I work in private equity so I've been keeping an eye on the crowdfunding space and the quality of the equity on offer is -- to put it lightly -- unbelievably low. I saw one company offering a SAFE note that only paid out if they went public... for a single location brewpub (not even a chain concept!). I'm not sure if that's legally the same as theft, but I'm quite certain it is statistically the same as theft.<p>I'd advise everyone to steer clear of the space until we have a government interested in minimizing the level of fraud and abuse. This current development is likely to make things worse, not better.
Now that Facebook CPMs are dropping (because major brand advertisers are pausing spend), the snake oil salesman are back.<p>There's a hilarious Facebook ad where you can invest in a COVID-19 telemedicine startup. The doctor in her office is tending to a sick patient. Through a laptop. And they both are wearing heavy masks for the laptop session.
I've noticed multiple advertisements to invest in golf or food production robotics on Instagram, of all places, in the past week. I always wonder what kind of sucker invests into an Instagram advertisement.
Crowdfunding should be loosened. Sure some people will get scammed but it is the same people who the government allows to sink their weekly paycheck into scratchers. These regulations are only in place to give PE a monopoly on certain investments.
Deep down, I want to believe that someone, somewhere in the government apparatus is working feverishly to help the other apparatchiks to understand the Golden Goose's carotid arteries have been severed, and if something isn't done immediately the entire income stream of all governments is going to fade away into nothing.