Bank of Russia Looks to Retcon Regulations Surrounding Digital Assets
Successful Completion A pilot program, sanctioned by the Bank of Russia, was developed, and recently completed, by Russian mining industry giant, Nornickel. This pilot, which took place within the bank’s regulatory sandbox was structured as…
Custodial Specialists ‘Copper’ Draws $8M in Investments through Series A
Custodial specialist, Copper, has recently announced the successful completion of their Series A round of funding. The team at Copper has indicated that the funds raised during this event will be put to use in…
Central Bank of Russia Proposes Amendments To Legal Framework for Tokenization
The proposed cryptocurrency legislation in Russia could change a lot, now that a new bill for tokenization has been filed. On February 17, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has made the announcement that it…
Smartlands Begins Realignment with Eyes on Liechtenstein Blockchain Act
A Diverse Framework Like any forward thinking company, tokenization platform, Smartlands, is in a constant state of growth. This means pivoting with developments seen in the digital securities sector, in an effort to continue providing…
IOHK Grants University of Wyoming $500K in ADA Tokens to Launch a Cardano Blockchain Research Lab
Cardano’s parent company, the IOHK, has funded $500K worth of ADA tokens to Wyoming University. This will be allocated to the establishment of a new research lab focusing on blockchain development for industry applications. IOHK…
Circle Looks to Sell Broker-Dealer SeedInvest, Focus on Stablecoin
As of February 12th, 2020, Circle is reportedly looking to sell SeedInvest. The firm acquired the crowdfunding platform in late 2018 in what seemed to be an entrance into the security token industry. The company’s…
Flyt Property Brings First Tokenized Real Estate STO to Africa
This week marks another important milestone within the international security token sector as the African-based tokenization platform, Flyt Property announced plans to host the first-ever Tokenized Real Estate STO on the continent. The news demonstrates…
Overstock Shareholders Vote to Approve Transition to Digital Dividends
On February 13th, 2020, Overstock.com shareholders voted to approve the company’s Series A-1 Preferred Stock dividend transition to digital shares. Investors can expect to receive the dividends no later than April of 2020. The shares…
FC Barcelona to Offer ‘Barca Fan Token’ with Voting Rights, Reward System
On February 13th, 2020, world-renowned football club FC Barcelona announced an upcoming blockchain-powered token offering. In the near future, fans will be able to purchase ‘Barca Fan Tokens’. Token holders will have voting rights for…
Regulated Digital Assets Take Over in 2020 – Thought Leaders
2018 was the highwater mark for initial coin offerings (ICOs), when 1,253 new coins raised $7.8 billion. In 2019, this “Wild West” market went from boom to bust. Dollars raised in ICOs plummeted 95% compared…
Smartlands Adapts Legal Framework Following Liechtenstein Blockchain Act
On February 12th, 2020, security token platform Smartlands announced a revision regarding its legal framework. The Liechtenstein Blockchain Act took effect earlier this year, allowing for a number of regulatory benefits related to tokenization. Smartlands…
Crypto Related Losses Skyrocket Despite Hacking Crimes Dropping Significantly
According to a Q4, 2019 survey by CipherTrace users have lost 4.5 billion in Ponzi scheme and fraud scams while hacking-related scams have significantly dropped Banks have also fallen prey as US banks unsuspectingly facilitate…
265-Year-Old German Bank To Use Stellar’s Blockchain To Tokenize Securities With Bitbond
German Bank von der Heydt, which was established in 1754, made on Monday the announcement that it’s developing a special-purpose Euro stablecoin. The aim of this stablecoin will be to make tokenized securities private placements…
Report: JPMorgan Could Merge In-House Blockchain Unit Quorum with ConsenSys
As of February 11th, 2020, JPMorgan Chase & Co is reportedly in talks of merging Quorum with ConsenSys. The banking giant has been exploring different options for Quorum throughout the past two years and has…
Ethereum-based FLYT is First Property-backed Security Token in Africa
