ADGM Issues Guidelines Regarding Initial Coin Or Token Offerings

The Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM) issued the Guidelines concerning the use of Initial Coin or Token Offerings (the ICO Guidelines) on 9 October 2017 to regulate fund-raising through coin or taken sale including the use of virtual currencies. These guidelines were issued by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of the ADGM as per section 15(2) of the Financial Services and Markets Regulations of 2015 (FSMR). Under the ICO Guidelines, virtual instruments have been classified into the following categories:-

1. Virtual tokens or coins with the characteristics of securities;
2. Virtual tokens or coins without the attributes of an instrument;
3. Virtual currencies; and