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Last week, the Security Token Academy held its second annual STO focused event in Manhattan.
This year, attendance at the Security Token Industry Launch event increased dramatically as more financial services players are viewing securities on blockchain as a likely path for the future of investments.
Simultaneously, crypto startups don’t want to be left out of the regulated path for issuing securities on blockchain.
While most people in attendance are of the belief that blockchain can streamline the back office operations of securities issuance, while making it easier to securitize assets, many questions remain regarding ICOs and secondary transactions.
Digital assets may benefit from a more automated process that reduces intrinsic sector bottlenecks. Technology can take a T + 2 trade to T + a few minutes. Regulation and compliance can be cooked into smart contracts.
For certain asset classes, such as real estate, some advocates envision a far greater universe of what can be securitized, and eventually traded on a digital marketplace, regardless of jurisdiction.
While still very early days, visionaries predict a very different landscape in the future of the financial services.Below are just a few of the comments made by the various speakers during the STO event.
“When we started Circle five and a half years ago we were very excited about cryptocurrencies. We became immediately convinced this would become the foundation as to how the global financial system works.”
“Seedinvest has built a very nice business helping hundreds of businesses to raise capital over the internet … [We are] kind of a made for each other, security tokens and crowdfunding…”“We see it being a very, very complimentary match to the roader set of things we are doing.
We are on the cusp of new forms of capital formation” [commenting on SeedInvest acquisition]“… a lot of hype and a lot of excitement. It is very justified. The impact is far far greater than any of us anticipate.”
Jeremy Allaire – CEO and founder of Circle
“If you are talking about high frequency trading there is not a blockchain in the world that can handle that…”
Boris Reznikov – Director of Partnerships, Interstellar“Hedera Hashgraph is not a blockchain topographically. We are really a performant distributed technology … being fast, fair, and secure.”Rachel Lam – Market Lead, Financial Services, Hedera Hashgraph
“The crypto people are still skeptical of the security token people.”“We went from 100% of people not knowing what it is to 99% of people not knowing what it is.”
Carlos Domingo – CEO and co-founder, Securitize
“People come to our platform because we have a reputation of getting quality deals that have been vetted.”
Ryan Feit – CEO and co-founder, SeedInvest
“We look at smart contracts as the ultimate structured product. On Monday night we closed on Aspen Digital. Ten days from now you will see us launch a very large fund interest.”“Regulation first, technology second. That wins the day.”
Vince Molinari – CEO and co-founder, Templum
“We are blessed with an extraordinary piece of legislation [the JOBS Act of 2012]. People should read it … It’s masked by this whole crypto world that has raised billions. Crypto is going to move towards that legislation.”“We need to decentralize the SEC.”
Howard Marks – CEO and co-founder, StartEngine
“Everything you described can be programmed into smart contracts. Programability amplifies regulation to where it becomes a smart contract.”
Michael Ovid – co-founder, AirSwap
“I think a lot of jurisdictions outside the US see this as an opportunity to catch up to the US … Things move more slowly here because there is already an established capital services market.”“We will haver some exciting news to share shortly. ETOs [STOs] will begin in Q4 of this year.”“This is a major, major revolution that will take years to play out…”
Alex Molé – Investor Relations Manager, Neufund
“What we are trying to do with Neufund, as well as others, is to build upon regulatory structures. Malta is the first country that has regulations … structure which can go to market. You have regulatory structures that are trying to catch up.”
Cliff Pace – Head of the Fintech Accelerator Program, Malta Stock Exchange
“For those that entered into the ICO [initial coin offering] space and did these offerings that are not really compliant it will be interesting to see how these convert into the market place.”
Yoel Goldfeder – CEO, VStock Transfer
” … if you are looking to monetize a single asset … it is proven to be very challenging in the public marketplace … tokenization of real estate can provide a way to monetize in a way in private markets that you could not in public markets.”
Jason Myers – Partner, Clifford Chance
“I think you would be surprised at some of the names that are looking to do things here.” [speaking about real estate and tokenization]
Brad Greiwe – co-founder and Managing Partner, Fifth Wall“Why no active STO [security token offering] exchanges? It will take some time …”Troy Paredes, founder, Paredes Strategies and former SEC Commissioner
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‘It could get really bad’ - Bitcoin expert warns of IMMINENT DROP in cryptocurrency price
BITCOIN’s (BTC) price dipped below $6,500 (£5,026) yesterday as it fell below a key price point, which could be a sign of an imminent slide in its value, a crypto expert has predicted.
