In order to promote domestic blockchain and cryptocurrency-related businesses, the Japan Cryptocurrency Business Association (JCBA) has published its "Recommendations on New ICO Regulation" on Friday, March 8. The recommendations on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) regulations issued by the JCBA — a local industry trade group — focus on three main topics: the expansion of cryptocurrency in Japanese domestic exchanges, as well as the definitions of and regulations for utility tokens and security tokens. The proposed regulations suggest distinguishing between security and utility tokens and making the former subject to the Financial Commodity Exchange Act. As the announcement stresses, JCBA started …

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has issued two consultation papers seeking public feedback on the regulatory frameworks for initial coin offerings (ICOs) and property crowdfunding. The request was noted in a press release published on the SC’s website Wednesday, March 6. The Malaysian SC, a statutory body responsible for the regulating and systematic developing of the capital markets in Malaysia, has invited the public to leave comments on the consultation papers by March 29, 2019. The Malaysian finance minister, Lim Guan Eng, had previously noted that the ministry saw digital assets as offering both an alternative fundraising method and a …

Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) will establish a new fundraising mechanism based on security token offerings (STOs), according to an article published by financial news outlet Taiwan Economic Daily on Monday, March 4. The FSC, an independent government agency subordinate to the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan), has revealed plans to adopt an STO-related fundraising mechanism. A symposium aimed at listening to the opinions of the industry’s practitioners on the issue is scheduled for the end of April this year, with plans to formulate relevant issuance standards and norms by the end of June 2019. Gu Lixiong, …

The Swiss fintech market grew by 62 percent in 2018, according to a recent study by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences published on Feb. 27. The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences undertook an in-depth review of Switzerland's fintech market for the fourth time. The report dubbed "IFZ FinTech Study 2019" reveals that on a global scale the cities of Zurich and Geneva remain in second and third place for the best cities for fintech, respectively. The fintech sector inside the country grew 62 percent over the previous year. Per the analysis, Switzerland had 356 fintech companies in 2018, compared …

The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (Thai SEC) has updated the list of cryptocurrencies suitable for use in initial coin offering (ICO) investments and trading pairs. An official Thai SEC statement reported the development on Feb. 28. Until now, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) and Stellar (XLM) could be used for the purposes mentioned above when complying with regulation in Thailand. In this statement, the commission informs the public that Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum Classic (ETC) and Litecoin (LTC) have been added to the list. Lastly, the statement also specifies that the presence of any given crypto asset in …

The chairman of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) — the European Union-level financial markets supervisor — has said that he supports further regulations on digital assets, political news outlet Roll Call reported on Feb. 27. Delivering his speech at the FinTech Conference 2019 earlier this week in Brussels, Belgium, ESMA Chairman Steven Maijoor reportedly outlined the need to apply regulations to digital assets in order to help investors. He also expressed his support for expanding Europe’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements to include those involved in the exchange of one crypto asset to another, and not just the exchange …

The Fetch.AI (FET) token sale on top crypto exchange Binance’s Launchpad platform closed yesterday, Feb. 25, reaching its hard cap of $6 million dollars with the sale of over 69 million tokens. In a tweet published the same day, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao — known in the industry as CZ — reported the sale had been completed within a dizzying 22 seconds. Fetch.AI describes itself as a project that aims to create an “economic internet” by conjoining machine learning, artificial intelligence, multi-agent systems, intelligent smart contracts and distributed ledger technology. Yesterday’s token sale was set to close with either the …

What is an STO? STO stands for security token offering. Similar to an initial coin offering (ICO), an investor is issued with a crypto coin or token representing their investment. But unlike an ICO, a security token represents an investment contract into an underlying investment asset, such as stocks, bonds, funds and real estate investment trusts (REIT). A security can be defined as a “fungible, negotiable financial instrument that holds some type of monetary value,” i.e., an investment product that is backed by a real-world asset such as a company or property. A security token, therefore, represents the ownership information …

The Bank of Lithuania has updated its position on virtual assets and initial coin offerings (ICOs), according to an announcement published on Feb. 14. The Bank of Lithuania initially issued a document detailing its position towards ICOs and digital currency in October, 2017, defining how and when virtual assets may be used for payment. The document also specified how and on what terms financial market participants (FMP) may establish investment funds for investment in virtual assets. The recent document reveals that the bank has not made changes to its underlying principles, stressing that FMP still should separate their financial services …

Spanish cryptocurrency mining startup CryptoSolarTech will return $68 million raised during its initial coin offering (ICO). A screenshot of an official letter sent to investors was posted on Twitter Wednesday, Feb. 20 by Spanish IT lawyer Sergio Carrasco. CryptoSolarTech apparently aimed to build a crypto mining facility powered by solar energy in Southern Spain, but failed to get a building permit. Citing reasons beyond their control, the founders of the project promised to return funds within 60 days. The startup also claimed that it is not responsible for any of the tokens purchased after Feb. 19. In June 2018, CryptoSolarTech …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged crypto firm Gladius Network with selling unregistered securities after the company self-reported to the commission, an SEC press release reveals on Feb. 20. Gladius reportedly raised approximately $12.7 million in cryptocurrency during its initial coin offering (ICO) in late 2017, after the SEC had warned that tokens offered in such sales can be classified as securities under U.S. law. The commission specifies that the startup did not register its tokens with the agency and its “ICO did not qualify for an exemption from registration requirements.” According to the press release, …

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has outlined what it believes to be the consistent threads running through fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO) schemes. The Bureau’s perspective was shared in an interview with Netherlands-based financial news site the Paypers on Feb. 19. According to the FBI, the key strategies of scam offerings include misrepresentations of their directors’ professional experience, an engineered false impression of how much traction the ICO has garnered in the industry, and unrealistic promises of prospective returns on tokens: “Like any investment product, rates of return can never be guaranteed and if it sounds too …