On February 8th, 2020, Flyt Property Investment announced the launch of Africa’s first-ever security token backed by property. The firm partnered with technology provider Bakari to create FLYT security tokens which are equivalent to one…
Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation: Crypto Mining Doesn’t Need Govt. Regulation
The Ministry of Digital transformation in Ukraine has stated that it has no intention to come up with measures to regulate crypto mining in the country, CoinDesk reports. On Feb 7, the ministry released a…
German Bank von der Heydt to Issue Security Tokens, Offer Custodial Services
In February of 2020, private bank Bankhaus von der Heydt announced a successful collaboration with FinTech and blockchain services provider, Bitbond. The two have collaborated to develop a technical infrastructure for the custody of digital…
Fairmint Launches with High Hopes for the ‘Continuous Securities Offering (CSO)’
Companies are always trying to come up with new ways to bring ease and efficiency to raising capital. With regards to blockchain based endeavours, we have seen the ICO, IEO, the STO, and now, what…
SEC Commissioner Peirce Releases Rule 195 Details
This week, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce put forth a new proposition dubbed Rule 195. The proposed regulation would set forth new rules regarding digital assets and their classifications. As such, the rule could represent a…
SEC Commissioner Peirce Releases Token Safe Harbor Proposal – A Time Limited Exemption for Tokens
This week, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce put forth a new proposition dubbed the Token Safe Harbor Proposal, also known as Proposed Securities Act Rule 195 – Time-limited Exemption for tokens (“Safe Harbor Proposal”). The proposed…
U.S. Federal Reserve is Examining Central Bank Digital Currencies
On February 5th, 2020, U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Lael Bainard said the U.S. central bank is currently ‘advancing its understanding’ of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Previously, the U.S. Federal Reserve showed no interest in…
SEC Commissioner Peirce Proposes Three-Year Grace Period for Token Sales
On February 6th, 2020, U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce revealed a significant proposal at the 4th International Blockchain Congress in Chicago. She wants to give cryptocurrency projects a three-year grace period to develop a network…
Archax to Host Polymath Security Tokens on Upcoming Exchange
Mutual Aid With the launch of Archax’s anticipated digital assets exchange looming large, the importance of populating listed assets is crucial. What better company to fill this need than Polymath? – a seasoned company already…
Securitize Receives Backing from Sony
In a sign of the changing times, the Japanese conglomerate Sony announced an investment into the security token issuance platform, Securitize. Sony now joins a long list of global tech giants entering the blockchain sector.…
What You Need to Know: Polymath Releases Polymesh Whitepaper
In May of 2019, Polymath announced plans to build a blockchain designed specifically for security tokens: Polymesh. Recently, the Polymesh whitepaper was released, outlying its core features which — in the eyes of Polymath —…
Security Token Group Releases the January 2020 STO Market Report
This week, researchers from the Security Token Group released the January 2020 STO Market Report. Importantly, the report is the first of a new monthly STO market series. The data delves deep into the current state…
Financial Institutions Exploring Digital Securities at Security Tokens Realised Event
We recently had the opportunity to attend Security Tokens Realised, a digital securities conference held in London, England, on February 4th and 5th, 2020. This conference featured a different cast of characters. Gone are the…
Polymesh Whitepaper Sheds Light on Specialized Blockchain
WhitePaper Release Nearly ten months after their initial announcement of Polymesh, Polymath has just released the inaugural whitepaper for their anticipated project. As industry players continue to establish the foundation of the digital securities sector,…
Bakkt’s Consumer App Development To Get A Boost With ICE’s Acquisition Of Bridge2
It looks like Bakkt is becoming bigger and bigger, as its parent firm International Exchange (ICE) announced on Wednesday that it agreed to acquire the consumer and merchants’ loyalty solutions provider Bridge2 Solutions. Bakkt will…