501. Keeping possession

– think GameStop and Bitcoin for example. This might seem

502. "Key Canadian Laws for Blockchain Companies" by Addison Cameron-Huff

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503. Key developments in capital markets regulatory and white-collar defence

Canadian securities regulators continue to investigate and take enforcement action against alleged wrongdoers in the cryptoasset space:

In July 2019, the OSC reached a settlement with CoinLaunch Corp., which carried on business as a “crypto consultant,” offering marketing and promotional services to prospective cryptoasset token issuers. CoinLaunch was found to have violated the dealer registration requirements of Ontario securities laws, and agreed to pay approximately $50,000 in penalties, disgorgement and costs. Although the monetary penalty was, in the OSC’s words, “relatively modest,” the OSC emphasized that firms in the cryptoasset sector that ignore registration obligations were “on notice” and “can reasonably expect to face more stringent consequences” in the future.

In British Columbia, the BCSC initiated investigations into two cryptoasset trading platforms. It obtained a court order appointing an interim receiver over one of them after it failed to comply with the BCSC’s demands for information.

Similar enforcement actions have also been taken in the United States by the Securities and Exchange Commission against participants in the cryptoasset space. Read our Emerging clarity on cryptoasset regulation article for more information on cryptoassets.

504. Koker Christensen - Financial Institutions lawyer in Toronto | People | Fasken

OSFI Releases Advisory on Cryptoasset Exposures

OSFI has released an Advisory setting out new rules for deposit taking institutions (DTIs) and insurers when dealing with cryptoasset exposures.

505. LIBOR misrepresentation claim time-barred and summarily dismissed | Inside Disputes | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets

506. La CVMO ouvre la voie aux fonds de placement exposés aux bitcoins cotés en bourse

La CVMO ouvre la voie aux fonds de placement exposés aux bitcoins cotés en bourse

Le 30 octobre 2019, la Commission des valeurs mobilières de l’Ontario (CVMO) a rendu une décision permettant à 3iQ Corp. (3iQ), un gestionnaire de placement canadien, d’offrir le premier fonds de placement exposé aux bitcoins coté en bourse au monde

Cette décision se distingue de celle rendue par la Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) des États-Unis qui refuse d’approuver l’inscription des fonds négociés en bourse (FNB) exposés aux bitcoins.

Le 30 octobre 2019, un comité de la Commission des valeurs mobilières de l’Ontario (CVMO) a rendu une décision permettant à 3iQ Corp. (3iQ), un gestionnaire de placement canadien, d’offrir le premier fonds de placement exposé aux bitcoins coté en bourse au monde Osler a agi comme avocat-conseil pour 3iQ avant la décision de la CVMO. Pour parvenir à sa décision, le comité de la CVMO a pris en considération des preuves à l’égard des préoccupations quant à l’intégrité du marché des cryptoactifs, la garde et la sauvegarde du bitcoin et l’audit des états financiers des sociétés détenant des cryptoactifs. La décision du comité de la CVMO va à l’encontre de celle de la Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) des États-Unis qui refuse toujours d’approuver l’inscription des FNB exposés aux bitcoins. En approuvant l’émission d’un visa pour le prospectus du fonds, le comité a soutenu un principe de base des lois sur les valeurs mobilières du Canada, à savoir qu’il n’appartient pas aux organismes de réglementation des valeurs mobilières d’approuver ou de désapprouver la qualité des titres offerts au public. Nous sommes d’avis qu’en se prononçant ainsi, le comité favorise la création de nouveaux produits de placement permettant d’investir dans de nouvelles catégories d’actifs et qu’il envoie un message fort de soutien à l’innovation des marchés boursiers au Canada.

507. La SEC indique que les collectes de fonds en cryptomonnaie sont assujetties aux lois sur les valeurs

Le rapport publié hier fait suite à une enquête vérifiant si les personnes participant à une collecte par ce qu’on appelle la société de financement participatif dématérialisé (Distributed Autonomous Organization ou DAO), avaient violé les lois sur les valeurs mobilières des États-Unis. Le concept sous-jacent de la DAO était que les participants achèteraient des jetons de la société en échange de la monnaie virtuelle Ethereum, qui seraient détenus par l’organisme. Les jetons de la DAO donneraient droit au détenteur de voter sur des propositions afin de financer des projets à l’aide de l’Ethereum et de distribuer les gains de ces projets. La DAO existait simplement en tant que « contrat intelligent » - qui est un code logiciel fonctionnant sur la chaîne de blocs Ethereum - qui gérerait les votes, répartirait le financement selon les résultats des votes et distribuerait les gains aux détenteurs de jetons.

