Smart contracts are here to help execute agreements between parties via blockchain technology. You may have heard that such smart contracts are self-executing, i.e. their workflow is defined by the block of code in advance.
The main goal of a smart contract is that it allows two parties to trade and conduct business online without the intervention of any third party. Most of the time, it’s anonymous.
Many entrepreneurs know the conventional methods of fundraising that have been around for a long time, but this new market needed its own style of fundraising, so the ICO tool to achieve funds for sold tokens was discovered.
Many investors have probably heard about a certain blockchain start-up raising capital via its ICO. Such ICO campaigns are known to be initiated before any new coin is released.
EU regulation is a legal issue that’s been discussed for a very long time, but its decision-making process has been much slower compared to other countries. We can see Japan taking reasonable steps to regulate its market and other countries (South Korea, U.S.) are trying to bring the interpretation of different cryptocurrency markets to some conclusion.
The EU lags behind and probably only Malta can be called innovative with its progressive approach to regulation. Meanwhile non-EU Switzerland (EEA) has a very blockchain-friendly attitude, improving its legal rules and demonstrating an optimistic trend. Except for certain local progress, those in the EU struggle with fragmented interpretation, in particular when it comes to taxes.
Cryptocurrency mining is a very specific method of cryptocurrency monetary expansion. Future EU regulation can’t avoid this issue and must pay attention to this aspect.
Since the private sector did not hesitate and many individuals are mining cryptocurrencies, there is demand for certain forms of regulation as well as interpretation, in particular with regard to tax obligations.
There are areas that need more extensive clarification of their interpretation of cryptocurrencies. From mining to selling bitcoins, paying taxes or fundraising through ICOs, all these topics face different (or even missing) interpretations in different EU countries.
As a result, businesses are often struggling to get a clear opinion in their respective jurisdiction. Therefore, the crypto-lawyer project aims to provide assistance in this partially uncharted territory.