In Short
The Situation: In February 2018, Germany's
Federal Financial Supervisory Authority ("BaFin")
published an advisory letter on the classification of tokens as
financial instruments, which was widely criticized for being too
vague.
The Result: Members of BaFin's department
of financial technology innovations recently authored and published
an article that responds to this criticism and further elaborates
on the classification of tokens from a regulatory perspective.
Looking Ahead: While BaFin sets forth its view
on the applicability of the existing general legal framework to
tokens, the German government aims to promote a specific regulatory
framework on a European and global level for the offering and trade
of cryptocurrencies and tokens.
