With more than 80% of ICOs doing presales there are concerns over investors who have preferential treatment selling after the ICO; article discusses some of the largest investors in the space including Blockchain Capital, Pantera Capital and Polychain Capital; the possibility of pump and dump schemes has also drawn the attention of regulators. Source
CoinDesk reports that Sheng Songcheng, counselor to the PBoC and an adjunct professor of economics and finance at the China Europe International Business School, explained that the Chinese government was right to move ahead with the ban; “In my opinion, these actions are largely aimed at averting risk and protecting investors’ interests while also being an opportunity to further regulate trading of virtual currencies,” as Songcheng writes in Caixin. Source.
According to the WSJ, Goldman Sachs is considering a new trading operation dedicated to digital currencies; a spokeswoman for Goldman stated, “In response to client interest in digital currencies, we are exploring how best to serve them in this space.”; several banks have been exploring the use of blockchain technology; Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JP Morgan Chase recently spoke out against bitcoin calling it a fraud. Source
Kathryn Petralia, co-founder and head of operations of Kabbage talks about their SoftBank deal, tech partnerships, culture and more. Source
The US Department of Justice has approved the real-time Payments network after a yearlong antitrust review; the Clearing House, a consortium of the biggest banks in the US, was pleased by the news as they plan to launch their leading system later this year; this is seen as a step in the right direction of helping to modernize the US payments system. Source.
Overstock.com launches a joint venture with RenGen and Argon Group for an automated trading system for tokens via ICOs; according to Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne the JV will be the first platform to meet regulatory requirements of both the SEC and Finra. Source.
80 percent of UK consumers were unaware of the term fintech; a new study by the Telegraph shows that fintech knowledge and adoption is surprisingly low; even larger name brands like Funding Circle, Atom Bank and Nutmeg were not known to most surveyed consumers; the results point to an uphill climb by industry participants. Source.
The Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative B3i announces that 23 new entrants are joining its Market Testing program; The new entrants are: AIA, AIG, Aon, Chubb, Covéa, Everest Re, Gen Re, Guy Carpenter & Marsh, JLT Re and more; the new companies will join the existing group in testing the prototype platform. Source.
Lend Academy looks at 10 years of data from Lending Club and Prosper; shares data on returns over the time period and where current returns are trending. Source