News linked to both this project and an event.
Odaily News: Fintech company MoonPay has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire North Capital Investment Technology, a private markets technology and regulated brokerage services platform. The transaction is an all-stock deal reportedly valued at over $60 million, and upon completion, North Capital will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of MoonPay.The deal will integrate North Capital's securities brokerage, investment advisory, and clearing capabilities into MoonPay's global infrastructure. North Capital owns multiple entities registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including a broker-dealer, an alternative trading system PPEX ATS, a transfer agent, and an investment advisor.North Capital provides technology, custody, custodial accounts, and secondary trading services for private securities issuers, fund managers, and institutional investors. The platform has facilitated over $8.7 billion in cumulative primary and secondary trading volume; PPEX supports secondary trading for over 1,250 approved assets. The transaction has been unanimously approved by both companies' boards of directors and remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily reports: a16z and the DeFi Education Fund jointly submitted a proposal to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce, recommending the establishment of a safe harbor rule that creates a "rebuttable presumption" that decentralized exchange (DEX) protocols and their front-end interfaces do not constitute "exchanges" as defined under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. On the same day, a16z submitted a separate letter calling on the SEC to establish a registration regime for centralized crypto trading platforms, modeled after the 1998 Alternative Trading System (ATS) rules. Both letters were dated September 14, and three days later, the SEC issued an "innovation exemption" for tokenized equity trading venues.