According to a survey of institutional investors conducted by the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC), 19 percent believe that digital assets will be regularly invested in and traded by 2021. The results of the survey were shared with Cointelegraph on Feb. 14. The survey was conducted in December 2018 and January 2019 by market research company PollRight, and included responses from 71 global institutional investors, including private equity, hedge funds and pension funds. According to the survey, the growth of the digital asset industry can increase the initial coin offering (ICO) market, as 16 percent of those surveyed responded that …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it had gained an injunction against initial coin offering (ICO) operator Blockvest, overturning a 2018 court order. The regulator reported the development in a press release published on Feb. 14. Blockvest, which the SEC suspects of offering and attempting to sell unregistered securities via its BLV token sale, will now face fresh charges along with its founder, Reginald Buddy Ringgold, III aka Rasool Abdul Rahim El. “The defendants used the SEC seal without permission and falsely claimed that their crypto fund was ‘licensed and regulated,’” the release explains, adding: “Ringgold also …

While the initial coin offerings (ICOs) market is currently smaller than it was in 2018, it is still larger than it was at the beginning of 2017, data on crypto analytics website CoinSchedule reveals as of Feb. 13. Total Funds Raised per Month Since Feb. 13, 2017-Feb. 13, 2019 — CoinSchedule CoinSchedule’s data states that last month $291.6 million have was raised through ICOs, which is around 19 times less than the $5.8 billion raised in March last year. Still, this is also nearly 72 percent more than the $81.8 million raised in April 2017. Furthermore, according to the data …

Venture capital (VC) valuations have been deeply affected by the cryptocurrency bear market, says Jalak Jobanputra, founding partner of Future Perfect Ventures. Jobanputra commented on the current state of venture capital in the crypto space in an interview with Fortunes’ Balancing the Ledger on Feb. 11. When asked whether there is a trend of discounted venture evaluations across the digital currency space, Jobanputra said that “given how much the volumes have decreased in the last year, I wouldn’t be surprised if we are seeing valuations come down on the secondary markets for some of these companies.” A recent report suggested …

U.S. regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reiterated guidelines on initial coin offerings (ICOs) in a tweet Feb. 10, as efforts to formalize the sector continue. A dedicated section of the regulator’s website now lists five aspects of ICOs the SEC considers essential, as well as a separate section for investors and market professionals. The content appears to have existed since March last year, with the SEC opting to draw renewed attention to it on social media this weekend. The material remains perhaps the most accessible publication into the ICO sector yet by the SEC, conspicuously coming in …

Happy Chinese New Year! As the Year of the Yellow Mountain Dog has drawn to a close, it is time to look back at what happened. While there was a promising start in January 2018, when most altcoins were enjoying their all-time highs, the bear eventually took over, and the market delved into the so-called “Crypto Winter.” Nevertheless, there was good news, too: The United States regulators expressed their desire to stick to “positive regulation,” while big league investors poured some funds into a number of promising, compliant crypto projects (mostly stablecoins). Here is what was happening month-by-month, along with …

This article has been updated to reflect Moshe Hogeg’s relation to Stox. Moshe Hogeg, an Israeli entrepreneur, has denied misappropriating investors’ funds in a response to the lawsuit filed against him. Online newspaper The Times of Israel reported the development on Saturday, Feb. 9. Hogeg is the co-founder, managing partner and chairman of Singulariteam, which led an $8 million Series A funding round for blockchain firm Stox (STX) in 2015. As Cointelegraph wrote earlier in January, Chinese investor Zhewen Hu has sued Stox and Hogeg for $4.6 million. Hu claims to have invested a total of around $3.8 million worth …

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) in Q4 2018 raised 25 percent less than in Q3, while the total amount of completed ICOs increased, according to a report by ICO rating service ICObench shared with Cointelegraph on Feb. 6. The number of ICOs completed in Q4 increased to 594 from 554 in Q3, the report says. With that, the number of ICO projects that did not raise funds has also increased in Q4, while the number of successfully completed ICO projects remained equal. According to the report, the total funds raised by ICOs in Q4 was $1.4 billion, down from $1.8 billion …

The Philippines has introduced a new set of rules governing Digital Asset Token Offering (DATO), according to a press release published by the Asia Blockchain and Crypto Association (ABACA) on Feb. 4. The new regulations released by the country’s Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) are reportedly designed to regulate the cryptocurrency industry and protect investors, affecting such issues as the acquisition of crypto assets, including utility and security tokens. The CEZA thus becomes the main regulator, while the ABACA has been designated as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) to enforce the new framework. Per the release, all DATOs must have proper …

Blockchain company HashCash Consultants has announced a partnership with an undisclosed Australian video games developer to roll out its white label crypto exchange and tokenization services for the gaming industry. The development was announced in a HashCash press release Feb. 4. HashCash is a blockchain firm focused on providing “white label” blockchain solutions for the gaming sector — i.e. pre-developed solutions that can be purchased and rebranded by their clients to facilitate the shift to a new blockchain-based business model. The firm announced in the press release that it is partnering with a “prominent Australian video games developer,” though did …

Canadian-based social media startup Kik is gearing up to challenge a proposed enforcement action from the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) over a fundraising initiative in 2017. The American securities regulator believes that Kik’s Token Distribution Event (TDE) two years ago violated securities laws. The company raised $97 million during its fundraising phase, a princely sum for a platform that has garnered millions of users since its inception. Following the SEC’s recommendation of an enforcement action in November 2018, Kik was served with a “Wells Notice,” a letter to the company that needs to be responded to in 30 …

South Korea will continue to ban initial coin offerings (ICOs) in the country, state financial regulator the Financial Services Commission (FSC) confirmed in a press release Jan. 30. Unveiling the results of a survey undertaken from September 2018, the body said it had discovered that firms conducting ICOs were making use of foreign jurisdictions, but still raising funds from South Korean nationals. South Korea formally banned ICOs in September 2017, citing lack of stability and ease of manipulation as cause to stop citizens from buying cryptocurrency tokens. “If there is an unlawful act, a third party has to intervene, but …