CrowdCrypto Newsletter

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• This week, the House Financial Services subcommittee reviewed initial coin offerings with the leaders of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Enforcement Division. Representative Brad Sherman was quoted as saying "You are beginning to do something on initial coin offerings. I would have hoped you would have done more. I hope you shut it all down … It will be interesting to find out what barriers you face in doing that.” However, other representatives remained optimistic about cryptocurrency and the potential the new technology may bring.
• The U.S. Justice Department has opened an investigation into crypto price manipulation. DOJ prosecutors are working in partnership with the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission to probe the matter, which includes investigations into fake trading and spoofing by traders and exchanges.

• San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has hired a former federal prosecutor appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as its general counsel, reportedly in preparation for the potential ramping-up of regulatory measures. Kraken's CEO Jesse Powell was recently in the news for sharply criticizing the New York Attorney General's probe into cryptocurrencies.
• The Crypto Fam, a group of crypto traders and researchers, are claiming that a series of coincidental events, including the simultaneous launch of two Bitcoin futures markets, were in fact purposefully coordinated to drive the price of Bitcoin down after it hit its all-time high near $20,000. 
• tZero, the Overstock subsidiary that is an alternative trading system for cryptocurrency and token, has entered into a letter of intent with BOX Digital Markets to launch a security token exchange. The exchange plans to go live for trading in Q3 of this year.

• ???? We're focusing on UK news this week as the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney expressed that he isn't opposed to a central bank digital currency (CBDC) after sharply criticizing cryptocurrency as a whole in February of this year. Earlier this month, the Bank of England published a working paper about the risks associated with CBDCs and found that issuing a CBDC would not impact private credit total liquidity provision to the economy.
• ?? In less hopeful news, authorities in the UK opened 24 investigations into cryptocurrency businesses over lack of compliance with financial regulations. Investigations were initiated in order to "determine whether they might be carrying on regulated activities that require [regulatory] authorization."

• Kickstart Hong Kong Fintech Week 2018 with the North American Roadshow Event in New York City. Led by Charles d'Haussy, Head of Fintech at Invest Hong Kong, this event will provide an update on the latest developments in Hong Kong's financial technology ecosystem, and opportunities in AI, Blockchain, Wealthtech and beyond.
• Check out this webinar concerning global ICO regulation hosted by Coindesk and featuring speakers from across the industry on May 31st at 10AM!
• The Future of Asset-backed Tokenization + Blockchain event is taking place this week at Rise NYC and features Hamza Choudhry and Tony Zheng of Xiwatt.io presenting an overview of asset-backed tokenization and how its role is evolving in different industries.

• ???The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155) was signed this week with most news outlets focusing on the rollback of strict Dodd-Frank restrictions; however, buried deep in the bill was a facelift for Regulation A+. Prior to this act, Reg A+ rules prohibited companies from using the exemption if it is subject to SEC reporting requirements under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act. This means any company listed on a national exchange was prohibited from participating in an Reg A+ raise. However, with the passage of S. 2155, reporting companies can now utilize Reg A+, and the bill also reduces the reporting requirements for companies completing Reg A+ Tier 2 offerings.