Morgan Creek Blockchain Exec: Regulators Will Mandate Tokenized Equity
*By Jacqueline Corba*
The hedge fund Morgan Creek is betting on the power of blockchain to digitize company equity.
The fund's blockchain group is focused on converting traditional paper equity into tokens. This can create a more open free market for investors, and can help regulators, said Anthony Pompliano, a partner at Morgan Creek Blockchain Capital.
"The blockchain actually manages not only the equity or the capital stack but also all transactions with that equity," he said in an interview with Cheddar.
Morgan Creek Capital Management will invest $500 million in blockchain technology. The hedge fund [acquired Pompliano's Full Tilt Capital](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-27/morgan-creek-acquires-full-tilt-capital-for-blockchain-push) in March, two months after Full Tilt went all in on cryptocurrency.
"In the digital world what ends up happening is the protocol in which these transactions are happening has the rules written into them, so the rules are written in software and would not let me make a non compliant trade," Pompliano said. "We actually think that the regulators, at some point in the future, are going to mandate that every company in the world tokenizes their equity."
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/why-hedge-funds-are-betting-big-on-blockchain).
Vacasa is the largest full-service vacation rental property management company in the United States. Today, it announced the launch of a new homeowner app to help users monitor how the company is managing their vacation rental homes. It comes as consumer confidence in travel is on the rise ahead of the holiday season. Vacasa CEO Matt Roberts joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Gaming publisher Kepler Interactive secured $120 million in funding from the Chinese gaming firm NetEase. This investment comes as the global gaming market explodes with projections to cross the $200 billion mark as early as 2023. Lindsey Rostal, Co-Founder and Game Director of Timberline Studio, one of the founding studios at Kepler joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell for more.
Everyone is stepping into the NFT space, including the Grammys. 'Oneof' is entering a three-year partnership with The Recording Academy to release exclusive NFTs commemorating the 64th, 65th, and 66th Annual Grammy Awards. A portion of the proceeds will also go to The Recording Academy's scholarship fund. Adam Fell, co-founder and board member of Oneof and the president of Quincy Jones Productions, joins Cheddar News to discuss the announcement.
Jean Foster, SVP of marketing and communications for the Consumer Technology Association, joins Cheddar News to preview what attendees can expect from this year's trade show.
'THEMAGIC5' produces swimming goggles that contour the face using advanced robot technologies and 3D printing. Both of the company's founders Bo Haaber and Rasmus Barfred went on ABC's 'Shark Tank' and caught a $1 million deal. The duo join Cheddar News to talk about what the new funding means for the company.
Things are looking up for everyone's favorite crypto. Bitcoin rallied nearly 40% in October, hitting a record high of $66,975. That was the biggest single-month percentage rally since December 2020. On Monday morning, Bitcoin was trading 2.4% higher while Ethereum and Dogecoin were trading at 1.71% and 3.95%. Ben Armstrong, founder of BitBoy Crypto, joins Cheddar News to talk about the latest in the crypto space.
John Paul Mejia, the national spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement, joined Cheddar to talk about what the youth activist group wants to see from President Joe Biden as he attends the COP26 climate summit. Mejia admonished the president for having little to deliver on his own climate agenda domestically while at the conference. "We need the president to follow through with his promises because, frankly, it's a matter of life or death not only for communities here in the United States but also those looking to us around the world," he said.
Markets opened higher after the Dow and S&P 500 closed at record highs on Tuesday. It comes amid a slew of strong corporate earnings reports. Frances Newton Stacy, Director of Strategy, Optimal Capital, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell.
