Author: Michael J. Casey
Release Date: September 28, 2017
Abstract:
A new phenomenon—initial coin offerings—enabled through blockchain technology is upending basic tenets of 20th century capitalism. This project studies the development and ramification of the emerging token economy, its viability, and the legal and policy ramifications in terms of securities law and property rights.
This research underscores the importance of financial derivative contracts as use cases for blockchain technology in general and for smart contracts in particular. Blockchain and decentralized apps can increase transparency, automate the movement of collateral, reduce the need for reconciliation, and automate the management of covenants against counterparty default.
Read MoreThis project underscores the importance of standards and governance of token innovation in managing digital assets. It takes an in-depth look at the Token Taxonomy Initiative, a new open standards effort championed by a who’s who of enterprise blockchain, from Accenture and Enterprise Ethereum Alliance to Microsoft and Web3 Labs. Its members have taken a first-principles blockchain-agnostic approach to developing a Token Taxonomy Framework, which is expected to help unify our understanding of the token economy without sacrificing the decentralization that makes it so powerful. It starts with token types and progresses to token properties, with a goal of helping anyone—technologist, businessperson, or regulator—to have productive conversations and make critical decisions on token projects.
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