A "funding portal" that will act as intermediary between crowdfunding investors and crowdfunding issuers is a type of broker.  Crowdfunding is now an industry and there is this group within the industry that has formed to become the industry's governance group.  They've created a panel that came up with a framework that specifies what and how the funding portals will do the work that they do.  This framework is called the Crowdfunding Accreditation for Platform Standards (CAPS).  

The Crowdfunding Act is not signed into law even yet, so the SEC hasn't deemed what rules the funding portals must follow.  CAPS was apparently created though to meet or exceed what those rules from the SEC will likely be requiring.   The creators of CAPS are a governing group called the CAPS Council, and includes key people that helped to guide and lobby for the Crowdfunding Act legislation.  

They've already had eight crowdfunding (funding portal) platforms successfully go through the process to become educated on and accredited in CAPS and are now having another twenty of these funding portals become accredited.

 - http://www.crowdsourcing.org/editorial/crowdfunding-industry-establishes-standards-to-help-prevent-fraud/12670
 - http://www.crowdsourcing.org/caps

S.2190 the CROWDFUND Act passed in the Senate this past week.

The next step is for it to be sent to the House to be reconciled with the JOBS Act passed previously and a revised bill passed by both the House and the Senate.  Then President Obama is expected to sign it and it becomes law.  But hold on, then the SEC has 270 days to make the rules for the regulation.   So give it nine months before the unwashed masses will be given the immense privilege of being able to invest $100 into someone else's project.

Here's a snippet I posted in another thread relating what the Crowdfunding bill brings:


There are many details though -- assuming they remain in the Act and become law.

For instance, if the amount of funds being raised (IPO'd) are under $100K, the latest tax return plus self-certified financials are all that is required for analysis of financial health by the funding portal.  Above that amount and the financials must be reviewed by a public accountant (a "compilation") and above $500K audited financials are required.

The Crowdfunding bill has limits as to how much one can invest.  For instance the maximum investment (added, per-year) in all crowdfunded projects combined for any investor is 5% of the investor's annual income when either that person's income or net worth is under $100K (though regardless of income at least $2K is allowed).

To raise funds, registration with a "funding portal" is required.  The funding portal does background checks, ensures that investors are aware of the risks [which possibly means giving an opinion (or rating) on the project's viability,] verifies that the above maximum investment levels aren't exceeded and manages the money during the raising of funds.  This "portal" function will not be cheap, so most of the types of projects you see on Kickstarter will remain on Kickstarter looking for for donations rather than being able to raise capital instead.

The Crowdfunding bill will not allow IPO'd shares to be sold for the first year after purchase to other investors (except to accredited investors or back to the issuer).  Compare that to GLBSE which has no lockup period once IPOs begin trading.

The raising of funds must hit the target (i.e., be fully funded) otherwise investors can opt to cancel any funds already paid to the portal.  Once fully funded, a 21 day hold occurs before the portal delivers the funds raised.   This is to give additional time to vet the issuer.

There may be restrictions on how the offer is pitched -- so forget sending out a tweet that reads: "Please buy shares in my new project!".  There are restrictions on using an agent or paid campaigner for help in raising funds as well.  On the upside, if you will only be issuing to accredited ("wealthy") investors, you actually will be allowed to pitch yourself at an event for the public now though.

All this is very interesting but nothing was really unexpected.  One exception though was when I learned that there is an advisory council (CAPS Council) that has already been formed and has already been operating to come up with guidelines that these funding portals would follow in vetting issuers who are raising the funds.   I'll post that in the next thread.

Webinar titled: Digital Cash: What is Bitcoin and is it legal?


The cost is $40.  Some day bitcoin will be a payment method in more online shopping carts.  For now it is Visa/MC/AmEx, etc.

 - http://www.lawline.com/cle/course-details.php?i=1942

Here's one: Dewey, Cheatem & Howe

err ..., here maybe:
 Jankovic LLC - The First CPA Firm to Accept Bitcoins
 - http://www.jankovicllc.com/apps/blog/jankovic-llc-the-first-cpa-firm-to

they accept bitcoins so I would guess they'ld know how to account for them.

If not, here's a starting place:
 - https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Tax_compliance

But if you do find one, you could suggest they participate in this webcast course:
 - http://www.lawline.com/cle/course-details.php?i=1942

This is a notable milestone, and I've added it to the list of Firsts:
 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoin_Firsts

This not only broadens awareness of Bitcoin to a wider audience (each of the 100 properties will see "bitcoin" on the website's menu), it also works as an endorsement giving Bicoin needed credibility.  Hey -- if my landlord accepts bitcoin is must be legit!  And, of course, a tenant that receives bitcoin (e.g. from an online store, or mining, etc,) now has a place to spend those without having to convert them into fiat.  

