software on March 1. The transaction was completed using a blockchain platform from R3 and a version of this application should be market-ready by the end of 2018.
• On March 19, the United States Marshals are auctioning more than $25M in Bitcoin that have been confiscated through various criminal, civil and administrative cases. Interested bidders must deposit at least $200,000 and meet certain registration specifications prior to the auction.
• The Praetorian Group registered their $75M initial coin offering with the SEC this week as they believe it is a security offering subject to SEC regulation. If accepted, this will be the first ever SEC-registered initial coin offering and will have 15M PAX tokens offered in the ICO to accredited investors.

• ?? Cryptocurrency regulation in Russia will begin by July 1 of this year according to an official government statement released this week. This announcement comes a week after a federal court lifted a ban on the distribution of educational materials concerning cryptocurrency in the country.
• ?? More controversy surrounding the Venezuelan-government backed Petro coin this week, as the Venezuelan National Assembly declared the coin to be unconstitutional. The use of the coin by businesses and retirement accounts will reportedly be mandatory, according to the Assembly, and this comes in direct violation of the Venezuelan constitution. In addition, members of the Assembly claim that backing the cryptocurrency with oil reserves as collateral is illegal and strongly criticize the move towards national crypto in the midst of a financial crisis.
• ?? Japanese authorities penalized seven cryptocurrency exchanges this week for using inadequate cybersecurity practices and limited anti-money laundering procedures. Two exchanges were hit with a month-long ban and others are forced to follow a business improvement order administered by Japan's Financial Services Agency.
• ?? The first blockchain-backed presidential election was held this week in Sierra Leone and was supported by Swiss blockchain startup Agora. The company claims that the use of blockchain technology in the electoral process can reduce fraud, costs, and can increase the rate in which results are made public. 

• Check out Polymath's overview of PolyCon, a securities token conference, which was held last week in the Bahamas.
• TokenFest: A two-day networking event focused on tokenization. San Francisco, March 15 & 16.
• ???Crypto Invest Summit: Join industry leaders at the largest crypto expo space in the world. Los Angeles, Apr. 30-May 2. I'll be there!
• StartEngine ICO 2.0 Spring Summit: Join Brock Pierce, chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, and Lou Kerner, partner at CryptoOracle.io as they dive into new SEC regulatory speculation and what to expect next. Santa Monica, Apr. 20.
• Wall Street and the Internet of Money: Discuss crypto assets and their impacts on financial markets with leading experts in blockchain, investment funds, and regulation. NYC, March 22. 
• Computational Law and Blockchain Festival-New York Node: Join pioneers of blockchain with tech, legal, and regulatory backgrounds-free tickets moving quickly! Brooklyn, March 17 & 18. I'll be there!

• US-based crowdfunding platform Republic reports it had one of its biggest weeks ever, backed by its second crypto offer of Witnet, a protocol that connects smart contracts to any online data source. Witnet is issuing a Token Debt Payable by Asset created by the Republic team and is an equity crowdfunding-specific security designed to protect participants engaging in equity crowdfunding.
• Crowdfunding platform StraightUp offers a new innovative real estate crowdfunding opportunity and sets itself apart from other real estate crowdfunding platforms by engaging in investment alongside individual backers and requiring developers with properties on StraightUp to maintain an equity stake until completion of the projects.
• Attorney Amit Singh compiled data from 2017's Reg CF and Reg A+ issuers with the hope that issuers begin to recognize the alternative options to traditional IPOs. He found that there were 514 Form C filings in 2017 and 122 Reg A+ offerings and highlighted information about the costs and potential returns when conducting both types of offerings. 
• ???? The European Commission published a set of rules this week in hopes to facilitate more investment crowdfunding across the bloc, including a proposal for the creation of a EU regime that allows for crowdfunding platforms to provide services across the EU Single Market. For the entirety of the FAQs published by the EU commission, click here.