Gibraltar Token Regulation Proposals Published By Government Of Gibraltar

Introduction & Background

Following the proliferation of initial coin offerings (ICOs) last year, in which funds raised through the sale of digital tokens surpassed venture capital funding, we have seen different approaches, interpretations and developments evolve rapidly in the space. The Government of Gibraltar (GoG) has taken the bold move of being the first authority to publish proposals for specifically regulating certain activity in this new area of crowd financing.

Recent proposals in France are also aiming to provide legal certainty but in the form of an optional authorisation scheme where certain initiatives would aim to operate within an approval system and be required to provide certain guarantees, while those that choose not to comply would not be restricted from operating. Other regulators are approaching the ICO space quite differently. The Luxembourg regulator (the CSSF) has recently issued a warning against investments in the space, raising the