Insights

The November 13 discussion examined the pros and cons of blockchain and cryptocurrency and how it intersects with active central bank digital currency pilot programs underway around the globe.

House lawmakers are drafting legislation to preempt some aspects of state licensing and regulation of the virtual currency industry in a bid to help U.S.-based crypto exchanges and blockchain companies remain competitive in a global market. “We have 50 states here, and those states have many different people who have interests in securities markets,” Paul Atkins, a former commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission who now leads the financial services consulting group Patomak Global Partners LLC, said during a panel.
“Is [the SEC] a merit regulator, or should investors be able to decide for themselves what to invest in?” says Paul Atkins, a former SEC commissioner and now chief executive of Patomak Global Partners, a financial consulting firm. Resolving that debate will take time, he says.
Token Alliance co-chairs Paul Atkins and Jim Newsome write in an op/ed in Morning Consult: The private sector drives innovation; it is one of the best characteristics of the American economy. In contrast, the government operates deliberately and carefully. That is why we worked with Token Alliance, an initiative of the Chamber of Digital Commerce representing more than 350 blockchain and token experts from around the globe, to develop a comprehensive set of guidelines now to help shape the responsible growth of the token marketplace. The collaborative report is designed to be used as a resource among industry innovators, consumers, and policymakers to address so-called “utility tokens,” an aspect of the token economy fighting to be recognized.
Token Alliance co-chair Paul Atkins, President/CEO of Patomak Global Partners, discusses a new report on digital tokens, and what it means for the digital assets industry.
Forbes contributor Aaron Staley writes: “…An overly expansive interpretation and application of the Howey Test could threaten the utility of blockchain technology and could stifle innovation,” states a new report from the Token Alliance, a coalition led by the Chamber of Digital Commerce - the U.S. blockchain and digital asset trade group... “These industry-developed principles are an important tool for responsible growth and smart regulation that strikes the right balance between protecting investors while allowing for innovation in this new technological frontier,” said Paul Atkins, CEO of Patomak Global Partners and a former SEC commissioner.
Paul Atkins is the co-chair of the Digital Chamber of Commerce Token Alliance. Download the white paper, “Understanding Digital Tokens: Market Overviews & Guidelines for Policymakers & Practitioners” here.
Chairman of the Advisory Board for CoinDesk, Michael Casey writes: “…if digital tokens are to matter and if they are to enable networks of distributed trust, the industry needs to advance to adulthood… As such, it is encouraging to see proactive efforts to promote best practices. The latest such effort comes from the Token Alliance, an industry initiative of the Digital Chamber of Commerce that comprises 350 global industry participants, including blockchain and token experts, technologists, economists, former regulators, and practitioners from over 20 law firms. On Monday, the Alliance will release its first white paper, one that aims to bring two important constituencies – industry leaders and regulators – into alignment around the appropriate business and legal treatment of digital token issuances.
Chamber of Digital Commerce Initiative Releases Report to Provide Policymakers & Practitioners Tools to Navigate Token Landscape   Washington, D.C., July 30, 2018 – The Chamber of Digital Commerce’s Token Alliance today released…

WSJ reporters Gabriel T. Rubin and Dave Michaels write:

WASHINGTON—Big Silicon Valley backers of cryptocurrencies have sought a broad exemption from federal oversight they say would slow digital coin growth, as the industry steps up lobbying to limit government oversight of the burgeoning world of cryptocurrencies...

...The cryptocurrency industry’s more established players last December scored a victory for their legitimacy when two of the biggest derivatives exchanges, CME Group Inc. and Cboe Global Markets , launched bitcoin futures. By allowing the contracts to come to market, the CFTC signaled that the bitcoin exchanges whose indexes were used to reference the contracts had proper safeguards against fraud and manipulation.

“It was good to help institutionalize bitcoin and have those on supervised platforms,” Mr. Atkins, the former SEC commissioner, said April 11 at a cryptocurrency conference.