That's how bitcoin goes from just being a digital currency to being real money!


Is that custom software for that company, or is that a vertical that is sold to other property management companies?

Also, out of curiosity some questions.  Assuming the lease is in terms of USDs, then the amount of rent is calculated based on the current market exchange rate when it is paid, or the market's "open" price on the first of the month, or ??   And does the landlord include a fee (to offset the exchange fee the property manager has) or perhaps a discount (as bitcoin costs less for the property manager than the debit card payment method).    Additionally, does the payment method allow partial payment in bitcoins with the remainder via other methods?

Maybe, but take notice of what they are actually using:

 "Today, the P2P Foundation has payed its first salary in Bitcoin, the new global reserve currency based on social sovereignty"
 - http://twitter.com/#!/mbauwens/status/183139264731688960

Bauwens had a number of tweets today regarding bitcoin:
 "bitcoin as "global reserve currency": if national currency collapses, you can switch to 'global' bitcoin, and back again;"
 "bitcoin's social soveignty: not created by banks, not by state, but by a group of people who trust in a protocol"

Stacy Herbert of RT / Max @KeiserReport will be doing an interview with him.

I see that another film project on PMF which I helped to fund is now having trouble collecting.  It was oversubscribed even when it hit green light state but then only 80% of the amount that was pledged ended up getting collected.

This can really cause a problem when the project director starts to make commitments based on the funding target being reached and then collections fall short.

One method to prevent this from occurring is to require payment (as escrow) at the time the pledge is made.  

PayPal's terms of service don't allow for prepayments like this, so the project that wants this escrow feature would need to be configured as a project that accepts only bitcoin.  The problem then though is getting enough pledges for the film if it requires not only bitcoin payments but bitcoin payment upfront.  This specific film is based on a current event in the news so if it took, let's say, twice as long to get funding it might no longer have been a viable project.

What would be fantastic to see happen would be if a star from the KickStarter world  wants to do a project where equity is issued and comes on over to PMF.  The project then becomes a financial success for its investors and a bunch of those who donate through KickStarter start thinking that capitalism through PMF looks like an interesting alternative -- even if the project's investors have to figure out how to buy bitcoins to participate.

Here's my suggestion for PMF to allow projects to be configured for prepay/escrow:

 - https://getsatisfaction.com/piratemyfilm/topics/allow_a_project_to_require_escrow_payment

Triple-entry accounting is a related topic here:
 - http://iang.org/papers/triple_entry.html

But as far as this story -- the latest is that it was Corzine himself who directed at least a $200M transfer of customer's funds.
 - http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-23/mf-global-s-corzine-ordered-funds-moved-to-jpmorgan-memo-says.html

We still don't know the exact details but perhaps in a Bitcoin world with multisignature capabilities available then even if a direct order from the CEO were given the transfer wouldn't have been possible without the corresponding signature from a second party, like the firm's risk officer, for example.

High Risk Merchants Accounts are accounts that allow merchants to accept credit card as payment when the merchant does not qualify for a standard merchant account.

Business types that are prone to customer chargebacks, fraud, or have questionably legal practices or products will often be forced to use a high risk merchant account provider and end up paying a higher rate for payment card transactions.

Below is a list of business types that are generally considered as “high risk” merchants.

Bad Debt Services
- Debt Consolidation
- Credit Counseling
- Credit Restoration/Repair Agencies
- Collection Agencies
- Loan/Mortgage Modification Services
- Credit Card Rate Reduction Services
- Financial Coaching/Restoration (Consulting or Software)

Call Lines
- “Chat” and “Gossip” Lines
- Horoscopes and Fortune Telling (Includes retail locations)

Dating & Escort Services

Gambling
- Sweepstakes
- Sports Forecasting/Odds Making
- Lotteries
- Internet Gambling
- OTB (Off-Track Betting)(Generally excludes bingo, pickle cards & raffles for charitable purposes; i.e. Legit charities

Merchants Whose Product/Service May be Illegal
- Age-Restricted Products (i.e. alcohol sold via MOTO/Ecommerce without proper means of age verification)
- Tobacco Products sold via MOTO/Ecommerce
- Prescription Medications sold via MOTO/Ecommerce
- Medical Marijuana
- E Cigarettes
- Illegal synthetic marijuana supplements or “Teas”
- Paraphernalia Stores (either retail or moto) where over 50% of merchandise is for illegal purpose (water pipes, bongs, etc.)

Money Service Businesses
- Currency Dealer or Money Exchanger
- Check Cashing Services
- Dealer, Seller or Redeemer of Traveler’s Checks, Money Orders, or Stored Value Instruments
- Money Transmitter
- Any Organization Diverting Money out of the U.S.

