CrowdCrypto Newsletter

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• Following last week's joint statement in the Wall Street Journal, members of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will meet to discuss the role each commission will take in the oversight of cryptocurrency trading.
   
• The SEC continues to focus heavily on the regulation, or lack thereof, of cryptocurrencies, advising that mutual fund sponsors should not register funds that plan to invest in cryptocurrency until a multitude of questions are answered.

• Overstock.com has been accepting Bitcoin since 2014, and their block chain subsidiary tZero acquired 24% of StockCross Financial Services this week as they move towards becoming the first fully regulated security token trading platform.
   
• Explore the cause behind Thursday's crypto crash in Matthew Leising's review of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's subpoenas of Betaine, a crypto exchange, and Tether, a coin that claims to be pegged to the US Dollar.

• Shortly after Nigeria's central bank categorized trading cryptocurrencies as gambling, the Nigerian Senate reportedly began exploring ways to regulate the use and trade of bitcoin within the country.
   
• Last week, the International Digital Asset Exchange Council was launched with a goal of the adoption of international standards for the tokenization of assets. In addition, the Council hopes to develop industry-wide regulatory practices, and to distinguish Blockchain 3.0 cryptocurrencies that are tied to quantifiable, recognizable assets from legacy blockchain-based cryptocurrencies.

• Polycon18:  A securities token event hosted by Grit Capital and Polymath in the Bahamas! February 28-March 3.
   
• Join other investors, entrepreneurs, attorneys and accountants at the Crypto Invest Summit in Los Angeles on April 30th to May 2nd. Key speakers include venture capitalists Tim Draper and Adam Draper, NBA superstar Baron Davis, and Michael Terpin, founder of the first angel network for digital currency startups.
   
• At Blockchain Xplore on Tuesday, February 27, dive deeper into the potential connections to be made between blockchain, cryptocurrency and advertising. Host MetaX has partnered with Microsoft to sponsor this event.

• Ajay Yadav, the founder and CEO of Roomi, discusses how a campaign not only raises capital but creates a community of "brand ambassadors" that increases company visibility and provides a constant feedback loop for improvement. Yadav and Roomi (a peer-to-peer housing and roommate marketplace) launched a campaign on Republic even after raising $17 million to raise brand awareness and attract a community of brand ambassadors.
   
• Blockchain and Crowdfunding: A Match Made in Heaven-Best Meta is a blockchain-based platform where eSports celebrities can start their own digital token offerings. The purchased coins can then be spent in any part of the platform to sponsor different projects and eSport celebrities.
   
• Real estate crowdfunding platform DiversyFund surpassed their $1 million Series A goal and plan to use these funds to launch an ICO, with hopes that coin users will invest in DiversyFund and will back the currency with real-estate assets.

• The Israeli crowdfunding platform Our Crowd has raised over $650 million dollars for startups since 2013. The company, who is also developing a seed stage incubator, expects to raise over $1 billion dollars in 2018.
   
• FinTech Australia has called upon the Australian Parliament to approve pending private company equity crowdfunding legislation. The new legislation would allow Australian businesses to raise up to $5 million a year from investors that are capped at $10,000 per investment.