Weekly cryptocurrency review #12

ESMA will investigate the ICO fundraising model

According to the Reuters agency report, the EU regulator ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority) is analyzing the ICO fundraising model.

Steven Maijoor, chairman of this institution, said that they are watching the individual ICOs to try to determine which ones should be subject to existing securities regulations. Maijoor explains that:


"Some of these ICOs are the same as financial instruments. When it is a financial instrument, it is subject to all regulatory frameworks".

Maijoor also said that there are ICOs that do not fit into the existing regulatory framework and require a different approach.

"The next question is: what do we do with these ICOs that are outside the regulatory world. The board will assess this, and the report should be ready by the end of the year”.

ESMA has recently revealed that it has allocated 1.1 million euros from its budget to monitor financial innovation, including cryptocurrencies. The regulatory landscape of cryptocurrencies is still foggy in most EU Member States, but there are some exceptions, such as Malta, a state that has not only taken a proactive approach to regulate the crypto space but also welcomes the blockchain and cryptocurrency companies with open arms.

France is another EU country that can become a leader in this industry, because their finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, expressed his very positive opinion on the blockchain and crypto assets.

Goldman Sachs invests in the Blockchain project that aims to replace SWIFT

The largest investment bank in the world announced its interest in the blockchain by investing in the Veem project. The financial giant also confirmed support for the blockchain payment service provider, which wants to replace the SWIFT model.

Goldman Sachs has finally recognized the potential and opportunities offered by blockchain technology. Whereas in the past, banking representatives publicly expressed their doubts about cryptocurrencies, the possibilities offered by blockchain technology are increasingly appealing to the awareness of the New York company. Therefore, the bank invested in a blockchain start-up that wants to shake the current monetary system with the new payment service. The Veem team is now working on a new payment platform that will replace "40-year technology that constantly charges small businesses, loses payments and lacks transparency”.

To counter these shortcomings, Veem wants to offer a payment platform with high scalability, high security, and lowest fees.

So far, the company managed to raise money only from well-known investors. According to official data, they closed the last $ 25 million financing session, and Goldman Sachs topped the list of investors. Other investors include GV (Google Ventures), Silicon Valley Bank, Extol Capital, Trend Forward Capital, Small Perkins, and Pantera Capital. After the partnership with Goldman Sachs, the company expects even more significant growth acceleration.

Let’s recall: SWIFT is a system of information exchange between banks, allowing identification of banks and other financial institutions during international transfers. Over 8,000 banking entities in the world currently use SWIFT services. These are brokers, investment managers and market infrastructure entities in the areas of payments, securities, treasury, and commercial operations. Replacing or improving SWIFT through blockchain can trigger a real revolution in the international finance area.

And what about cryptocurrency markets?

The previous week in the markets was very calm. The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies grew slightly last week and currently amounts to 216 737 721 021 USD. Bitcoin's dominance over other cryptocurrencies also increased slightly and now stood at 52.4%. The following two charts illustrate this situation:


(source: CoinMarketCap.com)



(source: CoinMarketCap.com)