Digital assets

Recent Articles

•  

  30/04/2024

  Financial Services Webinars On Demand

  View recordings of CMS financial services webinars available on demand.Webinars are a convenient way to stay informed and hear from our legal experts. Webinars On Demand

  Read more
•  

  28/03/2024

  UK Cryptoasset Regulation – 2023 developments and what’s to come in 2024 (Part 2)

  In Part 1 of this two-part series, we provided an overview of the myriad developments in the regulation of cryptoasset activities in the UK in 2023 and the first two months of 2024, and looked ahead to what is still to come.In Part 2, we take a step back to assess what these developments mean in the round for cryptoasset businesses providing services in or to the UK, and how that is set to change.A. Overview of the current and future landscapeCurrent position  Key takeawaysNon-security tokens: A business currently needs to be registered...

  Read more
•  

  11/03/2024

  UK Cryptoasset Regulation – 2023 developments and what’s to come in 2024 (Part 1)

  2023 will be remembered as the year the cogs of the UK legislative and regulatory machine finally began to crank meaningfully into gear in relation to cryptoassets, with a raft of legislation, consultations and discussion papers published. Through these initiatives, the UK is paving the way for a comprehensive regulatory regime to rival those in other jurisdictions with early-mover advantage, such as the European Union, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong.With a range of critical frameworks and rules set to be enacted in 2024, the pace of this legislative and regulatory development shows no sign of...

  Read more
•  

  27/02/2024

  Law Commission’s draft Digital Assets Bill – welcome news for the UK

  Following an extensive consultation and publication of its final report in June 2023, the Law Commission has now published its draft Digital Assets Bill (the “Bill”). The Bill is designed “to ensure that the law remains dynamic, highly competitive, and flexible, so that it can support transactions and other arrangements involving digital asset technology” and aims “to help to achieve the UK Government’s stated goal of the jurisdiction of England and Wales becoming a global hub for digital assets, and in particular, for crypto-tokens and crypto-token systems”.The...

  Read more
•  

  02/11/2023

  UK Cryptoasset Regulation: Three Key Updates

  On 30 October 2023, HM Treasury (“HMT”) published 3 key updates on its proposed approach to regulating cryptoassets under the UK’s financial services regulatory framework, namely:Response to feedback received on its February 2023 consultation and call for evidence on the future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets (the “February 2023 Consultation”);Policy update and consultation response on its plans for regulating fiat-backed stablecoins; andResponse to its May 2022 consultation on the management of failure of systemic digital settlement asset firms.Together,...

  Read more
•  

  03/10/2023

  VARA issues further rules governing staking and stablecoin regulation in Dubai

  Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (“VARA”) has recently introduced two significant updates to its virtual assets regulatory framework, which is relevant for all entities providing services to or from Dubai, other than entities conducting business in the Dubai International Financial Centre ( “DIFC”).  For an overview of VARA’s virtual assets framework, please refer to our previous articles here and here.These two updates involve changes to VARA’s Custody Services Rulebook and Virtual Asset Issuance Rulebook respectively, and represent key...

  Read more