Saturday, October 13, 2018

Proceed with caution 🚧

October 13, 2018

'Hundreds' of Startups At Risk After SEC Expands its Crackdown Quietly

Oops, try again

A new investigation by Decrypt Media has revealed that crypto startups are on thin ice with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after the regulator quietly expanded its crackdown.

According to the report, hundreds of crypto and blockchain startups that conducted initial coin offerings have eventually discovered they violated securities laws despite their efforts to comply with regulations.

In response, a handful of the startups that received subpoenas from the financial regulator have rolled over dead and agreed to refund investor money and pay fines rather than attempt to reach legal compliance.

This leaves us with a question: Is the SEC holding back innovation?

"Everyone's holding their breath"

One anonymous attorney close to the matter told Decrypt that even though "everybody's holding their breath" while they wait for new SEC rulings pertaining to cryptocurrencies and ICOs, the SEC will not provide them.

This means the SEC will continue to apply "same laws, the same statutes, the same rules, to stocks and bonds and everything else" despite encountering new technologies and processes.

As the SEC delays the progress of blockchain startups, naturally, they will begin to look elsewhere.

Going, going, gone

Previously, the U.S. ranked as the top country in the world to conduct an ICO.

However, after the SEC crackdown, it seems blockchain startups are seeking new countries that offer welcoming regulations like Malta and Singapore.

In August, Singapore surpassed the U.S. in the number of ICOs launched and that number is only expected to increase.

OPINION

Institutions Will Help Crypto Mature, According to CFTC Chairman

Institutions harboring stability

According to Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair Christopher Giancarlo, institutional investors joining the cryptocurrency markets will help the space mature. Giancarlo recently spoke with Fox Business to talk about the influx of institutional investors into cryptocurrencies.

Giancarlo gave a summary of the state of the cryptocurrency market from the perspective of a regulator:

"We've still got a long way to go, there's a lot of issues in some of these spot exchanges, a lack of transparency, a lot of conflict of interest, a lack of systems and systems safeguards, and that's a concern. But you know, like all things, it takes time to mature, and with the movement of more institutional investors into the space, I think we'll see that [maturation]."

Defending the crypto market

The regulator also discussed the CFTC's role in monitoring and enforcing the cryptocurrency market. As other regulators have stated in the past, the CFTC is solely trying to protect investors and does not want to hinder innovation. The CFTC is taking a "first do no harm approach" to their regulatory actions.

Within the last few months, two federal courts confirmed the CFTC's jurisdiction to police the cryptocurrency market. The courts ruled that the Commodity Exchange Act could be enforced in the cryptocurrency market. The CFTC has used this ruling to bring cases against fraudulent cryptos like My Big Coin and CabbageTech.

Giancarlo commented on the CFTC's role of Bitcoin's price frenzy of the past year:

"It was under our watch that the very [first] two bitcoin futures products have emerged and according to the San Francisco Fed it was the bitcoin futures emerging that actually sapped the bitcoin bubble that emerged at the end of 2017 and we've seen bitcoin, perhaps, in some people's view, achieve a more sustainable level than it was during the bubble period last year."

NEWS

From Trump's Economic Advisor to Blockchain Startup Board Member

Gary Cohn hops on the bandwagon

In a press release published yesterday, President Trump's former chief economic advisor Gary Cohn has joined the board of advisors of the blockchain startup Spring Labs.

Giving reason behind his new position, Cohn stated he has been "very interested in blockchain technology for a number of years."

Previously, Cohn was the COO at banking giant Goldman Sachs, a firm known for its willingness to participate in the blockchain revolution.

The brain drain continues…

Cohn's arrival into crypto-land from Wall Street is not unheard of. The phenomenon, dubbed "brain drain", is the emigration of highly trained or intelligent people...and they are joining crypto in droves.

According to AngelList, over 640+ blockchain startups are now hiring as job postings skyrocket to levels never seen before.

And with so much demand for blockchain-related jobs, it only makes sense that the average salary of a blockchain developer currently stands at a whopping $95,954.

EXCHANGE

Coinbase Discontinues Index Fund Product

Well that was short-lived

Just four months after launch, Coinbase announced that its Crypto Index Fund product will be discontinued at the end of the month. The fund was originally established to cater to institutional investors.

The soon-to-be-shutdown fund used to require a minimum investment of $250,000 and it consisted of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, and Litecoin. The fund was weighted by market capitalization.

Coinbase's motive for closing out the fund was redundancy. After recently announcing the new Coinbase Bundle product, investors looking for an index will be pointed towards Coinbase Bundle instead of the Index Fund.

A Coinbase spokesperson explained:

"After assessing demand from retail, accredited and institutional investors, Coinbase has decided to shut down Coinbase Index Fund. We will focus on providing diversified exposure to all investors through Coinbase Bundle."

BITS

But wait, there's more...

The chairman of Korea's Financial Services Commission Choi Jong-koo has reaffirmed his negative position on digital currencies and Initial Coin Offerings (ICO).
North Dakota's securities watchdog is again taking action against ICO projects it alleges are operating illegally in the state.
Open-source coders backing the ethereum project now say its next system-wide upgrade, Constantinople, is on track for November release.

COIN OF THE DAY

Cardano (ADA)

Cardano's multi layer protocol performs advanced functions, and has at its foundation a settlement layer that is elegantly linked to a control layer. The settlement layer will have a unit of account, while the control layer will run smart contracts.

MEME

0 REFERRALS

https://www.unbankd.co/?ref=192f87b56d

You currently have 0 referrals. All you need is 1 more to receive a FREE Fundamental Analysis Checklist for analyzing crypto projects.

SUBSCRIBE	FEEDBACK	ADVERTISE

COIN	PRICE	24H

BTC	$6,299.27	+0.17%

ETH	$200.21	+1.56%

XRP	$0.418894	-1.95%

BCH	$446.85	+0.04%

EOS	$5.22	+0.34%