En mai 2016, la DAO a vendu 1,15 milliard de jetons de la société pour Ethereum avec une valeur de 150 millions de dollars américains (aujourd’hui, ce même montant d’Ethereum aurait une valeur de 2,4 milliards de dollars). Toutefois, la DAO n’a jamais été exploitée et a depuis cessé ses activités. En juin 2016, un attaquant inconnu a exploité une faiblesse du code de la DAO afin de détourner le tiers du total d’Ethereum recueilli vers une adresse qu’il contrôlait. Cette attaque s’est soldée par une décision de créer une chaîne secondaire à la chaîne de blocs Ethereum - c’est-à-dire modifier le protocole Ethereum - afin d’inverser les actions de l’attaquant, de récupérer l’Ethereum volé et de permettre aux détenteurs de jetons de la DAO de récupérer leurs investissements.

508. La définition juridique de l’intelligence artificielle évolue : différents pays, différentes approches

Le 11 mars dernier, la maison de vente Christie’s concluait une vente historique en proposant aux enchères une œuvre-cryptoactif de l’artiste Beeple, uniquement numérique, se concluant par une transaction de 69 millions de dollars en Ether, une cryptomonnaie1. Ce faisant, la célèbre maison d’enchères a mis sous les projecteurs les Non-Fungible Tokens (« NFT »), les jetons non fongibles pour franciser le tout, produits de la chaîne de blocs décentralisée. Si plusieurs soulignent les avantages de cette technologie des cryptoactifs, des risques importants y sont par ailleurs associés2, demandant une vigilance accrue pour tout investissement ou toute transaction impliquant des NFT. Qu’est-ce qu’un NFT ? La distinction entre biens fongibles et non fongibles n’est pas récente. Avant même l’invention de la chaîne de blocs, cette distinction servait déjà à départager ces biens dont la valeur dans l’économie est fondée soit, quant aux biens fongibles, sur leur grande disponibilité, soit, quant aux biens non fongibles, sur leur rareté. Ainsi, un bien fongible est facilement remplaçable par un équivalent ayant la même valeur marchande. Le meilleur exemple est celui de la monnaie, que ce soient les pièces, les billets, la monnaie scripturale ou la monnaie électronique, par exemple le Bitcoin. Au contraire, un bien non fongible est unique, irremplaçable. À ce titre, les œuvres d’art sont des biens non fongibles de par leur unicité ou leur très petit nombre d’exemplaires, de telle sorte que leur valeur est, entre autres, fonction de leur authenticité et de leur provenance. Les NFT sont des cryptoactifs associés à la chaîne de blocs qui reproduisent ce phénomène de rareté. À chaque NFT est associé un identifiant unique qui permet d’en assurer la traçabilité. En plus du marché de l’art, les NFT ont été associés sur le Web à la collecte d’objets virtuels, tels que des cartes de sports et d’autres souvenirs et objets de collection, incluant le premier tweet de l’histoire3. Les NFT peuvent aussi être associés à des biens réels et permettent dans ce cas d’assurer le suivi des échanges et des transactions afférents à ces biens. Déjà en 2019, Ernst & Young avait développé pour un client un système d’identifiants numériques uniques permettant d’assurer le suivi et la gestion de la collection de vins de grands crus de ce client4. Plusieurs projets s’appuient sur des cryptomonnaies, comme l’Ether, pour créer les NFT. Ce genre de cryptomonnaie est programmable et permet d’enchâsser des métadonnées par l’intermédiaire du code qui devient la clé assurant le suivi de biens tels des œuvres d’art ou d’autres biens de valeur. Quels sont les risques associés aux NFT ? Si plusieurs vantaient les avantages des NFT, notamment pour assurer une plus grande traçabilité quant à la provenance des biens échangés par transactions numériques, force est de constater que la bulle spéculative des dernières semaines a, contrairement aux attentes, engendré de nouvelles occasions de fraudes et des dérives quant aux droits associés aux œuvres échangées sur Internet. Un marché non réglementé? Même s’il n’existe pour l’instant aucun cadre législatif qui réglemente spécifiquement les transactions de cryptoactifs, les vendeurs et les acheteurs de NFT sont tout de même assujettis, notamment, aux lois et réglementations encadrant actuellement la distribution des produits et services financiers5, aux lois sur les valeurs mobilières6, à la Loi sur les entreprises de services monétaires7 et aux lois fiscales8. Un NFT, une valeur mobilière ? Dès janvier 2020, les Autorités canadiennes en valeurs mobilières (ACVM) ont identifié les « marchandises » cryptoactifs comme des biens pouvant être assujettis aux lois et aux règlements en valeurs mobilières. Ainsi, les plateformes qui gèrent et hébergent des NFT pour le compte de leurs utilisateurs exercent des activités encadrées par les lois applicables au commerce de valeurs mobilières, dans la mesure où elles conservent la possession ou le co[Truncated to 4000 Characters]

509. La référence

VX5 Technologies inc. c. Ambassade Bitcoin, 2016 QCCS 5765, EYB 2016-273343, par. 67.

