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Former SEC Chairman Speaks at StartEngine Summit on the Future of Fundraising
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The annual StartEngine Summit just recently concluded in Santa Monica, California, bringing together token security industry leaders from around the country. Christopher Cox, the former SEC chairman and congressman, gave the keynote address to a sold-out crowd.
The StartEngine Summit was a roaring success by any estimate. Leaders from across many different fields within the young, security token industry came together to discuss the future of the space. Much attention, however, has been given to Christopher Cox’s comments on how tokenized securities can disrupt traditional finance and usher in a new age of fundraising.
Cox is the former Chairman of the SEC and a 17-year member of the United States House of Representatives. He is also a practicing attorney. Cox’s comments centered around how tokenized securities can ease the movement of funds into startups and emerging businesses by utilizing their technology for accessible, fundraising platforms.
A New Fundraising Model
Currently, platforms, like Kickstarter and others, have tried to utilize the digital economy towards accessible fundraising platforms for creative projects. However, tokenized securities can take this model a step further.
Cox argued that tokenized securities provide us with an opportunity to have compliance, security, and ease of business all on-chain, thus making the entire fundraising process easier.
It is actually a myth that tokenized securities will be harder to regulate than traditional securities, he says. In fact, because of distributed ledger systems, every transaction can be tracked and viewed. This makes the entire process of compliance easier, but naturally, the specifics still need to be worked out. The main issue with tokenized securities now, Cox argues, is the hesitance of governments to make any specific laws on the industry. Yet, Cox goes on, as the tokenized security expands, the SEC and other governmental bodies will not be able to hold off on these legal questions much longer.
The cryptocurrency space and fundraising have had joined interest for some time now. Just recently, the Goldman Sachs-backed firm, Circle, acquired crowdfunding platform SeedInvest. Other projects, like DESICO, have been attempting to create their own fundraising platforms through tokenized securities. In all, fundraising seems to be one of the first sectors on the radar for tokenized securities to disrupt.
You can watch a livestream of the entire summit here.
Do you agree with Cox’s comments? Is the fundraising sector a natural fit for the tokenized security industry? Leave your comments below.
Image courtesy of Blockchain Beach.
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Tim Fries
Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird's US Private Equity division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.
