A new working group in the State of Massachusetts launched by the state’s leading securities regulator is trying to clarify some of the obscure regulations for blockchain innovators. The olive branch could not have arrived too soon, since the states of EE. UU Westerners adopt the innovation of the block chain and even Congress is closer to a regulation that does not admit cryptography.
Massachusetts Fintech Group will help start-up encryption companies comply with securities laws
Massachusetts regulators have not made it easy for blockchain entrepreneurs. State officials have kept bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies at bay, trying to discourage investors and highlighting the risks of participating in the market and attacking companies that operate in space.
Commonwealth Secretary William Galvin, who is the state’s main securities regulator, has been the iron fist behind the regulatory crackdown and has taken an “aggressive” approach to ICOs.
The locals, however, can take their hopes, since a new working group created by the same office that has addressed the cryptocurrency has been launched. The Fintech Task Force is designed to help new companies understand securities laws, and their initial focus will be on cryptographic assets. Blockchain startups should obtain clarity about what the state considers unregistered values.
Galvin, who previously characterized Bitcoin as a “speculative bubble,” said:
“This collaboration will help advise securities regulators to meet the innovative demands of this rapidly growing space.”
While the group is comprised of several members, the secret weapon is clearly Sharon Goldberg, founder and CEO of Arwen, the encryption security company based in Boston. She is using her influence to give technological innovation an opportunity to fight.
Goldberg told American Banker:
“Personally I would not be doing this if everything that came out of that was more enforcement actions, the enforcement actions are fine, but first we need to know what the rules are.”
In addition, it describes an environment among cryptographic innovators in Massachusetts that is filled with fear because the builders are not clear about the rules.
Arwen, formerly known as Commonwealth Crypto, is making it safer to convert cryptocurrencies to the level of exchange, even if the trading platform is pirated. The point is that, if there is someone who can close the gap between the Massachusetts securities regulators and the blockchain space, Goldberg is the one. The fact that she has joined Galvin’s Finnish technology working group is positive for local entrepreneurs.
Go West, Blockchain Innovators
In the USA The states along the east coast, including Massachusetts and New York, have cracked down on blockchain innovation. New York has created a cumbersome process for companies to obtain a BitLicense, which has led emerging companies such as ShapeShift to leave the state for greener pastures.
Meanwhile, as ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees points out, “finances are moving westward”, with states like Colorado, Wyoming and Arizona adopting cryptography innovation.
The state of Wyoming, for example, has already passed more than a dozen blockchain laws that provide a clear regulatory roadmap for innovators. Wyoming earned the nickname “Delaware Digital Asset Laws” in a nod to the influence of the latter state in shaping laws throughout corporate America, where more than half of the Fortune 500 companies are domiciled.
Also published on Medium.