Inventory of digital securities (STO) events in 2019

In early 2019, several forecasts have stated that "2019 will be the first year of digital securities issuance."

In this year, whether in the United States, Europe, etc., where the regulatory framework is gradually improved, or in Asia, Australia, or other places that are interested in digital asset display, digital securities have become the intersection of traditional industries and emerging technologies and have developed steadily.

Blocklike organizes the landmark events in the digital asset field in 2019, and these landmark cases are pushing the digital asset forward.

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Digital securities

In January 2019, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) proposed guidelines on how to supervise crypto assets and plans to supervise digital securities and some stablecoins, which requires companies trading digital securities to apply for permission from the FCA. In this document, the FCA classifies cryptocurrencies into three categories that are worth learning from:

"Transactional tokens" such as Bitcoin and Litecoin are not specific investments and are not currently recognized as legal tender in the UK and are not within the purview of the FCA;

"Practical Tokens" are also not regulated by the FCA;

"Securities tokens", also known as digital securities, are classified as specific investments because their definitions meet the definitions in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities). All rules covering traditional securities also apply to they. International Digital Securities Issuance Cooperation Organization STOCOOP

Announced the establishment of work

At the end of January 2019, at the ChainPlus Summit in Seoul, South Korea, STOCOOP, the international digital securities issuance and cooperation organization, announced the official launch of its establishment in the special agenda of the summit.

STOCOOP is the first international industrial organization based on the business cooperation as the fundamental foundation and built around the entire digital securities industry chain. At present, its early members include more than 10 digital securities in major global financial markets such as the United States, Europe, Canada, and China Composition of industry builders. The first members mainly include: OpenFnance, the first digital securities trading platform from the United States, Wooden House Capital, an early digital securities industry investment institution in China, and GXS Group from the Gibraltar Stock Exchange Group.

Blockchain startups 20 | 30

3 million pounds raised through STO

In April 2019, the blockchain startup 20 | 30 raised £ 3 million ($ 3.93 million) by selling digital securities on Turquoise, a platform operated by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). In this issuance, all parties expressed their hope that this can prove that "the equity of a British company can be tokenized and issued in full compliance with the regulatory and settlement system."

TokenMarket successfully issues digital securities

Financing exceeded its target by 158%

In July 2019, the digital asset crowdfunding platform TokenMarket completed the issuance of digital securities under the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) sandbox and raised 240,000 pounds, which is equivalent to its original goal (150,000 pounds). 158%. The offering took place in the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) sandbox.

It is worth noting that the STO of TokenMarket has over-raised funds in just two weeks. Directly reached 76% of the target within the first 24 hours, and this number has grown to 136% after 48 hours of sale.

United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Approval of two Reg A + digital securities offerings

In July 2019, the U.S. SEC approved two digital securities offerings based on Reg A + clauses, Blockstack and Props Project.

Among them, Blockstack is the first Reg A + digital security offering to be approved and sells its Stack tokens to the public at a price of $ 0.30 each. Based on its estimated supply of $ 867 million in tokens, its market value may reach $ 260 million.

This was followed by the announcement of the digital securities Props issued by the blockchain media company YouNow. YouNow will distribute a total of 187 million tokens to platform users and creators. Each token will be worth $ 0.1369. As the platform develops, the demand for tokens may increase, and token holders may benefit from it. YouNow has stated that since obtaining SEC approval to issue Reg A + tokens, YouNow's Props digital securities have grown revenue by 32% since July.

Harbor is iCap Equity's real estate fund

Issue STO

In May 2019, the digital securities issuance platforms Harbor and iCap Equity (U.S. Kerong Capital) issued STOs for real estate funds worth US $ 100 million. The fund is a product of Coron Capital, and Harbor promotes its digital securitization. It is reported that more than 1,100 investors hold the asset and expect to freely trade in this easier way.

Harbor stated in a blog post that Kerong Capital hopes to improve the liquidity of its four real estate funds through Harbor's blockchain platform.

German securities regulator BaFin approves multiple STOs

Includes star projects Bitbond and Fundament

In 2109, in Germany, BaFin, a securities regulatory agency, had approved a number of STO offerings, and "star projects" such as Bitbond and Fundament appeared.

In July 2019, Bitbond, the P2P lending platform, launched Germany's first STO product to support its continued provision of loan services to small businesses. Prior to Bitbond, more than 130 companies had submitted digital securities prospectuses to BaFin, but none have been approved. In this issuance and sale, Bitbond has raised more than 2.1 million Euros.

Also in July 2019, German blockchain startup Fundament received a wholesale bank bond worth 250 million euros, which is backed by real estate-based digital securities. This "digital bond" operates on Ethereum and is open to retail investors under supervision.

Digital Securities Platform Supported by Singapore Stock Exchange

iSTOX is included in the regulatory sandbox

In May 2019, iSTOX, a digital securities integrated platform supported by the Singapore Stock Exchange, was included in its central bank regulatory sandbox by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). iSTOX integrates blockchain and smart contract technology into its platform infrastructure, and all digital bonds issued will be bought and sold using fiat currencies.