Bitcoin, 2016 QCCS 5765, EYB 2016-273343, par. 67 ; Investissements Luc Fauteux c. Nadeau, 2016 QCCS 6076, EYB 2016-273873, par. 16 ; Abdalla c. Kassis, 2016

510. Latest trends in English banking litigation - Duration and resolution of claims | Inside Disputes | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets

511. Laure Fouin

use of blockchain technology, cryptoassets, digital tokens, artificial

512. Laure Fouin and Matthew Burgoyne combine expertise for crypto clients in Canada

Matthew: My background is similar to Laure’s in that I have always focused on specific industries in my career -- I'm a corporate and securities lawyer. Early in my career I focused on the mortgage investment corporation and private lending space. Most of my clients were in that industry and much like what's happening with crypto now, there were some regulations passed in Alberta that changed the law so that all mortgage investment corporations were investment funds in Alberta. We had to help clients register as investment fund managers, restricted portfolio managers and exempt market dealers. I discovered bitcoin in 2013 and I was entrepreneurial with an eye to building my practice in that area. Immediately prior to coming to Osler, about 85% of my clients were in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space.

Laure: Yes, the downturn does not negate the capabilities of bitcoin, digital assets and blockchain in general to transform financial services and the opportunities that they represent for financial institutions to enhance their products offerings. This is a time for market maturing and consolidation.

513. Laure Fouin et Matthew Burgoyne combinent leur expertise pour les clients du secteur des cryptoactif

Matthew : Mon parcours est similaire à celui de Laure en ce sens que je me suis toujours concentré sur des secteurs bien précis dans ma carrière – je suis avocat spécialisé en droit des sociétés et en valeurs mobilières. Au début de ma carrière, je me suis concentré sur les sociétés de placement hypothécaire et les prêts privés. La plupart de mes clients venaient de ce secteur et, un peu comme ce qui se passe avec les cryptomonnaies aujourd’hui, certaines réglementations ont été adoptées en Alberta et ont changé les lois pour que toutes les sociétés de placement hypothécaire soient des fonds d’investissement en Alberta. Nous avons dû aider les clients à s’inscrire en tant que gestionnaires de fonds de placement, gestionnaires de portefeuilles restreints et courtiers sur le marché dispensé. J’ai découvert les bitcoins en 2013 et je me suis lancé dans l’entrepreneuriat dans l’optique d’orienter ma pratique dans ce domaine. Juste avant d’arriver chez Osler, environ 85 % de mes clients étaient dans le secteur des cryptomonnaies et des chaînes de blocs.

Laure : Oui, le ralentissement n’annule pas les capacités du bitcoin, des actifs numériques et des chaînes de blocs en général à transformer les services financiers et les occasions qu’ils représentent pour les institutions financières d’améliorer leurs offres de produits. L’heure est à la maturation et à la consolidation du marché.

514. Law Commission proposes revolutionary rules for ownership of crypto tokens and NFTs | United Kingdom | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

The entire decentralized finance (DeFi) industry, which includes cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, is based on transferring crypto assets to other accounts where they may then be deployed in accordance with smart contracts or other sets of rules.

Astutely, it rejects analogies with intangible assets such as legal rights, recognizing that digital assets have more in common with physical objects — Bitcoin works more like an electronic coin than an electronic bank account. But it has decided not to assimilate digital assets wholesale into the category of things that can be possessed (except for certain digital assets used in electronic trade finance) — they are sufficiently different to be given their own space to develop alongside existing forms of property.

NFTs, in-game assets, email addresses, domain names, media and program files, and other forms of data are all considered by the Law Commission. Of these, only digital tokens such as NFTs and similar native crypto assets, including cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, fall within their definition of property. But that only affects the NFT itself, not any objects in the real world or legal rights linked to it.

