Third-largest Equity Crowdfunding Site in US Cancels $75M Metaverse Fund

• Republic has canceled a $75M Metaverse investment due to regulatory actions.
• However, the firm is committed to bringing a similar offering to market.
• The SEC action wiped out over $6 billion from the BUSD market share.

Republic, the third-largest equity crowdfunding portal in the United States, has backtracked its steps on a $75 million Metaverse investment due to recent regulatory actions from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“Based on the feedback we received from the SEC as well as other regulatory events that have transpired since we began this process, we no longer see a path forward for this offering,” a statement from Republic read.

However, the firm expressed commitment to making the necessary adjustments to bring a similar offering to market. Republic launched the Republic Realm Metaverse Real Estate Fund in March of 2021 exclusively to a handful of accredited investors. In later months, it added another campaign and opened it to all investors, raising $75 million.

The fund aimed to buy virtual real estate in NFT games like Sandbox, Axie Infinity, and Decentraland to hold and develop it into virtual retail malls, event places, and other communities.

According to a report, the fund’s internal rate of return (IRR) was 145% between March, when it was first established, and December, when it raised capital under Regulation A. Unfortunately, regulatory actions have put a pause on the business.

Notably, the SEC regulatory action has also wiped out over $6 billion of the market share of the Binance stablecoin, BUSD. According to data from the market tracking website, CoinMarketCap, BUSD had over $16 billion in market valuation as of January 1, 2023. But it has dropped to about $10 billion after BUSD issuer Paxos received a Wells Notice from the SEC.