Over the past 10 years, crowdfunding, which allows a large number of individuals to collectively finance a new business venture through a technology platform, has risen rapidly as a popular way of financing a wide range of activities including business ventures, personal loans, and charity projects. The modern crowdfunding business mode consists of three types of players: the project proposers who provide the original idea/blueprint/project that requires external finance, potential investors who are interested in the idea, and an internet platform that brings all parties alongside to kick-start the new business venture. According to crowdexpert.com, the global crowdfunding industry raised an estimate total of $34 billion in 2015.1 Amidst the take-off of crowdfunding around 2010 (Fig. 1),2 technology-based innovations also emerged in other sectors of the financial industry.
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