On September 30, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced the settlement of a $24 million penalty with blockchain company Block.one, as a result of the company’s recent unregistered initial coin offering (“ICO”). In the press release, SEC officials detail the unlisted ICO, … Read more about Block.one to Pay $24 million SEC Penalty
DeFi: What Is It and Why It Is Important
The following article is the first in a series of guest posts by Ben Lakoff. Mr. Lakoff is an entrepreneur and finance professional. He has a wide area of expertise including raising capital, corporate finance, investing, and start-up strategy. The content of this post is not intended as legal, … Read more about DeFi: What Is It and Why It Is Important
SEC Charges EtherDelta Founder with Operating Unregistered Exchange
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced settled charges on the first enforcement action based on findings that a digital token trading platform was operating as an unregistered national securities exchange. The charges were against Zachary Coburn, founder of decentralized Ethereum … Read more about SEC Charges EtherDelta Founder with Operating Unregistered Exchange
Blockchain Used to Warn Chinese Citizens About Bad Vaccines
China is undergoing a vaccine crisis. Near the end of July, news emerged that a Chinese drug manufacturer, Changchun Changsheng Biotechnology, was marketing unsafe vaccines, which caused an understandable uproar among Chinese citizens. However, out of this scandal emerged a creative use of … Read more about Blockchain Used to Warn Chinese Citizens About Bad Vaccines
Has Northern Trust Killed the Big Four??
Northern Trust has begun a massive operation to expand its blockchain and cryptocurrency offerings across multiple divisions. This marks one of the first forays into blockchain and cryptocurrency by a traditional financial institution. Northern Trust, a 129-year old company with nearly $10.7 … Read more about Has Northern Trust Killed the Big Four??
Gambling on Death in Online Assassination Markets
Decentralized prediction market platform Augur is currently featuring a market allowing users to bet on whether or not US President Donald Trump will be assassinated at any point during 2018. The Augur platform markets itself as "The Future of Forecasting," indicating that it is a "prediction … Read more about Gambling on Death in Online Assassination Markets
SEC Official: Ether is not a Security
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Director of Corporate Finance William Hinman, speaking at the All Market Summit: Crypto in San Francisco, said that neither bitcoin nor ether would be classified as securities by the SEC. Hinman said, "Based on my understanding of the present state of … Read more about SEC Official: Ether is not a Security
Crypto Markets are Imploding
Forbes just published an article at 7:16 am this morning about Bitcoin hitting $10,000 by end of "Blockchain week" in New York. This sentiment has been echoed by many news outlets over the past few days. One has to wonder, when it comes to big media, is it actually one big echo chamber? Perhaps the … Read more about Crypto Markets are Imploding