515. Law Firm for Startups & Emerging Companies | Osler

CSA issues guidance that securities legislation likely applies to custodial cryptoasset trading platforms

516. "LawTechCamp: Sept. 6th" by Addison Cameron-Huff

BLOG HOME CONTACT AUTHOR NEXT POST: DON'T PUT THE ACCOUNTANTS IN CHARGE OF BITCOIN”

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517. Lawrence E. Ritchie

"CSA and IIROC propose regulatory framework for cryptoasset trading

518. "Lawyers Who Want Your Crypto Business: Nine Canadian Lawyers" by Addison Cameron-Huff

Core Contributor and LEETH (Legal Engineering on Ethereum) Certified at LexDAO. Focused on tax and estate planning matters relating to crypto.

519. Le Laboratoire juridique Lavery sur l’intelligence artificielle (L3IA)

520. Le gouvernement fédéral canadien publie un ensemble de propositions législatives fiscales importante

Historiquement, l’ARC assimilait l’achat et la vente de cryptomonnaies à la fourniture de biens meubles incorporels aux fins de la TPS/TVH. Le 17 mai 2019, le ministère des Finances du Canada a publié des propositions législatives en vertu desquelles de nombreuses monnaies virtuelles (dont Bitcoin) seraient assimilées à des effets financiers aux fins de la TPS/TVH, de sorte que l’achat et la vente de cryptomonnaies (dites « effets de paiement virtuels ») seraient exonérés du régime de la TPS/TVH. Or, bien que la loi de 2019 traitait d’achat et de vente d’effets de paiement virtuels, elle était généralement muette quant au « minage » de cryptomonnaie.

521. Ledn - Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Ledn is a Toronto-based financial services firm focused on providing clients with access to digital assets including Bitcoin-backed loans.

522. Ledn - Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt S.E.N.C.R.L./s.r.l.

Ledn est une société de services financiers établie à Toronto dont l’objectif est de permettre aux clients d’accéder à des actifs numériques, notamment des prêts garantis par des bitcoins.

523. Ledn Inc. - Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

On December 15, 2021, Ledn announced its US $70 million Series B financing. This all-equity round was led by 10T Holdings and was announced just after Ledn completed its US$30 million Series A financing. Ledn will use the funds to support the growth of its digital asset lending business, including its new Bitcoin-backed mortgage product, which is claimed to be the first or its kind to market. It also plans to use the money to hire more staff, develop other, new digital asset financial products, and expand upon its segment of local products for English, Spanish and Portuguese-language users.

Ledn is a Toronto-based financial services firm focused on providing clients with access to digital assets including Bitcoin-backed loans.

524. Ledn Inc. - Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt S.E.N.C.R.L./s.r.l.

Le 15 décembre 2021, Ledn a annoncé un financement de série B de 70 M$ US. Ce tour de financement au moyen d’actions a été mené par 10 T Holdings et a été annoncé juste après que Ledn ait terminé son financement de série A de 30 M$ US. Ledn affectera ces fonds au soutien de la croissance de son activité de prêt d’actifs numériques, notamment son nouveau produit hypothécaire garanti par des bitcoins, qui est censé être le premier de ce type sur le marché. Elle prévoit également d’utiliser ces fonds pour embaucher davantage de personnel, développer différents nouveaux produits financiers d’actifs numériques et étendre sa gamme de produits locaux pour les utilisateurs de langue anglaise, espagnole et portugaise.

525. Legal statement on cryptoassets & smart contracts | Gowling WLG

Legal statement on cryptoassets & smart contracts | Gowling WLG

LEGAL STATEMENT PROVIDES GUIDANCE ON STATUS OF CRYPTOASSETS & SMART CONTRACTS

As has been widely reported, the Government's UK Jurisdiction Taskforce has published its legal statement on cryptoassets and smart contracts, which aims to provide market confidence, legal certainty and predictability by giving guidance on the legal status of these asset classes.

Here, we look at the key findings of the report and what they mean for dealings and disputes involving cryptoassets and smart contracts.

In May 2019, the UKJT issued a consultation paper on the status of cryptoassets, distributed ledger technology and smart contracts in English law. The consultation paper identified that the development of these technologies has far-reaching implications for domestic and international financial markets, but that a lack of certainty around the legal status of these technologies could be hampering development. The consultation sought views of stakeholders on the principal areas of uncertainty, with a view to providing guidance and certainty in this area, and to bolster the use of English law and the jurisdiction of England and Wales in transactions involving these assets and technologies.

