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October 2018

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On September 19,  2018, the Ukranian Parliament published a draft law which aims to set out the legal basis for the taxation of transactions involving virtual assets. The draft law defines the concept of “virtual assets,”  as well as concepts such as “cryptocurrency,”  “distributed ledger,” “token,” and “mining.” The draft law (available here in Ukrainian) seeks to introduce a separate taxation regime for transactions involving virtual assets. Thus, if a transaction involves a conversion of…

In May of this year, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) indicated that ICO issuers and their associated advisers would come under regulator scrutiny where their conduct or statements were identified as misleading or deceptive.  The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) authorized ASIC to take action against misleading and deceptive conduct in relation to ICOs, even where the ICO does not constitute a “financial product” under Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act 2001.…

Last week we reported that the US SEC stopped a fraudulent ICO that falsely claimed that it had SEC approval.  Yesterday, the SEC suspended trading in the securities of a company amid questions surrounding its statements about partnering with a claimed SEC-qualified custodian for use with cryptocurrency transactions and a purportedly registered public offering of preferred stock. The SEC’s trading suspension order says that two August 2018 press releases issued by Nevada-based American Retail Group,…

On October 10, CipherTrace – a developer of cryptocurrency AML, bitcoin forensics, and blockchain threat solutions – released its Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering Report – Q3 2018 (the “Report”).  The Report analyzed 45 million bitcoin transactions involving the top 20 global cryptocurrency exchanges to produce some sobering findings regarding the level of criminal activity at crypto exchanges and the effectiveness of AML regulation. Some key findings are summarized below. 97% of bitcoin payments made directly from…

Crypto Fund AG, a subsidiary of Swiss-based Crypto Finance AG, received authorization from the Swiss Financial Markets Supervisory Authority (FINMA) to act as an Asset Manager defined under the Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA). The Press Release from Crypto Finance AG states that Crypto Fund AG, now being an authorized Asset Manager, is permitted to “manage and distribute domestic and foreign investment funds to qualified investors and provide investment advice for institution clients.” This…

On Monday 8 October 2018, IBM announced the “IBM Food Trust”, a blockchain based production cloud network which will enable participating retailers, suppliers, growers and food industry providers to see supply chain data in near real time. IBM believes that the network will enable greater traceability, transparency and efficiency in the food chain. The IBM Food Trust relies on the open source blockchain framework, Hyperledger Fabric and will be made available to users as a…

The U.S. SEC announced yesterday that it had stopped what sounds like the most brazen fake ICO yet.  According to the complaint, Blockvest LLC not only falsely claimed that it had obtained SEC approval, it also used the SEC seal without permission (a violation of federal law) and promoted the ICO with a fake agency called the “Blockchain Exchange Commission” (using a graphic similar to the SEC’s seal and the same address as SEC headquarters).…

During 2017, the issue that probably got the most attention for companies raising capital through initial coin offerings (ICOs) was whether tokens constitute securities.  However, governmental agencies and regulators, particularly the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (“FINMA”), focused on other legal issues as well. It was reiterated that companies issuing cryptocurrencies or tokens have to consider not only securities registration but also anti-money laundering and licensing compliance. It has also become clear that blockchain-related businesses…

Enhanced efficiency, collaboration, transparency and trust are some of the key claims of blockchain technology that are appealing to many industries, including the real estate sector. Land registries around the world (including in Sweden and the Republic of Georgia) are exploring the use of blockchain and smart contracts to enable real estate contracts and property records to be completed and monies distributed in an effective and timely manner. On Monday 1 October, the UK’s HM…