Regulated Crowdfunding Is Here

It's Day One of the brave new world of equity crowdfunding ("regulation crowdfunding" to use the SEC's parlance). The final rules promulgated by the SEC six months ago became effective today. The curious thing is how quiet the run-up to today was. Perhaps we've all just been wondering whether the SEC struck the right balance between protecting investor rights and encouraging financing for start-ups and other small businesses that need capital. The VLD's Eliza Fromberg and others have suggested several reasons that equity--sorry, regulation--crowdfunding may take a while to achieve some traction in the market and in the minds of average Americans. It may come down to something as simple as what stories emerge first--crowdfunding successes, or crowdfunding scandals. Undoubtedly there will be both.