Monthly Update
Digital Securities Monthly Report – July 2020 Edition

Regulatory Advances and Findings
Regulators had a busy month, announcing various fines and allegations during this time period. Continuing her open-minded stance towards blockchain, SEC Commissioner, Hester Peirce, also took the time to provide insight into recent rulings surrounding Telegram.
Ontario Securities Commission Alleges Coinsquare Committed Various Securities Violations
Abra Fined $300K in Joint Effort by SEC and CFTC for ‘Security Swapping'
Commissioner Hester Peirce Dissents on SEC Telegram Ruling and Settlement
Entering the Sector
It is no secret that established companies are beginning to warm up to the idea of digital securities and cryptocurrencies. July demonstrated this, as multiple respected companies announced their foray into these sectors.
WealthSimple Announces Bitcoin and Ethereum Investing with the Help of Gemini Custody
SBI Holdings Acquires 10% Stake from Nomura Holdings in Digital Securities Platform ‘Boostry'
Real Estate
From day one, real estate has been viewed as the most promising implementation for digital securities. As such, we have seen various companies launch real estate focused platforms over the past few years. July continued this attraction to real estate, as we were greeted with news of, not only new capital raises by real estate developers, but the listing of real estate backed digital securities on a secondary market.
tZERO to Add Trading of ASPEN Digital Securities Token in Q3, 2020
In The News
Adoption of NEM's Symbol Blockchain Increasing Among Central Banks and Startups
Slowly but surely, companies are building out the necessary foundation for a future filled with digital securities. In July, one project, which caught the attention of many, is ‘Symbol'. This protocol, purpose built with digital securities in mind, looks to launch soon, with its first users already lined up. Read More
“…we were on the lookout for a protocol that would facilitate this unique offering. Symbol from NEM was a natural fit, due to its technical capabilities, purpose-built with the issuance of security tokens at the forefront of its network architecture.”– David Siemer, CEO of Wave Financial
Educational
What is DeFi (Decentralized Finance)?
The world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies has recently seen a long expected resurgence. Much of this current run and excitement revolves around the potential of DeFi. We recently took a closer look at what DeFi is, why it is important, and the possibilities it holds. Read More