Politics, Legal & Regulation

May 1, 2020 @ 7:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The legislative assembly of the Cayman Islands has introduced five new pieces of legislation that may be used to regulate local firms dealing in cryptocurrencies. The proposed rules have mainly been created to monitor the operations of digital asset exchanges. The Virtual Asset Service Provider… Read More

May 1, 2020 @ 1:01 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Japan’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), has certified two organizations as Certified Financial Instruments and Exchange Associations. As confirmed in an announcement made on April 30, 2020, the FSA has officially recognized the Japan STO (security token offering) Association and the Japan Virtual… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 4:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

  The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), part of the CARES Act, has emerged as an exceptionally popular policy program by the US government in its efforts to support a faltering economy. In brief, the PPP provides a loan for 2.5X times monthly payroll for struggling… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 10:08 am By JD Alois  |  

The Federal Reserve Board has announced it is expanding the scope and eligibility for the Main Street Lending Program. The Federal Reserve developed the Main Street Lending Program to help credit flow to SMEs that were in sound financial condition before the pandemic but have… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 8:23 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The San Francisco-based developers of Brave, an open-source, privacy-oriented Internet browser, have submitted a complaint which asks the European Commission to take quick action against European Union-based government agencies that are not protecting the data and privacy of local residents. Brave’s complaint was filed on… Read More

April 29, 2020 @ 10:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

At the end of last month, the Australian Senate Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology submitted a request for input as to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Fintech sector. The committee said that it is “keenly aware” to the impact… Read More

April 29, 2020 @ 2:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

  The US Federal Reserve issued a statement today indicating its intent to leverage all of its tools to help prop up the COVID-19 infected economy. The Fed said it is “committed to using its full range of tools to support the U.S. economy in… Read More

April 28, 2020 @ 9:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee has scheduled a video conference to discuss proposals designed to improve the exempt securities ecosystem as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on small businesses. The meeting, which is open to… Read More

April 28, 2020 @ 3:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

  The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has created a new task force to address nefarious attempts of fraud leveraging the Coronavirus pandemic. The NASAA COVID-19 Enforcement Task Force is modeled after the “successful” Operation Cryptosweep that targeted digital asset scams and frauds. Christopher… Read More

April 28, 2020 @ 3:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has processed $48.5 billion in the first 24 hours of the second round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The SBA lending platform has struggled to maintain pace of the demand and crashed during the early hours as banks and… Read More

April 28, 2020 @ 12:14 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced that Commissioner Brian Quintenz will depart the agency at the end of his term. Quintenz will have completed a 5-year stint at the Commission. Quintenz issued a statement on his decision to exit the CFTC stating that… Read More

April 28, 2020 @ 12:04 pm By JD Alois  |  

We have all read the articles about how physical cash is pretty gross. This has been a well-known fact for years. A study from 20 years ago on the bacterial contamination of paper currency showed that 94% of dollar bills tested carried many pathogens including… Read More

April 27, 2020 @ 1:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

The UK government has announced a new loan program for smaller firms. The “Bounce Back Loans” are 100% backed by the government providing access to credit ranging from £2,000 to £50,000. The loans will be interest-free for the first 12 months, and businesses can apply… Read More

April 27, 2020 @ 11:15 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Fintech unicorn SoFi announced on Monday it has helped funnel more than $75 million in loan applications to lenders for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) established by the CARES Act, through its extensive network of lenders and Lantern, the product comparison site operated by SoFi…. Read More

April 27, 2020 @ 7:30 am By Dror Futter  |  

  If your venture is confronting a down round, you should not wear it as a badge of shame. Even in normal times, few ventures make an uninterrupted march up and to the right on the valuation curve. More importantly, if you are doing a… Read More

April 26, 2020 @ 7:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

  The British Business Bank has announced multiple new lenders added to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). Today, the British Business Bank has revealed the approval of the Allied Irish Bank (GB)/AIB (NI), ThinCats, Paragon Bank and IGF. These four lenders will join… Read More

April 25, 2020 @ 5:52 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Netherlands-based Bittr, a Bitcoin (BTC) savings service, is reportedly closing down its business. Ruben Waterman, the company’s founder, said that newly-enforced financial regulations were the main reason why Bittr decided to shut down its services. The AMLD5 became effective July 9, 2018, and required the… Read More

April 24, 2020 @ 2:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today, President Donald Trump signed into law the H.R. 266 or the “Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act.” The law adds about $500 million in funding to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under the previously approved CARES Act. The PPP provides payroll… Read More

April 24, 2020 @ 12:47 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs announced on Friday the launch of his new platform, Our Fair Share. According to the Entrepreneur and Media Mogul, Our Fair Share is a platform built to help minority entrepreneurs and small businesses access to much-needed funding amid the economic devastation caused… Read More

April 24, 2020 @ 10:34 am By JD Alois  |  

The long march of crypto enforcement actions continued today when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed charges against Dropil and founders Jeremy McAlpine, Zachary Matar, and Patrick O’Hara pertaining to an initial coin offering (ICO). As has become fairly commonplace, the SEC is alleging… Read More