Insights

Token Alliance Issues First Edition of Comprehensive Set of Guidelines for the Token Ecosystem

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: Silicon Valley Is Into Bitcoin. It Wants to Keep Washington Out.

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.

ABA Journal: Blockchain-Based Initial Coin Offerings Chart Uncertain Legal Terrain

ABA Journal excerpt

"While acknowledging the opportunity for fraud, Paul Atkins, a former commissioner and co-chair of the industry-led Token Alliance, an education and policy initiative, says, 'We see lots of scams coming out of any new technology, but that doesn’t mean the whole thing is corrupt.'”

Bloomberg: Bitcoin Market Poised for CFTC Insider Trading Scrutiny

By Lydia Beyoud and Andrew Ramonas

Federal regulators looking for a way to target suspicious cryptocurrency trading may turn to a little-used insider trading regulation put in place after the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.

CNBC: Patomak CEO Paul Atkins Discusses Cryptocurrencies

In a recent CNBC interview, Patomak CEO Paul Atkins and former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt discuss the popularity of cryptocurrencies and the regulatory outlook for this sector.

Forbes: How A 1920s Florida Citrus Land Baron Created The Acid Test For Crypto Tokens

Forbes reporter Chitra Ragavan writes: 

This year alone, technology startups have raised a staggering $3.2 billion through Initial Coin Offerings, or ICOs, with the cumulative value of token sales skyrocketing by more than 1100 % in the past year alone, according to CoinDesk's ICO Tracker. 

Also known as “Token Sales,” ICOs enable startups to raise money for their projects by selling crypto coins as a form of equity both to sophisticated investors and the average public. This democratization of fundraising through ICOs has generated a level of excitement, some say greed, comparable to the old days of gold prospecting in the Wild West.

“Anytime you have new concepts that are disruptive to old ways of doing things,” says Paul Atkins, CEO of Patomak Global Partners, “That gets a lot of people interested and focused.” 

CNBC: Atkins on Outlook for Regulating Cryptocurrencies, Tokens, and Initial Coin Offerings

In a CNBC interview, Patomak Global Partners Chief Executive Paul Atkins discusses his efforts leading a voluntary effort by major companies in the blockchain technology space to develop guidelines for issuers and investors of digital assets,…

Forbes: Token Alliance Launches To Promote Best Practices For ICOs

Forbes reporter Laura Shin writes:

Monday, the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a trade association for the digital asset and blockchain industry, launches the Token Alliance, which aims to educate, promote and shape the world of crypto assets and token sales.

Its co-chairs have backgrounds that will be of great interest to token issuers: Dr. Jim Newsome, the former Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Paul Atkins, a former Securities and Exchange Commissioner.

Chamber of Digital Commerce: Blockchain Industry and Regulatory Leaders Launch Token Alliance

The Chamber of Digital Commerce is pleased to announce the Token Alliance, an industry-led initiative to educate, promote and help shape the responsible growth of token and digital asset issuances. The Token Alliance is co-chaired by former Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Dr. Jim Newsome, and former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner, Paul Atkins.