Sexually Oriented and Pornographic Businesses, Materials/Services
- Adult Telephone Conversations/Audio Text (900 Numbers)
- Adult Book and Video Stores
- Adult Novelties
- Adult At-Home Parties (i.e. Passion Parties)
- Gentlemen’s Clubs
- Massage Parlors
- Male/Female “Enhancement” Supplements

Travel
- Airlines
- Charter Services
- Tour Operators
- Travel Agents and Brokers
- Time Shares and Time Share Related Businesses
- Travel-related Membership Clubs
- Cruise Lines
- Vacation Planners

Other Merchants Types
- Bail Bonds
- Firearms
- Infomercials
- Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)
- Merchants Offering an Extended Product Warranty/Guaranty or Service Plans
- “Opportunity Merchants” using a “free/discounted trial period” / “pay for shipping only” model
- Online supplements or nutraceutical businesses using a “free/discounted trial period” / “pay for shipping only” model

------------------------------------------------

The above list is from:
 - http://www.cardpaymentoptions.com/credit-card-processing/high-risk-merchant-accounts

Because a merchant can begin accepting bitcoin in a matter of seconds (rather than having to apply with a payment card processor, and then wait), it would seem to be a valuable tool for a business startup that is of one of the types of merchants in the list above.

Even existing merchants would benefit from adding Bitcoin as a type of payment method they accept due to the difference in fees.   Hgh Risk merchant accounts can be in the 8% to 10% fee range, or higher even.   With bitcoin, the merchant receiving payment loses nothing on the transaction fees, and converting to USDs is under 1%.  And then the bitcoin payments are non-reversible -- a significant savings there alone.

For a merchant in the travel category, for example, it would seem that bitcoin would bring significant benefits.  The nature of the business is:
 - High dollar amount transactions ($500 to $1,500 for an airline ticket alone).  
 - Price sensitive (Travelers shop around seeking a deal)
 - Repeat customers (important, so you don't have to explain what Bitcoin is / how to use it).  
 - Online (can serve customers located anywhere, rather than having to draw just from a small collection of local customers who might be Bitcoiners)

One of the few options we currently have for travel are the gift cards from Spend Bitcoins good towards Southwest Air tickets:
 - http://www.SpendBitcoins.com

Yankee is offering airfare and hotel discounts:
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=69090.0

Are there any other categories from above where Bitcoin really should be finding traction as a replacement for (or complement to) high risk merchant accounts?

Interesting.  Vouchers for fertilizer will be issued to farmers in Nigeria via mobile.
 - http://allafrica.com/stories/201202140981.html

Bookend for this post ... your guide:
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=73650.0

Related:
 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Tax_compliance

You can sell call options.

There is #bitcoin-otc marketplace in which you might find a counterparty:
 - http://wiki.bitcoin-otc.com/wiki/Option_orders

And there is MPOE:
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=67302.0

You might wish to PM gabi:
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=23132

I can verify that the site has been updated and returns the same HTML from the latest commit (e58a86a2fad0e9ac4c9530abd1035a71abbbcce7) in github.

To confirm this I first check the sha1sum hash of the html returned by a request to http://bitaddress.org:

$ wget --quiet -O - http://bitaddress.org|sha1sum
f2e410251c8741ac65d29a1c6fb8ef6919b6ab8b  -

Then from my bitaddress.org repo:

$ git rev-list --max-count=1 HEAD
e58a86a2fad0e9ac4c9530abd1035a71abbbcce7

$ sha1sum bitaddress.org.html
f2e410251c8741ac65d29a1c6fb8ef6919b6ab8b  bitaddress.org.html

And now the cameras have been turned off.  Who knew the way to beat an unjust system was to simply ignore it as if it didn't even exist.  [About a year ago the cameras were turned off because there were nearly 200,000 tickets that went unpaid which caused the scheme to become unprofitable to operate.]

And Glendale just turned theirs off also:
 - http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/03/glendale-gives-up-on-red-light-cameras-wont-enforce-tickets.html

I believe there is demand for PokerStars $s.  I don't know if PaysafeCard EUR can [apparently] be deposited just like PSC USD so that might be one way of offloading them.

 - http://www.pokerdepositoptions.com/paysafecard-poker

Could that URL be aliased?  e.g.,  so that /affiliate  instead of the full /affiliate.html is necessary?

But with this method tickets are then purchased by payment to a different address.  How can it be known how many tickets are purchased?

Looking at Mt. Gox's terms of service, it doesn't say anything about funds deposited must be used for trading purposes.

 - http://mtgox.com/terms_of_service



Money laundering is the process of concealing the source of illegally obtained money.
 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_laundering

I'm simply trying to get funds into my Dwolla account faster than their normal procedure takes.