Security tokens are everywhere.

SecurityToken.it Newsletter #3

In the Netherlands, where our team is based, we are seeing an increased interest in security tokens. More and more startups, VCs and funds are eyeing the (fundraising) possibilities, though we haven't seen much action from established companies so far.

Surely, some kind of chicken-and-egg problem is at play here; without the infrastructure required, tokenizing equity or other financial securities is not yet so interesting.

That's why we should appreciate the companies creating this infrastructure even more. If security tokens live up to the hype, these are the people that will unlock billions of growth capital for businesses around the world; from the USA to the Netherlands, and beyond.

QUOTE

As much as blockchains are logical (and crypto speculation isn't), I hadn't found an angle that really excited me until the concept of tokenizing assets sunk in.

Now I'm obsessed.

— Fintech expert Jim Bruene

NEWS

🇺🇸 First, some US news. Securities litigations against crypto projects in the US have tripled in 2018.

🎤 Rep. Warren Davidson, member of the financial services committee, recently mentioned the difference between utility and security tokens in an interview with CNBC. A recommended 4-minute watch.

👀 In case you missed it, Google will allow 'regulated' cryptocurrency exchanges to advertise in the United States and Japan, from October onwards.

💶 Crowdfunding platform Conda has tokenized its shares — and is the first to do for an Austrian stock corporation.

🇦🇹 More news from Austria. An Austrian bank is using an Ethereum-based notarization system to issue $1.35 billion in government bonds. Note that these bonds aren't tokenized — but it's another showcase for blockchain in the financial industry.

🕑 Version 2.0 of decentralized exchange protocol 0x is live. Among others, the upgrade supports ERC-721 NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), which will surely benefit the security token ecosystem.

🇲🇹 Another security token exchange in Malta coming right up. The Malta Digital Exchange will focus on virtual financial assets (VFA) and security tokens, according to the press release.

LONGER READS

🏆 Stellar versus Ethereum: The game is on. The author is a stellar network advocate, so it's clear which side he's choosing. Still, a good comparison between the two blockchains in regard to security tokens. Strangely, no mention of Stellar-based Swarm fund.

🌊 Since partnering to tokenize NY real estate, Propellr and AirSwap have now published a white paper: The Two Token Waterfall. Great to see a dual token model in this space, representing both debt and equity classes.

📈 A look into the security token mega trend. Here's an overview of the market, its players, opportunities and challenges.

🙅 Jesus Rodriguez is an extremely prolific writer on security tokens. And he's good at it too. Here's 20 Ideas About Security Tokens That Most People Disagree With.

🔒 In a piece on the new era of security tokens, Darren Marble gives us another acronym to work with: DSOs, aka Digital Security Offerings.

NEW STOs

🛵 The first issuer ever to use the Reg A+ exemption to raise funding, Elio Motors, is trying to raise $25 million — this time using a Reg D STO.

🔐 Blockchain security software provider BlockSafeTech (what's in a name) is looking to raise $27 million in a 'SEC-compliant' security token offering.

🚜 Producers token is aiming to tokenize farms and natural (agricultural) resources. It looks like they're first issuing utility tokens though.

POSTSCRIPT

As you may have seen, we're still actively working on our SecurityToken.it website. Soon, we're adding a new 'standards' section, covering the different security token standards that are (being) developed.

Also, we're continuously updating our list of projects, and have added a bunch of them over the last week. We hope yours is in there too, but if it isn't, simply shoot us a message.

Still, we'd like to grow our website and newsletter faster. Should you know anyone interested in helping us to grow this ecosystem, we're happy to talk to them. Thanks in advance.

See you next week! 👋

Know someone who would enjoy reading this newsletter?

Share this email or have them subscribe here.

We chose to contact you because we assume you can benefit from this newsletter. Securitytoken.it processes your name and email address only for this newsletter. If you want us to change the data used or remove your data from this list, let us know.