The law and finance of initial coin offerings

• Main Authors: Aurelio GURREA-MARTINEZ, REMOLINA LEON, Nydia
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: initial coin offerings; blockchain; tokens; cryptocurrencies; securities; commodities; digital assets; fintech; debt; equity; corporate governance; accounting; finance; insolvency; data protection; financial regulation; Banking and Finance Law; Business Organizations Law
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/3717; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/5675/viewcontent/the_law.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The rise of new technologies is changing the way companies raise funds. Along with the increase of crowdfunding in recent years, the use of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) has emerged more recently as a new form to raise capital. Companies in the United States raised more than $4 billion in 2017 and over $6.3 billion were raised through ICOs in the first three months of 2018. In a typical ICO, a company receives cryptocurrencies in exchange for certain rights embodied in “tokens”, whose nature, treatment and implications are generating controversy among securities regulators around the world.