Facing the Cryptoasset Revolution.

• Author: Kaza, Greg

Cryptoassets: Legal, Regulatory, and Monetary Perspectives

Edited by Chris

Brummer

4S6 pp.; Oxford

University Press, 2019

The intensifying push for cryptocurrency regulation is giving renewed relevance to books on the subject that have been published in recent years. One of those books is 2019's Cryptoassets, a collection of scholarly essays edited by Georgetown University law professor Chris Brummer.

Are cryptoassets alternatives to traditional safe-haven assets like gold and silver? Or are rhey, in the words of Warren BufFett, "probably rat poison squared"? Do they facilitate exchange between free individuals? Or are they stalking horses for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)? These debates are now intensifying. Brummer's collection of 28 essays could serve as a standard reference for these topics.

Challenging longstanding models / A basic description of cryptoassets is that they rely on cryptography and technologies such as blockchain (a ledger shared on a digital network) to provide both security and proof of ownership. These assets range from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum to initial coin offerings (ICOs) and CBDCs. One example of cryptoassets' emergence: In 2016, Delaware law was amended to allow blockchain technology for stock ledger administration. Overstock.com later became the first public company to issue stock via block chain. In a 2016 Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the firm explained its issuance of preferred stock consisted "of 126,565 shares of Series A Preferred.... Series A Preferred are digital securities."

Cryptoassets can serve as mediums of exchange, devices for accessing an online service, investments, or all three at once, according to Brummer, who is a member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Subcommittee on Virtual Currencies. The assets' reliance on blockchain reduces the need for intermediaries, but that worries regulators because of alleged volatility, financial instability, and potential for money laundering. In sum, Brummer notes that cryptoassets "challenge longstanding economic models and regulatory strategies." The book covers a wide range of topics: cryptoassets' potential effect on commercial banks, legal issues such as whether they are securities or commodities, methods of valuation and potential roles as mediums of exchange, taxation, and how to inte grate blockchain into derivatives markets to achieve market transparency under the Securities Act of 1933.

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