Eight platforms are now approved for the new European licence for crowdfunding providers. Dutch platform NLInvesteert is the latest to receive the go-ahead. Crowdfunding platforms were supposed to be approved before November 10th, but the deadline has been pushed to next year.

Dutch crowdfunding platform Oneplanetcrowd has been acquired by the Finnish Invesdor Group. As a result of the takeover, together, the companies have invested over 438 million euros in sustainable companies. Both platforms will continue operating under their own name.

Latvian peer-to-peer lending platform Mintos has reached a new milestone of 500,000 registered users. During this year, an average of 4,372 new users registered each month. The platform expects to continue growing its customer base next year.

US-based cryptocurrency exchange platform Gemini has launched in five European countries this week. It is now operating in Denmark, Sweden, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Liechtenstein. The expansion follows its launch in Ireland earlier this year.

Irish peer-to-peer lender Linked Finance has surpassed the milestone of 200 million euros worth of lending. More than 3,300 SMEs have received this funding since Linked Finance launched in 2013. The news comes 18 months after the platform reached its last milestone of 150 million euros in lending.

Estonian land investment platform LandEx is holding a seeding round on Seedrs, the goal is to raise at least 100,000 euros. The raised funds will be used to boost its capacities, which will generate more revenue. The platform also wants to become regulated by the Financial Supervisory Authority in Estonia with this capital injection.

The long awaited update to ethereum is planned to commence this Thursday. The blockchain will join with a proof-of-stake blockchain, called the Beacon Chain. The merge will make ethereum more sustainable.

English equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs has reached a new milestone. In total, it has passed 2 billion pounds (2.32 billion euros) in recorded investments on the platform. This amount was recorded across 1,722 deals in total.

Dutch equity crowdfunding platform Symbid has been acquired by Romanian crowdfunder SeedBlink. Combined, the platforms have invested over 110 million euros in 250 tech startups in total. Symbid users now gain access to more European investment opportunities.

The British financial regulator FCA has released stricter rules on the marketing of high-risk investments to consumers. Peer-to-peer and equity crowdfunding platforms will need to give clear warnings and ban some investing incentives.