By SAM STEVENSON
Trader 'losing faith' as bitcoin prepares to plummet Yesterday bitcoin’s price was $6,571 (£5,080) at its height, which dropped 2 percent to $6,436 (£4,976) over 24 hours.While only a small swing, the fact the price dipped below a key price point - known as a horizontal support - could be interpreted as a sign of an imminent slump in BTC’s value, or “breakout from the downside”.
A breakout refers to a security's price movement through a historical resistance level.
Crypto expert Nikola Lazić has predicted a downside breakout - which means the price could be on the verge of a plunge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y12X9h91NeI
He said: “I am expecting a breakout from the downside because the horizontal support has already been broken today, the red triangle’s support has been broken in the past when the price found support on the symmetrical triangle’s uptrend line which was respected in the past.
“If that last support gets broken then we are definitely seeing a lower low which would be below $5767 (£4,458).”He added: “It could get really bad.”A key volatility indicator - which shows the extent of bitcoin’s price range - hit its lowest level in 21 months in September, meaning BTC’s value could be about to swing in either a upwards or downwards direction.
Bitcoin price news: an expert has warned bitcoin might be about to decline in value (Image: GETTY)
Bitcoin price news: the UK Government has been slow to embrace the digital asset (Image: GETTY)
But BTC’s healthy price floor implies the market has a vested interest in preventing further price slumps, in an indication of a potential bearish (downward) trend.
The world’s leading cryptocurrency has experienced a turbulent year as its price continues to fluctuate.At the time of writing, bitcoin was trading at $6,573.26 (£5,083)The digital asset has performed relatively poorly this year in comparison to 2017.
Bitcoin price news: Tom Lee of Fundstrat says bitcoin will finish the year on a strong note (Image: GETTY)
Like most cryptocurrencies, BTC is an unpredictably volatile asset and sometimes experiences huge ranges in its price over very short periods of time.In December 2017 BTC’s price more than doubled - reaching record highs of £15,244 per coin, only to plunge by 45 percent, and then rebound back to £11,000.Of cryptocurrency’s volatile value, Yves Mersch, a member of the European Central Bank’s executive board, said:
“At these speeds, if you bought a bunch of tulips with bitcoin they may well have wilted by the time the transaction was confirmed.
”But Fundstrat’s Tom Lee believes bitcoin will finish the year on a strong note.
Bitcoin price news: BTC is a highly volatile asset and experiences vast swings in value (Image: GETTY)
The crypto expert said: “The fact bitcoin is holding here is very good news.“I think there are catalysts in the year-end so I think despite the lower highs we’ve seen I think we’re starting to reverse.
”But the UK Government has been hesitant to endorse the decentralised asset, with senior officials speaking out against its potential pitfalls.Nicky Morgan, the Treasury Committee chair, has described bitcoin as a gamble, rather than an investment.
Bitcoin price news: a large BTC price swing could be imminent (Image: GETTY)Ms Morgan claimed cryptocurrency belonged to a “wild west” industry. She said:
“Bitcoin and other crypto-assets exist in the wild west industry of crypto-assets.“This unregulated industry leaves investors facing numerous risks.
“Given the high price volatility, the hacking vulnerability of exchanges and the potential role in money laundering, the Treasury committee strongly believes that regulation should be introduced.”-
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The earliest adopters of Bitcoin — the libertarian anarchist “cypherpunk” crowd — were mostly men. Today, roughly a decade after Satoshi Nakamoto’s famed white paper was released, the majority of cryptocurrency holders are still men.
This poses a problem for the companies betting on the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency. At this point, they’ve already tapped into that core base of Bitcoin enthusiasts, namely Millenial men. But how do they reach more women? Or Gen Xers? Or Baby Boomers?
Crypto finance company Circle thinks accessible, educational resources are the answer. As of today, the company has added a new feature (pictured above) to their crypto investing app, Circle Invest.
