Perspectives and insights from Mayer Brown lawyers and other thought leaders that touch on digital assets, decentralized finance, cryptocurrencies and related fields.
Wyoming Adopts Stable Token Legislation and Lays the Foundation for a Government-Issued Stablecoin
Wyoming’s recently-enacted Stable Token Act is the latest step in the Cowboy State’s efforts to create a business and legal environment that is tailored to digital assets and blockchain businesses. The Act creates a path for Wyoming to create the United States’ first government-issued stablecoin, which would be fully backed by reserves of US dollars. However, the law is short on specifics, and the committee created by the Act to develop the Wyoming stablecoin will have a list of open issues and challenges to overcome before the first token issuance. In this Legal Alert, we give a TL;DR version of the Act and the what it could mean for stablecoins in the United States.
Silver Linings Playbook: Celsius Bankruptcy Ruling Provides Cryptocurrency Tax Planning Opportunities
In January 2023, a New York Bankruptcy Court decided that depositors in the Celsius “Earn” program were unsecured creditors and no longer had an ownership interest in the cryptocurrency deposited on the Celsius platform. This decision will make it significantly harder for depositors to gain a recovery in the bankruptcy. The decision, however, provides a tax loss harvesting opportunity for these depositors and others who find themselves similarly situated on other platforms. Mark Leeds and Kyoolee Park, tax lawyers in Mayer Brown’s New York Office, explore the tax considerations applicable to this decision in this Legal Update.
European Parliament Endorses EU Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation
On 20 April 2023, the European Parliament endorsed the European Union’s landmark Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) Regulation—the world’s first comprehensive crypto law—and the Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR), which requires service providers to trace transfers of crypto-assets in a bid to halt money laundering. The laws will now have to be formally endorsed by the Council, before publication in the EU Official Journal. They will enter into force 20 days later.
For details on MiCA, see our alert.
Germany Paves the Way for Electronic Shares on Blockchain
Germany is often considered one of the most crypto-friendly countries in Europe. The government has now proposed the "Future Financing Act" that will, among other things, pave the way for electronic shares on blockchain. Back in 2021, Germany passed the Electronic Securities Act, which cleared the way for the issuance of securities on blockchain and introduced licensing requirements for crypto custodians, among other things. Recently, German industrial giant Siemens made use of that law to issue a €60 million security using the Polygon blockchain. The laws enabling the issuance of crypto securities and shares implement some of the main points of the German Government's blockchain strategy, which was introduced in 2019.
Overheard at NFT.NYC – Five Key Takeaways
Across 6,000 attendees and 1,300 speakers at NFT.NYC2023 in April, there were numerous perspectives and predictions. In this article, we highlight five major themes we took away from the event for those who missed it.