526. Les ACVM publient des lignes directrices selon lesquelles les lois sur les valeurs mobilières s’appl

Les plateformes de négociation de cryptoactifs (les plateformes) sont des plateformes en ligne qui facilitent l’achat et la vente de cryptoactifs, tels que les bitcoins. Bien souvent, lorsqu’un client achète des bitcoins ou d’autres cryptoactifs sur une plateforme, les cryptoactifs ne sont pas transférés immédiatement dans un portefeuille possédé et contrôlé par le client; ils restent plutôt dans un portefeuille contrôlé par la plateforme. De nombreuses plateformes détiennent des cryptoactifs mis en commun et appartenant à leurs clients, et consignent chacun des actifs de leurs clients dans les registres de la plateforme. Les clients peuvent décider de laisser leurs cryptoactifs sur la plateforme pour profieter du stockage hors ligne et d'autres dispositifs de sécurité, et parce qu'ils n'onat pas assez de connaissances en technologie ou d'intérêt pour composer leur propre portefeuille. Les clients peuvent prendre livraison de leurs cryptoactifs en tout temps, en avisant la plateforme d’envoyer les cryptoactifs à une adresse de portefeuille qu’ils désignent eux-mêmes. Les plateformes qui offrent de conserver les cryptoactifs au nom de leurs clients sont souvent désignées comme des plateformes « de garde », car elles assurent à la fois des fonctions de négociation et de garde.

L’Avis 21-327 du personnel des ACVM confirme l’approche proposée par les ACVM et l’Organisme canadien de réglementation du commerce des valeurs mobilières (OCRCVM) dans le Document de consultation conjoint 21-402, Projet d’encadrement des plateformes de négociation de cryptoactifs, publié en mars 2019 (le document de consultation). Le document de consultation laissait entendre que les plateformes de garde qui facilitent la négociation en cryptoactifs, y compris en bitcoins et en d’autres cryptoactifs qui sont des marchandises (et non des titres ou des dérivés), pourraient être assujetties aux lois sur les valeurs mobilières, car le droit contractuel d’un client à l’égard d’un cryptoactif est un dérivé, comme nous l’avons vu dans un bulletin d’actualités Osler antérieur.

Par contre, l’Avis explique que du point de vue du personnel, la législation en valeurs mobilières ne s’appliquerait pas à l’achat de bitcoins lorsque, notamment, le volume entier de bitcoins achetés auprès de la plateforme est immédiatement transféré dans un portefeuille dont seul l’utilisateur a le contrôle, au moyen d’une opération dans la chaîne de blocs de bitcoins.

Nous prévoyons qu’étant donné la taille du marché canadien des cryptoactifs et la conjoncture dans ce domaine, certaines plateformes remettront en question la faisabilité de poursuivre leur exploitation sur le marché canadien et pourraient décider d’exclure les clients canadiens, plutôt que d’avoir à faire face au fardeau des coûts et de la conformité en matière d’inscription en tant que courtier en valeurs mobilières ou de dispense d’inscription. Cette approche s’apparenterait à celle qui a été empruntée par certaines grandes plateformes qui ont décidé de ne pas accepter de clients résidents de l’État de New York, plutôt que de se conformer aux exigences du permis Bitcoin (« BitLicense ») du Department of Financial Services de l’État de New York.

527. Les chaînes de blocs | Industries | Fasken

Six des principaux cabinets d’avocats du Canada ont joint leurs efforts dans le cadre d’un projet pilote révolutionnaire visant à mettre au point un « contrat intelligent » complexe en se servant de la chaîne de blocs d’Ethereum

528. Les dernières nouvelles et actualités juridiques qui touche votre industrie

529. Le 13 décembre 2019

de blocs publiques sont utilisées, comme la chaîne de blocs Ethereum, les organisations se disent de plus

530. Le 15 mars 2021

la détention de cryptomonnaies établies, comme le bitcoin ou l’ether, peuvent différer grandement de

531. Le 7 février 2022

propositions législatives en vertu desquelles de nombreuses monnaies virtuelles (dont Bitcoin) seraient

532. Licensing

Ethereum blockchain.

533. Lighthouse closes C$9.1 million initial seed funding to build a search platform for the Metaverse | Client Work | Fasken

Lighthouse is the first company working on a search platform for the Metaverse with a specific angle on navigation, and they are hoping to move fast enough to stay ahead. Lighthouse has narrowed its focus: building a metaverse search engine that will enable users to search for places, events, friends, creators, assets, and experiences across and inside blockchain-based virtual worlds, most of which have been built on Ethereum.

