Blog

Last week, BaFin published its note concerning the authorization process for the operation of crypto security registries. This is a summary of the most important expectations of the authority.

Governance votes often are problematic events for validators, because the interests of their delegators may contradict. What can operators of validators do to protect themselves in these cases?

Direct investments in crypto assets are not that attractive to investors in times of a bearish market. Crypto derivatives offer an alternative, but how are these instruments regulated and is there a sufficient supervision in place?

Crypto management is a regulated activity in Germany. However, it is not quite clear which specific services are included in this activity.

The European and global Anti Money Laundering regulation works via preventive measures of central market actors. But crypto transactions can also be executed without the services of such service providers. Is the traditional regulatory approach still up to date?

Even though crypto custody services are of great importance for centralized service providers in the crypto market, only small profits are possible. Would allowing of interest for crypto balances held in custody by the crypto custody service provider be covered by the authorization to conduct crypto custody business?

While implementing the Travel Rule, the European Parliament also intends to severely restrict the usage of unhosted wallets in order to restrict anonymous crypto transactions in Europe. What are the implications of these plans for the self-custody of crypto assets?

A lot of business models related to cryptocurrencies can be designed as tied-agent-solutions. How does the connection to a liability umbrella work and what are the requirements that must be fulfilled by the involved companies?

Last week, a de facto ban of the Proof-of-Work consensus mechanisms in the EU via an EU regulation was narrowly avoided. But could the EU actually decide on such a ban in a legally effective way?

Staking Pools offer investors a low-barrier option to generate passive income. But are these offers potentially regulated as Alternative Investments Funds?

Stablecoins offer a stable alternative in the extremely volatile crypto market. They are therefore suited as an alternative means of payment and moreover to preserve value in the crypto market. But are they also qualified as financial instruments as traditional cryptocurrencies are?

Crypto lending has become a popular way to generate passive income. As a matter of fact, service providers begin to create business models in such settings. But can these service providers be subject to authorization pursuant to German regulatory law?