There are (as usual these days) many interesting developments in the blockchain capital markets space this week. First up, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) director William Hinman announced the Commission intends to release "plain English" guidance for ICO issuers. This information may help those gearing up for an offering to determine whether the SEC will consider the token a security. Hinman is the same director who gave an interesting speech in June about what should be considered a security, which we wrote about here.
Also in regulatory news, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has weighed in on capital adequacy requirements for crypto assets, recommending (but not requiring) that investors should be "assigned a flat risk weight of 800% to cover market and credit risks." This would mean, for example, that for each bitcoin held, a bank should assume a value of eight times that amount in fiat currency when calculating the risk-weighted value of its assets. FINMA also recommends institutions limit their crypto trading activities to 4 percent of total capital, including long and short positions.
While everyone agrees the capital markets have raised a significant sum from initial coin offerings (ICOs) this year, what the total amount is depends on who's asked. Estimates range anywhere from $11 billion to $22 billion; the divergence exists because while the issuers have self-reported how much they raised from their ICOs, market watchers can take those numbers at face value or adjust. That said, according to a recent report, Israel-based ICOs have raised $606 million during the third quarter this year. Israel has reportedly attracted $1.3 billion in blockchain investments so far, with the plurality of the money going into the fintech space.
In the world of banking, Bancor announced it will provide cross-blockchain token swaps between ether and EOS-based tokens, without exchanges. The company believes this will allow its users to "seamlessly interact with any blockchain which best suits their needs." And a major Spanish bank announced it has completed a test program that placed a $150 million syndicated loan on the Ethereum blockchain. The pilot reportedly eliminated the need for banks to share information via fax, a slow and costly process.
To read more about the topics covered in this week's post, see the following:
- SEC Official Says 'Plain English' Guidance On ICOs Is Coming
- How Much Have ICOs Raised in 2018? Depends on Who You Ask
- Report: Israeli Projects Raised Over $600 Million via ICOs as of Q3 2018
- First Israeli Blockchain Report
- Israeli Startups Raised $600 Million Through ICOs in 2018: Report
- Bancor Begins Cross-Blockchain Token Trading Between Ethereum and EOS
- BBVA Puts $150 Million Syndicated Loan on Ethereum Blockchain
- Swiss FINMA sets tough restrictions on bank bitcoin trading
- Swiss Regulator Imposes 800% Risk Weighting for Bank Crypto Trading
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