534. Lighthouse clôture un financement d’amorçage de 9,1 M$ CA afin de bâtir une plateforme de recherche pour le métavers | Mandats représentatifs | Fasken

Lighthouse, qui est la première société à travailler sur une plateforme de recherche pour le métavers et à se concentrer sur l’angle spécifique de la navigation, espère maintenir une vitesse de croisière lui permettant de rester à l’avant-garde de cette innovation. Lighthouse a un objectif précis : créer un moteur de recherche pour le métavers qui permettra aux utilisateurs de rechercher des lieux, des événements, des amis, des créateurs, des actifs et des expériences dans des mondes virtuels basés sur la chaîne de blocs, dont la plupart ont été construits sur Ethereum.

535. Litigation funding and security for costs | Gowling WLG

Bitcoin dispute gives insight into English court's approach

536. Litigation privilege and investigations by an expert | Inside Disputes | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets

537. Lori Stein | McCarthy

3iQ Corp. and The Bitcoin Fund: Led securities regulatory team in successful hearing before the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and subsequent initial public offering of the first publicly-traded bitcoin investment fund in the world (October 2019 and April 2020)

538. "Luxury Brands Have Embraced Blockchain, Can It Be Done For The Environment?" by Addison Cameron-Huff

Tree planting is a familiar example but the applications of this extend to less clear activities that are no less essential for climate progress. For example, a sulphur dioxide scrubber could be linked to an IoT system to write desulphurization records that are then condensed to a hash and written periodically. This would enable new opportunities to spot fraud by environmental regulators by permitting analysis of the records after-the-fact in a way that prevents alteration. A system like this can't stop fraudulent records from being written, but an inspector could certify that a system works by observing the data over several days and then have a high confidence that anomalous records written later could be detected. This permits the linking of government initiatives to real reductions, and with stablecoins, even payment as sulphur dioxide is removed. Real-time progress, real-time payments. This is radically different than the blunt subsidies used today (and the accompanying fraud or lack of data that 20th century approaches suffered from.) The same technology that permits millions of dollars to be moved internationally by strangers in the Bitcoin system can now be used for environmental progress.

539. L’apprentissage machine et l’intelligence artificielle pour améliorer la cybersécurité

540. L’intelligence artificielle au service de l’avocat : l’avocat-robot est-il à nos portes?

541. L’investissement dans les actifs numériques par les investisseurs institutionnels

La semaine dernière, le bitcoin a atteint un prix record dépassant les 43 000 dollars US et Tesla a annoncé avoir investi 1,5 milliard de dollars dans les actifs numériques. De plus, de nombreux investisseurs institutionnels se penchent pour la première fois sur cette classe d'actifs. Joignez-vous à nous pour une discussion où nous vous aiderons à comprendre l'univers d'investissement des actifs numériques, les différentes structures d'investissement disponibles, les principaux risques et la manière de les gérer.

542. Managing emerging bribery risks for financial institutions | Inside Disputes | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets

543. Managing geopolitical risk | Australia | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

544. Managing geopolitical risk | Belgium | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

545. Managing geopolitical risk | Brazil | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

546. Managing geopolitical risk | Burundi | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

547. Managing geopolitical risk | Canada | Cabinet juridique mondial | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

548. Managing geopolitical risk | Canada | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

549. Managing geopolitical risk | China | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

550. Managing geopolitical risk | Deutschland | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

551. Managing geopolitical risk | France | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

552. Managing geopolitical risk | Germany | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

553. Managing geopolitical risk | Greece | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

554. Managing geopolitical risk | Hong Kong SAR | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

555. Managing geopolitical risk | India | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

556. Managing geopolitical risk | Indonesia | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

557. Managing geopolitical risk | Israel | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

558. Managing geopolitical risk | Italia | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

559. Managing geopolitical risk | Italy | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

560. Managing geopolitical risk | Japan | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

561. Managing geopolitical risk | Kenya | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

562. Managing geopolitical risk | Korea | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

563. Managing geopolitical risk | Luxembourg | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

564. Managing geopolitical risk | Maroc | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

565. Managing geopolitical risk | Marshall Islands | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

566. Managing geopolitical risk | Mexico | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

567. Managing geopolitical risk | Monaco | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

568. Managing geopolitical risk | Morocco | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

569. Managing geopolitical risk | Netherlands | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

570. Managing geopolitical risk | Nordic Region | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

571. Managing geopolitical risk | Pakistan | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

572. Managing geopolitical risk | Poland | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

573. Managing geopolitical risk | Singapore | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

574. Managing geopolitical risk | South Africa | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

575. Managing geopolitical risk | Thailand | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

576. Managing geopolitical risk | Turkey | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

577. Managing geopolitical risk | Uganda | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

578. Managing geopolitical risk | United Kingdom | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

579. Managing geopolitical risk | United States | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

580. Managing geopolitical risk | Zimbabwe | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

581. Managing geopolitical risk | 中国 | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

582. Managing geopolitical risk | 日本 | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

583. Mareva Injunction over Cryptocurrencies in the Freedom Convoy Class Action | Bennett Jones

the relevant digital wallets) that the defendants are the owners of the digital wallets that have amassed bitcoin or other digital assets,

