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).
Computer-sharing network Salad is announcing a $17 million Series A round. Salad offers an open-source desktop application that invites gamers to share storage, bandwidth, and other resources from their idle PCs in exchange for rewards. Salad says users have earned what is equivalent to more than $5 million in rewards, and that its platform has quickly become the world's most distributed super-computer. Bob Miles, founder and CEO of Salad, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Cannabis producer Cresco Labs is acquiring rival Columbia Care in a $2 billion all-stock deal, creating the largest U.S. cannabis company by sales. The deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022, is one of the biggest in the industry's history and would make Cresco the dominant player in a market projected to reach $46 billion in revenue by 2026. Charlie Bachtell, CEO of Cresco Labs, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Sports betting has boomed over the past year; but at the same time, sports betting stocks have not been so hot. Now, some sports betting brands are starting to rethink how to spend their money, especially when it comes to ads. It will come after online sports betting brands spent more than $320 million on advertising in 2021, up 38% from 2020, per MediaRadar. Brendan Coffey, sports finance reporter for Sportico, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Rowing-machine maker, Hydrow, raised $55 million in Series D funding round, led by Constitution Capital. Hyrdow offers a connected rowing machine that costs $2,495. The company's funding round comes as the at-home fitness industry is facing some challenges, due to many consumers returning to gyms after working out at home during the pandemic. Bruce Smith, founder & CEO of Hydrow, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Sam Thapaliya, Founder of Zebec, explains the two major problems associated with paying public figures in crypto, and how his firm is best-suited to help facilitate payments within the growing industry.
Wes Fulford, CEO of Viridi Funds, breaks down how several key headlines, include President Biden's executive order on crypto and rising inflation, are impacting the price of major cryptocurrencies during a volatile period.
