STOs and ICOs are both fundraising methods where capital is raised in return for a digital asset. In 2018, ICOs raised nearly $8 billion… But now they raise about 58 times less, and the STO has emerged. So far, 64 STOs have raised a total of $1 billion. In Q1 of 2019 alone, STOs saw a 130% increase. Learn the difference between the two...

Leave it to the head of the printing press to talk about value… Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before the Senate Banking committee on July 11. In a statement that will make gold bugs crazy and crypto enthusiasts cheer, Powell compared Bitcoin to gold. He also shared what he thinks may be the future of U.S. currencies...

Last week, Blockstack announced the first-ever SEC-qualified Reg A+ token offering. Already, the Props Project has announced the second. The Reg A+ platform lets companies raise up to $50 million from retail investors, as opposed to only from accredited investors. Security tokens incorporate the SEC’s existing regulations… While ICOs now raise 58 times less than they did just over one year ago, STOs have raised nearly $1 billion to date—with data suggesting enormous potential.

Fidelity Digital Assets—the crypto-focused branch of the major asset manager—is looking to boost its team with the addition of 10 new blockchain professionals. The new positions include a range of leadership roles, including a vice president, director, and leading software engineer… as well as non-senior positions like a blockchain software engineer, product designer, and others.

The largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, is reportedly looking to launch a captive insurance company in partnership with insurance brokerage firm Aon. Coinbase and Aon see the insurance subsidiary as a potential solution to the alleged shortage of insurance available to cryptocurrency exchanges… And such a solution allows the company to keep the money that would be normally spent on insurance premiums.

The Singaporean government’s taxation agency is proposing to remove the goods and services tax from cryptocurrency transactions that function—or are aimed to function—as a medium of exchange. The agency has also set out detailed parameters on how digital payment tokens are defined. Examples of digital payment tokens are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dash, Monero, Ripple, and Zcash.

Financial institutions are entering crypto with a quickening pace, setting the tone for the remainder of 2019 and 2020. What makes these years different from ones prior is the speed of professionalization taking place in the markets. In addition, these financial institutions are supporting a variety of blockchain projects focused on commodity trade finance and shipping.

Top cryptocurrency exchange Binance is launching an open blockchain project called “Venus,” which is focused on developing localized stablecoins worldwide. The exchange says it’s seeking partnerships with governments, corporations, technology firms, and other cryptocurrency and blockchain projects in order to develop a new currency ecosystem that will empower both developed and developing countries.

STOs are growing rapidly in volume and number. There were five STOs in 2017, with a total issuance of $65.59 million… and 35 STOs in 2018, with a total volume of $434.95 million. Equity is the most common asset class—by far the largest part of finished issuances was conducted for company equity, followed by asset-backed securities.

Banco BTG Pactual SA, Latin America’s biggest standalone investment bank, has teamed up with Dubai asset manager Dalma Capital to sell more than $1 billion worth of security tokens.The partners have a pipeline of deals for tokenization (the process of transforming real assets into tradeable digital contracts). Dalma plans to tokenize property and sports clubs, while BTG has already sold real estate-backed tokens.

You’re always going to notice the big money players who vilify crypto. After all, it makes for good headlines and clickbait. But one lesser known, old-school billionaire has quietly invested in a cryptocurrency fund… blazing a trail others are sure to follow. You’ll want to get some exposure to this space before the institutional money pours in…

Catherine Coley has been appointed as CEO of Binance’s upcoming U.S. crypto exchange. Coley will be responsible for rolling out Binance U.S., as well as expanding the exchange’s marketplace in North America. Prior to joining the firm, Coley was an executive at San Francisco-based distributed ledger tech startup Ripple. Before entering the blockchain and crypto space, Coley worked for Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong and London in the institutional foreign exchange market.