1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 An initial exchange offering(“IEO”) is a crowdfunding mechanism which, for the large part is similar to an initial coin offering (“ICO”) but for certain reasons is considered an improvement over it. Prime amongst these is that an exchange serves as a trusted intermediary between the token sellers[1] and the buyers. This meansRead more
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What is the document? The Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (“Staff”) of the Securities and Exchanges Commission (“SEC”) recently released a Framework for ‘Investment Contract’ Analysis of Digital Assets (“Framework” or “Document”)[1]. These are essentially guidelines to assess whether an investment into a digital asset (which, per the document includes any asset whichRead more
What was promised? In November 2018, The US Securities and Exchanges Commission (“SEC”) promised to come out with a ‘plain English’ guidance for developers who wished to undertake their own token offerings[1] (‘token’ is used to indicate a cryptocurrency, crypto-asset or a digital asset; these terms are used interchangeably here, strictly for the purposes ofRead more
News has it that Facebook is foraying into online remittances and will introduce a tethered digital asset named “Libra” to fuel this system. Libra will be linked with the INR (i.e. the Indian National Rupee) and each Libra will always convert to 1 INR. How will this play with the April 2018 RBI circular that imposed a deRead more
This report seeks to identify trends in funds raised by and the market capitalization of the most successful blockchain projects in various sectors, such as smart contracts, finance, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and specialized blockchain. The report is available here.
On 29th May, 2018, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”) released the draft Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (“Regulations”), aimed to curb the problem of unsolicited commercial communication, or spam, for telecom subscribers. As stated in the accompanying press release, TRAI has chosen to adopt Distributed Ledger Technology (also known as “blockchain”)Read more
What are Virtual Currencies? The concept of virtual currency is perhaps best understood by way of an example. Take Airline Miles, for example, also referred to as frequent flier miles–the more you travel with an airline, the more Airline Miles you accumulate. These can later be redeemed for more tickets. When you redeem yourRead more
The Government’s Position on Cryptocurrency While the novelty factor of cryptocurrency and the blockchain technology has not abated since 2009, Indian regulators have only recently begun evaluating the financial and security risks posed by virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. The Finance Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley, announced in his 2018 Budget Speech that the government doesRead more
[This article was first published on MediaNama, here] Starting 05 April 2018, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) banned banks and other financial sector organizations that it regulates from extending services or dealings to individuals or businesses engaging in virtual currency related transactions. Existing services extended will need to be discontinued within a time period yet toRead more
Anish Krishnan, interning with us at TRA for January – February 2018 and Nehaa Chaudhari, Lead – Policy have put together a timeline on key developments on #cryptocurrency law and policy in India. February 10th: Sebi chief states Rules on cryptocurrencies should be out soon. Tyagi, who is part of the committee formed by the government toRead more