As early as 2018, Singapore Exchange and Temasek Holdings subsidiary Heliconia Capital Management have invested in iSTOX.

Digital securities platform Securitize

Invested in Europe, America and Asia

In September 2019, Securitize, a digital securities platform supported by Coinbase, expanded its Series A financing and raised $ 14 million. Investors include Santander InnoVentures, the wholly-owned VC subsidiary of Japan's Mitsubishi Financial Group (MUFG), and Nomura Holdings. The new funding round brings Securitize's total funding to $ 30 million.

In November, Securitize received another investment from Japanese financial services group SBI Holdings. Securitize founder Carlos Domingo says the amount can be as high as 7 digits.

As early as 2018, Securitize completed a $ 12.75 million Series A round of financing, with financing participating institutions including Blockchain Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Ripple's Xpring Fund.

US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Proposal

Expanding the definition of “ qualified investor ''

In November 2019, the SEC intends to add a new list to expand the scope of qualified investors. Qualified investors are currently defined as organizations, banks and institutions or entities that meet certain restricted terms with a personal net worth of more than $ 1 million (or annual income of more than $ 200,000) and assets of more than $ 5 million.

The SEC is considering making changes to this term. Under the amendment, the term will be expanded to include a new category of "natural persons": people with certain professional certificates, people with private equity "knowledge employees" qualifications, Certain companies and consultants, people who meet certain requirements of the Investment Companies Act, people who manage $ 5 million in family assets, and spouses of qualified investors.

The media said that becoming a qualified investor can give entities and individuals more investment opportunities, including higher-risk investments and hedge funds. If the proposal is implemented, it will provide new channels for qualified investors to participate in the STO.

Real estate welcomes digital securities issuance boom

Since the successful listing of digital real estate-based digital securities Aspen Coin at the end of 2018, more and more traditional real estate agencies have explored digital securities in 2019.

At the end of April 2019, CurveBlock, a blockchain real estate platform backed by NatWest, the UK's leading bank, plans to issue digital securities. According to reports, investors represent their holdings by holding CurveBlock Tokens (CBUK) and gaining from their investment Part of the profit.

In May, US real estate fund Resolute.Fund and Swarm, an issuance platform, launched STO products based on real estate funds. The total value of the digital securities is as high as US $ 5 million. Digital securities holders will receive some of the benefits from real estate ownership. This is an established real estate company in the United States. Resolute hopes to bring new opportunities to real estate investment through new technologies.

On June 24, the first real estate tokenization case backed by Ethereum in French history was born. The asset includes AnnA Villa, a luxury mansion in Paris, with digital securities issued representing shares in which the property is partly owned, valued at € 6.5 million.

In October, Liquefy provided technical support for the issuance of real estate digital securities to a Bay Area family consortium and tokenized a landmark $ 600 million hotel in the Mayfair area of ​​London. The entire plan involved $ 1 billion in real estate assets.

In early November, MBK, a commercial bank listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, announced a plan to issue digital securities for real estate in Estonia as a result of a partnership with Singapore-based real estate company BitofProperty (BOP).

In mid-November, real estate asset tokenization platform UPRETS tokenized a real estate located in New York, USA. The property is an Oosten apartment in the heart of Brooklyn, New York, USA. Through the regulated public chain and blockchain technology developed by UPRETS, each token issued will represent part of the ownership of the Oosten property.

At the same time, Via East West Capital

(VEWC) issued digital securities for Thailand ’s Legend Siam theme park project and submitted a Reg D clause listing application to the SEC, which became the world ’s first digital securities based on tourism theme park real estate.

At the end of 2019, Hong Kong real estate company Stan Group is seeking regulatory approval for its real estate tokenization and plans to meet with the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission in January 2020. The group claims that its real estate investment portfolio is worth over HK $ 50 billion.

At present, STOcheck has collected a total of 11 issued digital real estate securities from various places, and real estate has become the second most popular asset class after "fintech".

Failed Digital Securities Case

In early 2019, Harbor, a digital securities issuance platform, announced the STO of a student apartment in South Carolina. However, the cancellation was announced within months of the announcement. Harbor stated that the reason for the cancellation was a dispute with the lender of the transaction.

In May 2019, the blockchain company Fluidity had planned to cooperate with the broker-dealer Propeller to complete the assets listing and STO of a $ 36.5 million real estate in Manhattan on Ethereum. However, the plan has been discontinued since then, and Shuangfa did not disclose too many details, but both sides agree that the market is in its early stages and is not ready yet.

Digital Securities Issuing Platform Securitize

Assisting in the issuance of multiple assets

According to incomplete statistics from foreign media, Securitize, a digital securities issuance platform, has assisted in issuing digital securities for more than 10 assets in 2019. These assets are in the fields of artificial intelligence, finance, real estate and other fields.

to sum up

With the combination of blockchain technology and industry, more and more traditional industries have seen the advantages of digital securities, and the number of issuances will continue to increase. The development of anything does not happen overnight. In 2019, we have seen steady progress in this field. In 2020, we can expect more participants to promote the development of digital assets.

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