Page 9 - February 2018 Disruption Report Flip Book

CRYPTOCURRENCY
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Switzerland’s chief financial regulator, Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), issued new guidelines governing “token generation events” (TGEs), clarifying what ICO startups must do to maintain regulatory compliance and codifying that utility tokens are not subject to securities laws. These new regulations, unveiled February 16, focus largely on anti-money laundering and securities regulation.
“The application of blockchain technology has innovative potential within and far beyond the financial markets,” said FINMA CEO Mark Branson. “Our balanced approach to handling ICO projects and inquiries allows legitimate innovators to navigate the regulatory landscape and so launch their projects in a way consistent with our laws protecting investors and the integrity of the financial system.”
As the first regulator to step forward with TGE regulation, Switzerland’s new rules will likely serve as a model for other governments seeking to adopt new cryptocurrency rules that preserve their securities laws and incentivize blockchain development. (Strategic Coin, Josiah WIlmth, 02/16/18)
In the ECB’s latest edition of #AskDraghi video series, ECB president Mario Draghi said, “Many
of you posted questions about whether the ECB is going to ban Bitcoins or it’s going to regulate Bitcoins. I have to say it’s not the ECB’s responsibility to do that.” Draghi cautioned young investors to think “carefully” before investing in Bitcoin, whose value “oscillates wildly” and is not backed by any bank or regulatory authority. (StrategicCoin.com, Joshiah Wilmoth, 02/14/18)
In the U.S., regulators have begun to address how they will treate cryptoassets. The CFTC indicated that bitcoin is a commodity and allowed futures contracts. The SEC indicated that most cryptoassets are securities and should be regulated as such. And, the IRS annoucned that “virtual currency” is to be treated as property and taxed accordingly. (Cryptoassets Market Structure, DRW, 02/14/18)
Bitcoin is blockchain’s “killer app”
In Harvard Business Review, Joichi Ito, Neha Narula and Robleh Ali wrote:
...The “killer app” for the early internet was email; it’s what drove adoption and strengthened the network. Bitcoin is the killer app for the blockchain. Bitcoin drives adoption of its underlying blockchain, and its strong technical community and robust code review process make it the most secure and reliable of the various blockchains. Like email,
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