584. MaryGrace Johnstone | Banking & Financial Services Lawyer Vancouver | BLG

Author, “Catch Me If You Can: Resolving Bitcoin Disputes with Class Actions,” Canadian Class Action Review, May 2019

Researcher, "Crypto‐claimants and bitcoin bankruptcy: Challenges for recognition and realization," International Insolvency Review, 2019

585. Mar 15, 2021

cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin or Ether may be significantly different from investments in other

586. Matthew T. Burgoyne

Cité dans « The ABC's of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies Explained »,

CEO.ca à propos des complexités du bitcoin et les enjeux du

Cité dans « Why Chile's First Bitcoin Exchange was Funded by the

Government: Chile is giving Bitcoin a warm welcome », Motherboard,

Cité dans « Bitcoin future in Canada », Cointelegraph, novembre 2013

587. McCarthy Tetrault 2022 Cyber/Data Outlook

often, ransoms are paid in a form of cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin.

588. McCarthy Tétrault Tax Perspectives | McCarthy

Miners Be Aware: New GST/HST Measures Announced for Cryptoasset Mining

589. McCarthy Tétrault and OpenLaw collaborate on loan agreement smart contract project powered by Ethereum blockchain | McCarthy Tétrault

McCarthy Tétrault and OpenLaw collaborate on loan agreement smart contract project powered by Ethereum blockchain | McCarthy Tétrault

Ethereum

McCarthy Tétrault and OpenLaw collaborate on loan agreement smart contract project powered by Ethereum blockchain

Earlier this year McCarthy Tétrault announced its membership with the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), the world’s largest open source blockchain initiative and the EEA Legal Working Group, founded to bring together leading global law firms and leading legal minds to explore building legal use cases and applications using blockchain technology. In addition, McCarthy Tétrault became a contributor to the OpenLaw smart contract project.

These collaborations have yielded groundbreaking results, providing the first step in demonstrating how automation and execution of loan agreements on the blockchain can vastly improve processes. This demo illustrates how a standard loan agreement can be executed using the OpenLaw protocol and an Ethereum smart contract. It also shows how a traditional loan transaction, through the use of an Ethereum-based smart contract, can be performed without the need to rely on centralized institutions to calculate and manage the actual flow of funds between parties. This is believed to be the first smart contract demo by a Canadian law firm. See here for our press release on this innovative project.

590. Michael J. Eldridge | McCarthy

Ninepoint Partners LP in connection with the May 2021 conversion of Bitcoin Trust into an exchange-traded fund, Ninepoint Bitcoin ETF;

Ninepoint Partners LP and Bitcoin Trust in connection with the January 2021 $230 million initial public offering of units of Bitcoin Trust;

591. Michel Ranger | McCarthy

SATO Technologies Corp. signs a loan agreement with Sygnum Bank AG for C$4M to finance bitcoin mining equipment

592. Mike M. Stephens | Associé en Technologies de l’information à Vancouver | Équipe | Fasken

Bitfury Group et Hut 8 sur le point de fonder le plus important ensemble de centres de données de bitcoins de l’Amérique du Nord

593. Minage de cryptomonnaies : les enjeux légaux - Langlois avocats

Depuis quelque temps, la technologie des chaînes de blocs (blockchain) et son application à la cryptomonnaie, dont le Bitcoin, a fait l’objet d’un engouement marqué au Québec. Quoique cette technologie existe depuis environ dix ans, le développement de projets immobiliers d’envergure destinés au minage de cryptomonnaie est actuellement en pleine croissance. La disponibilité de grands espaces, le climat hivernal et le coût de l’électricité constituent sans doute des facteurs créant un environnement favorable au développement de cette industrie au Québec.

594. Miners Be Aware: New GST/HST Measures Announced for Cryptoasset Mining | McCarthy

Miners Be Aware: New GST/HST Measures Announced for Cryptoasset Mining | McCarthy

Miners Be Aware: New GST/HST Measures Announced for Cryptoasset Mining

The Department of Finance (“Finance”) announced draft legislation on February 4, 2022 that would remove most cryptoasset mining activities from the general goods and services tax / harmonized sales tax ("GST/HST") regime. The draft legislation introduces the new defined terms “cryptoasset”, “mining activity”, and “mining group operator”. The proposed amendments will substantially restrict the availability of input tax credits (“ITCs”) for cryptoasset mining activities and generally remove the application of GST/HST from the provision of mining activities and “barter” payments made in exchange for the performance of mining activities. These new rules will not apply to the extent that the mining activities are performed for a person whose identity is known, provided that person is someone other than the mining group operator.

