Using blockchain technology, initial coin offerings have become an alternative means of acquiring funding for business projects using the new, evolving digital financial market for tokens. In contrast to initial public offerings, which are governed by strict legal regulations, ICOs require only a white paper and some interesting features, such as a lack of barrier to entry, a scope for exponential growth, absence of geographical barriers and easy validation. Hence, it may not be surprising that the ICO market experienced extraordinary growth recently. Research shows that from January 2016 to August 2019, ICOs raised nearly $13 billion worldwide. Despite the …

Per a Dec. 3 announcement, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s fintech team will become an independent office. Initially launched in 2018 under the guidance of Bill Hinman, the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology, or FinHub, has been a leading force in securities regulation as it applies to new technologies since its inception. Given that the same timeframe has seen a major ramping up of the SEC’s pursuit of initial coin offerings it deemed as unregistered security sales, FinHub has been busy. The shift to an independent office means that rather than reporting to the Division …

As Cointelegraph reported two weeks ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission put out a rare no-action letter in defense of IMVU’s new blockchain-based VCOIN. VCOIN is only the third digital token to get such legal protection from the U.S. securities regulator, which makes it an exciting development. The SEC has been extremely active in punishing initial coin offerings that it views as unregistered securities offerings, but it has been more reluctant to define what does not count as a security — a problem that Commissioner Hester Peirce noted just last night. A no-action letter is, however, not the same as …

Research outfit Xangle has found that a third of sampled retail investors in the United States felt “deceived” by initial coin offerings, or that the projects had withheld information from them. Notably, Xangle’s survey is small-scale, based on 600 respondents who invested in an ICO sometime between 2017 and October 2020. The majority (44%) of those surveyed were between 25 and 44 years old, with more women represented than men, at 58%. On this basis, Xangle suggests there is “no such thing as a typical ICO investor,” though it does not give more insights into its survey methodology and choice …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has requested a default judgment against three companies and four individuals associated with the allegedly fraudulent art- and gold-backed cryptocurrency Meta 1 Coin. The SEC filed its Nov. 18 motion for a default judgment after the defendants failed to appear for their case, despite having corresponded with both the court and legal representation prior. The defendants are Meta 1 Coin Trust, Clear International Trust, and Ironheart Trust, and individuals Robert Dunlap, Nicole Bowdler, Wanda Traversie-Warner and Alfred Warner, Jr. They are accused of defrauding at least 500 investors worldwide out of $9 million …

Three associates of Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., a rapper also known as T.I. who was responsible for helping launch the FLiK token, have agreed to pay more than $100,000 after a U.S. district court approving a settlement. According to records filed Nov. 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Chance White, Owen Smith, and William Sparks Jr. will pay $102,992 in a settlement covering penalties, fees, and disgorgements for their role in selling tokens in initial coin offerings, or ICOs, for FLiK and CoinSpark. T.I., a rapper, singer, and songwriter, has won three Grammy Awards …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has brought 56 enforcement actions against initial coin offerings, blockchain and digital asset-related companies since July 2017. On Nov. 16, the SEC released a report on the commission’s selected accomplishments during chairman Jay Clayton’s tenure from May 2017 until November 2020. As part of the 28-page report, the regulator mentioned the SEC’s efforts to combat “cyber-related misconduct” including violations by companies involved in the crypto industry. According to the report, the SEC brought 56 cases involving attempts to defraud investors through the use of digital asset securities as well as violations of the …

The Ether (ETH) price is currently ranging between $440 and $470, similar to its price action seen in December 2017. Back then, the scenario ended up being incredibly bullish, and the altcoin quickly rocketed toward $1,400. Fast forward to 2020, and some investors believe a similar outcome may occur, as a few key on-chain and technical indicators are mirroring the levels seen in the previous bull run. On Dec. 10, the Ether price was $450, and it took only 34 days for Ether to reach its all-time high. Before this price explosion, the altcoin traded sideways for over two weeks. …

Malta-based virtual assistant firm Vaiot has integrated IBM’s Watson Assistant with the Cosmos blockchain to sell car insurance. The new platform features an end-to-end sales process that does not require human assistance to complete the car insurance contracts. The mobile app interacts with customers via voice or text, initially asking a series of questions to identify and suggest insurance options. Once signed, the contract is stored on the Cosmos SDK in the form of a smart contract, underpinned by the Tendermint Protocol. The AI monitors the deal and automatically begins the insurance coverage once the payment goes through. Although multiple …

The Enforcement Division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has collected more than $4.68 billion in illegal income and fines this year so far — with more than one quarter coming from Telegram’s ill-fated Gram token sale alone. In total, around $1.26 billion was handed over to the SEC by unregistered initial coin offerings. SEC Division of Enforcement Director Stephanie Avakian stated: “The Commission obtained judgments and orders totaling approximately $4.68 billion in disgorgement and penalties – the highest amount on record.” The division’s annual report for the 2020 fiscal year, published earlier this month, provides a comprehensive overview …

Thousands of different cryptocurrencies have arisen in the since Bitcoin’s (BTC) 2009 genesis block. Even though newer assets come with different technology and new bells and whistles, Bitcoin still has an upper hand in a key category, according to a November report from crypto data firm Coin Metrics. Due to its relatively older framework, people sometimes compare Bitcoin to early, outdated versions of other technological innovations such as dial-up internet, the report explains: “Too often, these are part of deliberate marketing strategies pushed by proponents of emerging cryptoassets that reportedly succeed where Bitcoin has failed. Tragically, newcomers confronted by a …

In 2017, when everything concerned with cryptocurrency and blockchain still looked fresh and interesting, it seemed that there would be no day without a new “revolutionary” project or idea. Decentralized financial system, decentralized torrent tracker, decentralized office documentation system. Decentralized, decentralized, decentralized. The overuse of terms like “transparent,” “distributed” and “blockchain-based” soon made most press papers look generic. The closer we got to the peak of the Bitcoin price at the end of 2017, the more absurd the names of new projects became: “Ethereum-based payment system for slaughterhouse industry workers,” “decentralized blockchain-based dwarf horse breeding platform,” “peer-to-peer personal banking service …