Equity crowdfunding: promising, but complicated by now

Website design By BotEap.comA new beginning

Website design By BotEap.comAfter waiting a long period of time, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally unveiled the Crowdfunding Regulation. The SEC also set May 16, 2016 as the official date to allow websites to offer the service of share crowdfunding. Since May 2016, a group of websites that received approval to operate entered the US crowdfunding market.

Website design By BotEap.comDiversified crowdfunding services

Website design By BotEap.comA quick look at the US crowdfunding market, one would find that the market is a bit messy and very confusing. Actors in the crowdfunding market include websites that have been offering diversified services. Those existing players include donation-based websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, websites that were approved by state legislation and regulators for in-state equity crowdfunding, and websites that offer services based on Regulation D and / or Regulation A, or only accredited investors.

Website design By BotEap.comNew websites purporting to offer Title III, stock-based, or simply stock crowdfunding service may have added further confusion to companies and investors. Among those new websites, some of them have already been in the crowdfunding business for several years and are open to accredited investors or accepted investments for Regulation D / A etc.

Website design By BotEap.comBrilliant Future

Website design By BotEap.comOver time, any website that wants to offer Title III crowdfunding (or equity) will need to get approval from regulators. But, at this point, business owners or investors have to find out which website offers what kind of crowdfunding service before using any of them. Perhaps, that was one of the reasons crowdfunding websites, including some with millions of visitors, have seen a significant drop in traffic in recent months.

Website design By BotEap.comAlthough no one knows what will happen in the US crowdfunding market in the future, hopefully the market will figure it out on its own. With Crowdfunding regulation in place, the US crowdfunding market will grow and expand into a healthy market.

Website design By BotEap.comIn some other countries, crowdfunding was launched without the proper regulations. The market quickly turned sour for companies and investors. Although the majority of crowdfunding websites in that country are honest players, the bad reputation of the entire industry pushes most players to exit the market entirely or to conduct crowdfunding businesses under the cover of other businesses.

Website design By BotEap.comOne of the key questions for the US crowdfunding market is whether the “crowd” will support and invest in companies seeking website funding. Currently, no one has an answer yet.

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