Securitize, a compliance platform for issuing and managing digitized securities on the blockchain, has raised $12.75 million in funding led by Blockchain Capital with other investors including Coinbase Ventures, Global Brain, NXTP, OK Blockchain Capital, and Xpring. The close of this Series A funding round comes ahead of Securitize’s plans to launch a digital security offering (DSO—another name for STO) in 2019.

Blockchain startup Harbor has officially launched its security token compliance platform and is moving to offer digitized shares in a high-rise building located in South Carolina, an apartment block called The Hub at Columbia. Investors can now register to buy the 955 shares—represented by 955 tokens—available at a cost of $21,000 apiece.

Founder Patrick Byrne is planning to sell Overstock.com and direct his full attention to the blockchain industry. Byrne’s most anticipated project in the blockchain space is the developing security token exchange tZero. The platform raised $134 million during its initial offering and aims to operate under SEC approval within months.

Securitize, a San Francisco-based startup that assists companies with tokenizing assets and traditional securities, has closed a $12.75 million Series A round led by Blockchain Capital, with notable participation from Coinbase Ventures and Ripple’s Xpring Fund. The startup wants to tokenize the $7 trillion securities industry to improve transparency and liquidity.

Security token offerings are clearly the way forward, not just because of regulatory protections but also because solid projects with long-term goals and actual potential don’t shy away from oversight and legal commitments to investors. One such project is Spuul.

Registered in Singapore, SPiCE VC raised $15 million during its token offering in March. Non-U.S. investors will be able to trade their security tokens effective immediately. U.S. investors will have to wait one year as per regulations, until March of next year, since there is a 12-month registration hold.

At the 2019 Vancouver Resource Investment Conference, Frank Curzio explains why digital securities will transform the cryptocurrency market… the incredible...

The Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) and Temasek's subsidiary have invested in iSTOX, a capital markets platform where issuers can raise capital via security token offerings. The demands of the next generation of investors and issuers calls for a shift in how the process of capital funding will be approached.

According to Daniel Masters, the chairman of the U.K-based CoinShares, STOs are going to be a big hit in a crypto industry that’s ready for its next wave after Bitcoin and Ethereum. STOs offer the added advantage of attracting greater liquidity as well as helping projects not worry about regulatory clampdowns.

The Wild West days of crypto funding are over. The initial excitement over ICOs seems to have faded as rapidly as it has started. When implementing an ICO, a company doesn’t have to sell equity, and users can buy tokens for use, making it beneficial for both parties. However, as utility tokens are not an investment in the company itself, the users aren’t entitled to anything from the company.

Tokenizing real-world value has been an idea making the circles in crypto space. From buildings to businesses or metal mining rights, offering to own a part through a cryptographic token is seen as a viable investment opportunity. But tokenizing artworks has also been a part of the business.

STOs have the potential to overcome several drawbacks of ICOs, including regulatory uncertainty. Because security tokens represent a claim to an asset, such as equity, investors have rights and reassurance. This contrasts with utility tokens, which are sold on the understanding that they may be worth nothing—and that holders have zero claim to any sort of assets.