The nascent UK cryptoassets industry – Post-brexit opportunity? The start of 2021 heralded new rules governing the relationship between the UK and EU. While the scope for cross-border financial services provision between the UK and the EU still remain unclear in the final hour Brexit deal, it seems likely that regulatory “equivalence” will continue for most areas of traditional financial services (e.g. including [...]
UK regulatory changes forStablecoins and cryptoassets on the horizon On the 7th of January 2021, HM Treasury published a consultation paper titled “UK regulatory approach to cryptoassets and stablecoins: consultation and call for evidence” (Consultation). The Consultation represents the first stage in the government’s consultative process with industry and stakeholders on the broader regulatory approach to cryptoassets and stablecoins. It seeks views on how [...]
Confusion risk: the next frontier When people talk about the frontiers of FinTech, they usually mean new technologies or processes; something that changes the way we do things and causes wonderment. Usually, the last thing they think about is legal and regulatory issues. As 2021 dawns, this is going to change. Except perhaps the lack of wonderment about regulation. New [...]
Lending against Crypto? – A $10bn loan market emerges as 2020 comes to a close December 15, 2020 At the time of writing, the global market capitalisation of crypto assets (bitcoin, Ethereum and the like) is in excess of US$400bn. While still much smaller than other more traditional asset classes, this is considerable growth in market cap from a year ago, and yet – considering the perception of inherent volatility in crypto as [...]
Privacy laws and blockchain December 9, 2020 The very nature of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) raises some interesting issues around privacy laws and their application to DLT. It is important for industry participants to understand this important area of law and its application to their business. Blockchain is a technology that enables the secure validation, recording, and sharing of data. The data [...]
Tokenisation of shares in a company; what is it really? December 1, 2020 We hear about tokenisation of shares regularly. But what does it actually mean? To answer the question we must confront the fact that English company law did not anticipate developments in technology. Considering tokenisation in practice requires an analysis of how the characteristics of ‘tokenised’ shares relate to the particular requirements of English company law. [...]
Central Bank Digital Currencies, Stablecoins and developing regulatory trends November 25, 2020 It seems that the recent Covid pandemic has triggered a number ‘digitisation’ obsessions across the globe. The Central Bank issued Digital Currencies discussions feels at times like a new pandemic and despite the significant research and guidelines seeking to establish standards for regulating and issuing such currencies. At a high level, the G20, and the [...]
Dispute getting you down? November 20, 2020 There are many services provided for small to medium sized businesses that do not get enough credit for their success and efficiency. Mediation is most certainly one of them. For those unfamiliar with the term “Mediation”, picture two or more parties to a commercial, or civil dispute seeking an alternative to the time consuming, extortionately [...]
Crypto asset scams: Peril in the age of Covid-19 and related legal reform November 10, 2020 As central banks around the world strive to counter the effects of Covid-19 in their respective economies, prospects of rapid inflation have led investors to believe that crypto assets, could be a good hedge going forward. For example, the price of Bitcoin has surged to more than $15000, boosted by news such as PayPal’s new [...]
The decline and fall of crypto-libertarians: influencing the crypto licencing map November 4, 2020 At the birth of the modern internet in the 1990s, cyber-libertarians argued that it created a “free” World Wide Web beyond any restrictions that could be imposed by any national regulator or government. By the turn of the millennium it was already clear that not only would the internet be subject to the increasing jurisdiction [...]
