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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) launched a consultation on draft technical standards on crowdfunding under the European crowdfunding service providers regulation (ECSPR). The new Regulation on crowdfunding regulates for the first time at the EU level lending-based and equity-based crowdfunding services. It introduces a single set of requirements applicable to crowdfunding service providers (CSPs) across the EU, including strict rules to protect investors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled an exposure draft of its regulatory framework for crowdfunding. "All MSMEs incorporated as a company in Nigeria with a minimum of two-years operating track record shall be eligible to raise funds through a Crowdfunding Portal registered by the Commission," according to the proposal.

According to Equity Crowd Expert, 2020 was a gangbuster year for UK crowdfunded securities offerings. In total, £332 million was raised, led by Crowdcube and Seedrs who are in the process of merging operations and who were responsible for 90% of the offerings. 433 campaigns were funded, versus 2019's 403 offerings. Crowdcube and Seedrs shared the market almost equally with Crowdcube booking the most funding and Seedrs listing the slightly more offerings. Offerings received a bit of a government boost via the Future Fund that supported 11% of offerings during the year.

The World Bank Group and the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance published a survey containing responses from regulators in more than 110 jurisdictions around the world on their approaches (and challenges) to the regulation of peer-to-peer lending, equity crowdfunding, and initial coin offerings.

According to the report, 90 percent of regulators "mentioned benchmarking and lessons learned from other jurisdictions as key triggers prompting changes in regulation more frequently than any other trigger." The survey also found that less than a quarter of respondents formally regulate peer-to-peer lending and initial coin offerings, while less than 40 percent of respondents have frameworks in place to regulate equity crowdfunding. Respondents also noted that new innovations and models are stretching regulatory resources. Regulatory resources dedicated to equity crowdfunding and initial coin offerings since 2017 have grown by over one-third and one-sixth for peer-to-peer lending. The survey also questioned the extent to which "light touch" regulatory frameworks are applied across those three areas. Lastly, the study finds that low-income jurisdictions are catching up to high-income jurisdictions, especially in regard to the regulation of peer-to-peer lenders. Here, low-income areas "are almost three times as likely as high-income ones to review their regulatory frameworks for peer-to-peer lending (43% vs. 16%)." However, as the study further shows, low-income jurisdictions are far less likely to have active regulatory innovation initiatives in place (innovation offices, sandboxes, RegTech/SupTech programs).

For some years now there has been a discussion at the European Commission regarding harmonization of online capital formation rules. Today, crowdfunding is regulated at the member state (national) level creating a mish-mash of European regulations that defy the entire concept of a single market - the entire reason the Europe Union was created.

Finland's presidency of the Council and the European Parliament reached a political agreement on a new framework which makes it easier for crowdfunding platforms to provide their services across the EU. Following finalisation of technical work, the deal will be submitted for endorsement by EU ambassadors. The new rules will remove barriers for these platforms to operate cross-border by harmonising the minimum requirements when operating in their home market and other EU countries. They will also increase legal certainty through common investor protection rules.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published its biennial Opinion and accompanying report on the money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks affecting the EU's financial sector. In terms of cross-sectoral risks, the opinion highlights risks around virtual currencies, fintech and crowdfunding platforms.

Tencent will work with Waterdrop, which forms part of China's rapidly-expanding crowdfunded health insurance industry, to leverage Tencent's existing presence and experience in the field to create as yet undefined blockchain tools.

"Alonzo will be developing on Cardano's (ADA) token upgrades in order to give application developers the tools needed for creating business applications."

The Securities Commission of The Bahamas launched its FITLink Fintech Hub to serve as the central point of contact for the Commission's engagement with the public on various issues related to FinTech, such as virtual assets business, crowdfunding, distributed ledger technology, artificial intelligence and virtual initial offerings.

Beijing startup Waterdrop, backed by social media giant Tencent, is seeking new financing at a valuation of more than $1B to fend off its better-capitalized rival, Ant Financial, in the emerging field of health care crowdfunding.

GlobexUS Holdings has signed an MOU with the Antigua and Barbuda Ministry of Finance, in partnership with Julius Capital Bank, to launch an Ethereum platform-based digital securities issuance and secondary trading platform.

Marco Polo, a trade finance blockchain that has partnered over 20 banks, is testing its first trade deal between Germany and Russia.