Tehran’s central bank has the ambition to launch a national cryptocurrency, but the effort remains at the experimental stage. Some recent media reports claim that Iran has “launched” a state cryptocurrency based on gold called the Peyman. What really is happening, however, is less dramatic, but it does signal Iran’s strategic intent to use blockchain technology to develop long-term sanctions resistance.

Elevated Returns (ER), a financial group focused on digitizing traditional financial assets, has selected Tezos as the blockchain on which to offer its fully compliant tokenized real-estate offerings to qualified investors. ER has a pipeline of real assets in excess of USD $1B targeted for these future token issuances. Best known for its tokenization of the St. Regis Resort in Aspen, which raised USD $18 million through tokenization, ER is a leader in security token issuance.

Planet Digital Partners (PDP) represents an all-star team of video game industry leaders including the founder of Taking 2/Grand Theft Auto, and Saber Interactive, the developer of Halo, Quake, and NBA Playgrounds. PDP is a blockchain-centric video game publisher providing investment opportunities via a security token offering for a portfolio of games in development that will cover all major platforms including PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile.

The blockchain-based marketing platform TribeOS announced the start of the FIRE STO. As one of the first federally approved STOs launched in Bermuda, the project has the attention of the entire crypto community. The news also signals a continued push by Bermudian officials to welcome more blockchain startups into their market.

Switzerland’s Stock Exchange (SIX) wants to have its own security token offering in the second half of 2019. This would coincide with the launch of its SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) platform for trading digital assets. SDX is likely to begin by offering trading in selected stocks, followed by other stocks, bonds, and potentially exchange-traded funds. Previously, the exchange has stated that SDX will enable tokenization of existing securities and other non-bankable assets.

Wyoming has become the first U.S. state to recognize cryptocurrencies as legal property and subject them to some of the rules governing fiat money. A bill titled “Digital Assets” was passed by local lawmakers in a 28-1 vote last Thursday. According to the state legislature website, the document formally classifies cryptocurrencies into three categories: digital consumer assets, digital securities, and virtual currencies.

In the first 11 months of 2018, token sales as a whole (including private sales and venture capital) totalled $23.3 billion. However, given recent volatility and bearish sentiment, the new year is set to change how the ICO market is structured, with stablecoins and security tokens gaining in prominence, and with individual investors increasingly forced to pay more attention to the long-term prospects of new projects.

IBM has completed a trial of blockchain technology to track a 28-ton shipment of mandarin oranges from China to Singapore. The main shipping document, the bill of lading, was recorded on a blockchain. This document is normally mailed to all parties involved in the shipment, including banks providing trade financing. For the pilot, IBM created an electronic bill of lading, or e-BL, which helped reduce and speed up administrative processes “to just one second”—while the standard paper-based procedure takes five to seven days.

With recent developments in the sector, the outlook for attracting crypto startups to New York may soon be brighter. “A lot has changed in blockchain, a lot has changed in cryptocurrency,” Assemblyman Clyde Vanel said. “[Previously], we only were dealing with Bitcoin. There was no Litecoin, there was no Dash, there was no Zcash… There were no utility tokens, there were no security tokens.”

When tZERO announced the commencement of trading it “buried” the fact that Dinosaur is also a digital-only challenger bank. The digital banking sector of Fintech is red hot, especially in the U.K.. Pretty much everyone understands that the bank of the future exists solely on your iPhone or Android device … except for some of the traditional banks.

The security token industry continues to gain traction in early 2019—both in the U.S. and beyond. Blockchain-based startups Zilliqa and MaiCoin have partnered to create Hg Exchange, a security token exchange in the making. The platform has revealed early plans which involve the tokenization of existing shares to include Uber, Airbnb, and Space X.

There is currently a race over which country will become the leading hub for the tokenized security sector. Although Singapore, the U.S., and Malta are some of the leaders of the pack in this regard, Thailand is also looking to enter this increasingly competitive marketplace and become a prime mover in this new cryptocurrency sector.

E-commerce giant Overstock.com’s cryptocurrency subsidiary tZERO announced that secondary trading of tZERO tokens is now live. Accredited investors can trade the security tokens through a digital securities brokerage account at Dinosaur Financial Group, which will act as a broker-dealer.

Patrick Byrne, CEO of online retailer Overstock, recently stated his corporation is planning to start its very own security token trading platform called as tZERO by the end of next week. “It’s a big moment for us,” he said, “four years in the making.” Bryne added that the company is “ready to hit the button and go live today” but wants to wait for more user signups.

As of January 16, Aspencoin is officially transitioning to the Securitize. The news has come after a successful and SEC-compliant funding round for Aspencoin, which had an $18 million valuation. Aspencoin represents fractional equity ownership of the luxury St. Regis Aspen Resort in Colorado.

The average Joe is keen to invest in startups, but how do they get involved and reap their share of wealth? Traditional venture capital funds are off-limits for the average person, but tokenized investment funds could bring about a change. With digital securities, investor protections can be hard-coded into the token itself, eliminating the potential for scams and fraud and potentially allowing regulators to relax the limits on investors.

With the number of people living in urban slums “expected to triple, reaching three billion,” we are facing a currently insurmountable crisis. Peter Lyons of Atomic Capital penned an article that was recently published as part of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting on why digital securities could prove to be instrumental in meeting the future’s infrastructural funding challenges.

tZERO, the blockchain subsidiary of Overstock.com, had one of the most publicized STOs last August, raising some $134 million. The tokens were issued in October and then “locked up” in a custodial wallet for three months. They will now be distributed to investors, who can decide where they wish to hold their tZERO tokens. Options include creating a brokerage account or holding them in their own personal wallet.