Insights

Morning Consult: Billions of Dollars Have Migrated to the Blockchain. Now What?

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.

Bloomberg Radio: Current Securities Laws Aren’t Appropriate for Blockchain, ICOs

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: Token Alliance: Utility Tokens ‘Under Threat Of Extinction By Regulation’ In U.S.

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.

Download the Token Alliance White Paper on Digital Tokens

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.

Coindesk: A Blueprint for Reforming the Crypto Token Market

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.

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.