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BaFin expressed its new, general administrative practice concerning the qualification of security tokens in an article in the BaFin journal of April 2019. Under this new administrative practice security tokens, meaning all tokens granting its owner membership or equity-like rights and that are freely tradable and transferable will be qualified as securities sui generis. This qualification by […]

Eine Krypto Tauschplattform kann auf vielerlei Arten ausgestaltet werden. Die sie ausmachende Kernfunktion ist das Zusammenbringen von Angebot und Nachfrage hinsichtlich der Anschaffung und Veräußerung von Kryptowährungen. Auch Plattformen, die kein automatisiertes Order-Matching-Verfahren bieten oder nicht selbst als Vertragspartner ihrer Kunden beim Kauf oder Verkauf von Kryptowährungen auftreten, sondern sich auf die grundlegende Aufgabe der […]

Europe offers a lot of advantages, especially for financial service providers that are located within the European Union (EU) if it comes to the internationalization of their business model. The progressive harmonization of the legislation regarding financial supervision and the capital markets within the European Union allows supervised and regulated banks and financial service providers […]

A crypto exchange platform does not always have to be designed comparable to professional stock exchanges for requiring the operator to obtain a BaFin permission. Platforms not automatically matching and executing the buy and sell orders of the users can also be required to acquire a BaFin permission prior to its launch if it is […]

Security tokens are blockchain tokens that are issued via smart contracts and that grant to their owner certain monetary rights like e.g. an interest rate or a participation right on the issuing companies’ profit. In this respect the security token differs from the utility token which grants its holder access to or benefits within the […]

Bitcoins and comparable cryptocurrencies are, according to BaFin, classified as financial instruments as defined in the German Banking Act (KWG). Therefore, a BaFin license is a mandatory prerequisite for operating a crypto exchange in Germany. What are the requirements to fulfil in order to obtain such license and what are the conceptual design options for […]

Besides of the regulatory qualification of security tokens as security, shares in investment funds or alternative investment assets quite a number of private law issues are raised when conducting securities token offerings. The most prominent pitfall when it comes to private law and security tokens is the fact that the German Civil Code BGB in […]

Since BaFin qualifies Bitcoins and comparable cryptocurrencies as financial instruments, the operating of a crypto exchange requires the operator to be BaFin licensed. But what are the requirements to fulfill in order to acquire such license and what are the conceptual design options that businesses have for meeting these requirements while at the same time […]

Probably one of the oldest Bitcoin based business models since Bitcoin became popular is the operating of Bitcoin ATMs. ATM is the abbreviation for Automated Teller Machine while a Bitcoin ATM is a machine that changes Bitcoin into bank money and vice versa. In other European countries like Austria, Switzerland or the Netherlands Bitcoin ATMs […]

Blockchain tokens that are issued by the emitter in exchange for money and that can be exchanged back to a legal tender and that are accepted as a means of payment by others than the issuer can be e-money from a regulatory perspective. But what are the advantages of blockchain based e-money and who would be legally […]

Since a few weeks the German crypto community celebrates the first BaFin approved securities prospectus, being fully compliant with German regulatory laws and statues. With this approval BaFin really displayed an innovative and progressive attitude towards blockchain based funding methods. At least three more STO prospectuses are currently awaiting BaFin’s approval and more will follow. […]

After the end of the crypto-hype in February 2018, initial coin offerings (ICOs) in general do not accumulate as much capital anymore as before. The exchange prices of the tokens decreased in many cases and ICO investors more often than not had to come to the conclusion that the business ideas in which they had […]