Their hope is that simple, jargon-free explainers — sort of a ‘Cryptocurrencies for Dummies’ built into the app — will make it easier for new demographics to get their foot in the door of the crypto universe and learn a thing or two along the way.
“A lot of the apps that exist on the market are geared toward folks that understand the market already and unfortunately, that tends to be men,” Circle’s head of product Divya Agarwalla told TechCrunch.The inspiration for the new feature came after the results of a study showed a serious lack of diversity among crypto investors.
The study, commissioned by Circle, surveyed 3,000 Millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers in the U.S. and found that Millennial men are more than twice as likely to invest in crypto in the next year.
For anyone that has attended a blockchain event or crypto conference, this probably isn’t news. According to Coin.dance, roughly 95 percent of Bitcoin “community engagement” comes from men.
A strategic attempt to tap into a new user base is a natural step for Circle, which has long had ambitions of becoming the PayPal (and Venmo) of cryptocurrency.
Most people are familiar with Circle’s consumer-facing payments app, Circle Pay, though the company also operates a trading desk called Circle Trade, as well as Poloniex, another exchange platform the company tacked on via its acquisition of the company of the same name earlier this year.
That deal, according to Fortune, was worth some $400 million.Circle has raised about $250 million in venture capital funding to date from IDG Capital, Breyer Capital, General Catalyst, Accel, Digital Currency Group, Pantera, Blockchain Capital, Goldman Sachs, Tusk Ventures and more. A $110 million round in May valued the company at $3 billion.-
Francisco Gimeno - BC Analyst The issue of women in crypto (in technology!) is not just sensitive, it is also a very difficult one. How to increase the presence of women in this area not just for the crypto industry but for the good of blockchain and crypto adoption? This app could help, but more than that is needed. The debate is open.
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This opportunity to apply closes on August 21, 2018
What?
United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) initiative is launching a call for expert volunteer
contributors from urban practitioners, city planners, engineers, designers, policy-makers,
government officials, regulators, standards experts, scientists, academia, researchers, geographers,
sociologists, civil society and other relevant actors interested in the topic of Sustainable Smart
Cities, in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 11:
"Make cities and human
settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable", the New Urban Agenda, Paris Agreement and
other related international agreements.
The thematic group is responsible for the development of the deliverable on "Blockchain 4 Cities".
Blockchain offers possible solutions and services for the development of smarter and more
sustainable cities.
The meetings and work of the thematic group will be conducted through U4SSC’s online platform,
and experts are expected to be available for all meetings and contributing to drafting chapters
corresponding to their expertise for the above deliverable.
The report will be compiled and published through U4SSC’s initiative.
All the material published based on the work of the U4SSC will be intellectual property of ITU,
UNECE, UNU and other participating UN agencies, funds and programmes.
The secretariat for this deliverable is provided by Nuno Lopes (UNU).
Interested?
Selection process and terms of application
Experts will be chosen according to their qualifications, based on proven expertise to support the
progress of the Working Group.
The U4SSC Secretariat (ITU, UNECE and UNU) together with the
other UN bodies supporting the U4SSC will select the group experts.
Applicants must confirm the following:
Communication: The applicant can easily express themselves in English (the working
language of all meetings, documents and means of communication), in oral and writing.
Knowledge Sharing:
Applicants must be willing to share information and expertise and
contribute actively to the deliverables.
Availability: Applicants must be willing to avail themselves for online meetings of the
thematic groups.
Transparency: Applicants must agree to publish their names along with their professional
capacity (e.g. consultant, scientist, researcher) country of residence and email address on
the U4SSC platform and deliverables.
Applicants are required to register to the U4SSC
website to facilitate the tasks of the thematic group.
Kindly fill in the application form available here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfB5pz-1bsa2QexekCW2dkmZEPCgsiM1Ubx-qdDyhamxI5W2A/viewform-
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Samuel Santos Sales & Growth Marketing at BC Awesome...
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Francisco Gimeno - BC Analyst "Blockchain 4 Cities" is a very interesting initiative, and a powerful step to create real Smart Sustainable Cities. Read this, if you feel you can contribute, apply.
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NEM, a revolutionary Blockchain project with API Access, built-in Multisig, a unique Proof-of-Importance (POI) algorithm, and it's cryptocurrency XEM...
Learn more:
https://www.nem.io/
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