**6. Final considerations and future prospects**

Crowdfunding is undoubtedly spreading and it has become an object of attention for the European Union. This exponential growth is due to the interesting and important social, economic, and cultural implications that involve a lot of people and it is therefore defined as an anthropologic phenomenon. Indeed, investors target a high and undifferentiated number of crowdfunders that, via the web, multiplies while breaking down any possible geographical boundary, spreading the idea of a project that must necessarily be good and captivating so widely. This is a clear example of restoration of meritocracy, since the product can fascinate the virtual community and push it to sponsor it only if it convinces them because of its positivity. Troisi has recognized a possible solution to the financial crisis in crowdfunding that has caused an impasse in the ordinary mechanisms of bank intermediation, which lead to a reduction of the credit offer and therefore a widespread lack of liquidity [21].

Small- and medium-sized businesses and start-ups, which have had their traditional financial channel closed, both for the difficult economic crisis and for the intrinsic risks linked to their activity, can find a valid solution in bottom-up funding.

This phenomenon is constantly developing and it requires a continuous study in order to satisfy the questions that it continuously poses, considering that it is not an alternative funding phenomenon, but a marketing and engagement leverage. The donation and lending models have reached their highest expression, and the equity and reward ones are evolving both as implementation and as regulation.

This new-generation marketing technique must be analyzed in relation to the relational and collective dimensions and to the choice of the most valid model to support the new entrepreneurs. The scenarios can open with an empirical survey about the most valid platforms and the reasons behind the success or failure of some of the campaigns they promote.

From a close examination, it emerges that there is a need for a new regulatory framework to slim down financial operations and make them more transparent, and it should be uniform and easily understandable for public investors in all member states. Indeed, crowdfunding must be seen as an added value, a feature of accountability, because it is becoming more and more necessary to conjugate two worlds that are normally antithetical and dominant such as ethics and finance, which coexist in this widespread practice of modern economy. To this purpose, it would be useful to research and organize a mechanism offering crowdfunder a clear and precise evaluation of the hidden risks they might incur when they support a project to which they often adhere moved by an emotional choice without a calculated consideration. The strong potential of crowdfunding must not be ruined by any gray areas; in fact, they must be taken advantage of by using them as a relaunch driving force for the financial and business economy of our countries.
