Topic: ICO
Insights
An appraisal of the MFSA’s proposed ‘Financial Instrument Test’
Pursuant to the ‘Discussion Paper on Initial Coin Offerings, Virtual Currencies and Related Service Providers’, the MFSA has released a consultation document in respect of the ‘financial instrument test’ (the “Test”).
The purpose of the Test is to determine the applicable regulatory framework for initial coin offerings, as well as...
Blockchain and the future of IP
Ten years from its genesis, blockchain is being touted as the greatest technological innovation since the emergence of the worldwide web back in 1991. 2017 was truly the year that blockchain made it to the mainstream, thanks to the meteoric price-hike of cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are built...
Blockchain and Crypto: Looking beyond the hype
The dialogue on the subject of blockchain has evolved since bitcoin achieved mainstream notoriety a few years ago.
At the time, markets were told that bitcoin was not blockchain and that the two terms were not to be confused with one another.
The prevailing impression was that there was something...
ESMA’s Advice on ICOs and Crypto-Assets: an endorsement of Malta’s legal framework?
On 9 January 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) published its advice to regulators across the EU Member States in relation to initial coin offerings (“ICOs”) and crypto-assets in general.
It is our view that the advice can be construed as an endorsement of Malta’s legal framework on...