Topic: U.S. CrowdFunding Bill (Read 7227 times)

The SEC finished its rulemaking for equity crowdfunding:

 - http://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2015-49.html

 - http://mashable.com/2015/03/25/equity-crowdfunding-sec-vote

Where's the billion dollar website for this soon-to-be corrupt and broken program?

The crowdfunding part of the JOBS act has been nothing but a total waste of time, to-date.

Now there is this:

The Equity Crowdfunding Improvement Act of 2014
 - http://financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/bills-113hr-pih-crwdfnd-m001156.pdf
 - https://www.invigorlaw.com/congressional-committee-contemplating-jobs-act-2-0-to-revive-crowdfunding

Going to be interesting to see how this plays out!

awesome, thanks for the update!

Well, some forward progress.

SEC Clears Way for Entrepreneurs to Tweet, Blog About Unregistered Shares
 - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324694904578597691543313894.html

Next on deck:

The last thing anything near official said "no earlier than 3Q 2013".   Most in the space have concluded that since there's so little activity on the rulemaking occurring now this simply won't happen in 2013.

What is happening is that they are getting the process meted out using accredited investors and then when the rulings come out these companies in the crowdfunding space then will hopefully only need small changes to be compliant with whatever comes out the SEC's pie hole.

you are talking about a barrier to entry, not presenting an impossibility.  in fact you kind of made my point... it's not trivial but it can certainly be done.  and being second to market in the USA is going to be nearly impossible once the first player becomes registered. 

Getting registered as a MSB is not SIMPLE.   That is probably the problem that most of these USA businesses have.   If you solicit or have customers in a state you must apply, register and report to that state also.   Each state is different.  So you have the federal and 50 side nannies all to approve you.   Then, you must basically have an in house lawyer full time to comply with all the guidelines and SOPs you need to prove you have in place.   I do not think people realize how complicated it is.   Go get a sunday paper and look at some of the financial institution ads and read the disclaimer on what states that product is NOT available in.....   It is not simple nor something a 24 year old can do out of their studio apartment on a whim

fair enough.  but a little registration only gives up a little liberty so Franklin would only be a little unimpressed.  personally i look forward to a day of NASDAQ like crypto currency exchanges.  and with crowdfunding maybe an American exchange can even offer loans to start up entrepreneurs...

so, when will the sec get the rules done?

I guess I paint with a wide brush.

One of the allures of a BitFunder, for instance, is that an issuer can register, be listed and complete an IPO in a short amount of time and at little expense.  These factors are nowhere in the list of top 100 priorities for the SEC.    They aren't looking to enable scrappy entrepreneurs.  They are looking to have layers of filters, which is what was more needed before this thing called the Internet enabled individuals to do a halfway decent job of due diligence on their own.

Additionally, one of the allures of investing and trading on an cyber-equities exchange like BitFunder is that accounts are pseudonymous -- so there's no limitation that would restrict investor base to any geographic or jurisdictional boundaries.   There is no way an exchange with anonymous accounts will ever be operating with the SEC's blessing.

What could happen is that an online broker could accept bitcoins as a funding method.  Like e-Trade letting you add funds which are converted to USDs and credited to your account for trading NYSE, NASDAQ and other listed securities.  

It's your thread and so...

>But we'll never see these types of exchanges be compliant with U.S. securities law, even after the JOBS act rulemaking is completed

Why do you think it's inconceivable for a bitcoin exchange to operate in the US?  Until bitcoin is a called a currency it's as simple as getting a money transmitter license and building the software.  https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/the-next-mt-gox-mtgox-20-179147


More importantly when is the crowd-funding law going to go into effect?  I've been waiting for a year already.... (damn SEC).

There were a lot of facets to the bill.  The ones specific to crowdfunding allow a company to go through a crowdfunding portal to raise capital from non-accredited investors.  Accredited investors are those with significant net work and income (e.g., $1 million net worth, not including a home).

Currently there are a lot of projects raising money through Kickstarter.  There was the hope that the JOBS act would allow that type of project to be launched in which equity in the project would be owned by supporters.  That is not what the JOBS Act will do however.   There still will be a significant up-front investment to be able to offer equity through a crowdfunding portal.   

Exactly what will be required though is still being worked out by the SEC, with the details now delayed until much later this year.

Now we know first-hand both the risks and rewards from equity crowdfunding thanks to the now-defunct GLBSE, and thanks to a few other cyber-equity stock markets.  We know that scammers are attracted to this (e.g. a very long list)but also that incredibly profitable ventures can be the result as well (e.g., ASICMINER and SatoshiDICE).   

But we'll never see these types of exchanges be compliant with U.S. securities law, even after the JOBS act rulemaking is completed

So that doesn't really tell you a whole lot about what the crowdfunding bill is, but it does tell you what it isn't.

Not that I can see. Stalled in house subcommittee, near as I can tell.

was it signed into law?

Distraction of the week?

someone tell me what this crowdfunding bill meant

BTC0.01 reward

There needs to be a term for a person who has the audacity to invest as a "non-accredited" investor.

Self-accredited?

Wildcat?

Desparado?

Incidentally, instead of being able to eagerly anticipate the SEC's release of the results of their rulemaking at the beginning of 2013 it appears the exit of SEC Chairman Shapiro will delay by "months - if not a year - until equity crowdfunding can be fully addressed".

 - http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2012/12/13/crowdfunding-expected-to-stall-during.html
 - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324339204578173731988591450.html

Unfortunately, it will only take one man being caged for running one of these platforms, for the whole Bitcoin equity crowdfunding model to be stillborn.

how'd the bill do?