On July 10, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission
declared Blockstack PBC’s offering statement “qualified”, thus allowing Blockstack to commence the distribution and sale of its Stacks Tokens under Regulation A. This is the first offering of digital tokens to be qualified by the Commission under Regulation A, a significant milestone for the blockchain industry
Capital Raising
SEC Exempt Offering Concept Release Seeks Comment on Ideas to Ease Restrictions on Sales to Non-Accredited Investors
Non-accredited investors are estimated to constitute approximately 92% of the U.S. population. Yet
restrictive rules governing exempt offerings have significantly limited their freedom to invest in private offerings and prevented or discouraged issuers from selling them privately offered securities. But in a recently issued concept release, the Securities and Exchange Commission has signaled a…
Behind 2018’s Boom Year for Venture Capital
2018 was a historically good year for venture capital in the United States in terms of dollars invested by VC funds in U.S.
companies, dollars raised by VC funds and dollar value of exits by VC-backed companies, according to the Venture Monitor for Q4 2018 published by PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association. VC…
In my Backyard: Real Estate Developers can Use Equity Crowdfunding both to Fund Projects and Convert Opposition
Real estate developers should seriously consider equity crowdfunding to fund development projects for two
major reasons, one of which has little or nothing to do with money. The first reason is that new securities offering legislation enacted in 2012 creates new legal capital raising pathways which allow developers for the first time to use the…
Gig Stock: Extension of Rule 701 Exemption for Compensatory Equity Proposed for Gig Economy Participants
Private companies in the gig economy like Uber and Airbnb would love to issue compensatory equity to their
platform participants, just like they’re able to do with their employees. The problem is that the exemption from registration for compensatory issuances only covers issuances to employees and consultants of the issuer. Last July, however, the Securities…
“Third Time’s a Charm”: House Adopts JOBS Act 3.0 to Fix Earlier Capital Raising Reform Efforts
It’s not often that the House of Representatives votes nearly unanimously on anything noteworthy these days, but that’s exactly what the House did on July 17 in voting 406-4 for the “JOBS and Investor Confidence Act of 2018”, also known on the
street as “JOBS Act 3.0”, which is the latest iteration of the effort…
Can a Digital Token Evolve? Head of Corp Fin Says “Yes”, if Network Becomes Decentralized
“Can a digital asset that was originally offered in a securities offering ever be later sold in a manner that does not constitute an offering of a security?”
Such was the question posed by William Hinman, Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance, in his speech at the Yahoo Finance All…
SEC Reporting Companies Soon to be Regulation A+ Eligible
Buried in new legislation mainly intended to ease Dodd-Frank restrictions on small banks is an expansion of Regulation A eligibility to include SEC reporting companies. Previously, such companies were not eligible. The new access to Regulation A will create a viable mini-public offering pathway for SEC reporting companies, particularly those not eligible for registering securities…
Regulation Crowdfunding Surpasses $100 Million but Still Needs Reform
A recent report on the state of Regulation Crowdfunding published by a major crowdfunding advisory firm is cause for both celebration and renewed reform efforts. The $100 million aggregate funding milestone and the prorated year over year growth data indicate that the market, while still in its infancy, is growing at a nice pace. Nevertheless,…
Is a Utility Token ICO a Sale of Securities?
Bloomberg reported on October 16 that over $3 billion dollars have been raised in over 200 initial coin offerings so far this year. It remains to be seen whether the pace of ICOs will slow down in the face of regulatory headwinds such as the
outright ICO bans in China and South Korea. Here…