Once enacted, the rules will generally be deemed to have come into force on February 5, 2022. The existing rules for virtual payment instruments, which were first announced in May 2019 and came into force in summer 2021, will continue to apply. As a result, cryptocurrency will continue to be considered a GST/HST-exempt “financial instrument” provided that the cryptocurrency meets the definition of “virtual payment instrument”, which includes the requirement that the cryptocurrency function as a medium of exchange and exist on a publicly distributed ledger. Prior to the introduction of the legislation for “virtual payment instruments” it was generally understood that providing cryptocurrency, including to buy goods or services, would be a taxable supply of intangible personal property. The proposed legislation for cryptoasset mining activities goes even further to deny ITCs and to deem mining activities not to be supplies when the rules apply, as discussed below.

At a high level, a mining group operator is defined as a person that coordinates mining activities by a group of persons for the purposes of sharing the reward or remuneration from the mining activity. The definition of cryptoasset is restricted to property “that is a digital representation of value and that only exists at a digital address of a publicly distributed ledger”. This proposed definition of cryptoasset is broader than the definition of virtual payment instrument and can include instruments that extend beyond instruments traditionally perceived as “cryptocurrencies”. For example, a cryptoasset (unlike a virtual payment instrument) could potentially exist without functioning as a medium of exchange, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) used to represent specific assets (such as digital art). Cryptoassets could also potentially include tokens used on gaming platforms even though gaming tokens are excluded from the definition of “virtual payment instrument”.

595. Mining | Industries | Fasken

Crypto finance company closes bitcoin mining equipment finance deal

596. "MintChip Halted, Business to be Sold by Mint" by Addison Cameron-Huff

I assume this decision was taken after looking at their competitor: Bitcoin. The Mint could easily make their own version of Bitcoin/Litecoin and launch their own cryptocurrency for about $200 right now.

597. Move towards stablecoin regulation picks up pace in U.S.

Regulators and policy makers across the world continue to focus on stablecoins, which are cryptoassets pegged to the value of the U.S. dollar or other reserve assets. We have previously reported on international efforts to establish a global regulatory framework for stablecoins. Last month, the U.S. President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (the Working Group) published a Report on Stablecoins, [PDF] which recommends that Congress urgently enact legislation that would subject stablecoins to a prudential framework and limit stablecoin issuance to insured depository institutions.

Tags: cryptoassetsfinancial marketsregulatorystablecoins

598. "Mt. Gox: Ontario Class Action On Hold" by Addison Cameron-Huff

Mt. Gox was the world's largest Bitcoin exchange until it's bankruptcy in 2014 due to an alleged hacking incident that cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Mt. Gox is a Japanese company but its customers were all over the world including many Ontarians.

599. NFT Archives - The Angle | Fasken IP

bitcoin, Colored Coins, Digital Art Marketplace, Intellectual Property, NFT

Earlier this year, something called an “NFT” sold for $69 million USD at auction.[1] This was likely the first time most people had ever heard the term “NFT.” From that point forward, discussions of various NFTs were everywhere; as a result, they entered mainstream consciousness, much like Bitcoin had nearly ten years ago. In fact, NFT or “non-fungible token” was named word of the year for 2021.[2]

600. NFTs

THOUSAND BITCOINS

601. NFTs, Intellectual Property and Art: An Overview in Three Parts (Part 1 of 3)

602. NFTs: Why a picture is worth a thousand bitcoins | Gowling WLG

NFTs: Why a picture is worth a thousand bitcoins | Gowling WLG

BLOCKCHAIN WEBINAR SERIES | NFTS: WHY A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND BITCOINS

603. Nathalie Beauregard

2014 : « Can you carry out Bitcoins activities in Canada without legal

17 décembre 2013. « Can you carry out Bitcoins activities in Canada

604. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Australia | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Australia | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

In recent years, cryptoassets have been gaining legitimacy, with more mainstream consumer and institutional investors embracing crypto-related investment opportunities. However, as the value and use of cryptoassets have grown, concerns about the associated risks have also increased in urgency. Regulators across the globe, together with major inter-governmental bodies, are taking significant steps towards understanding the cryptoasset market and, in particular, the associated money laundering risks.

605. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Belgium | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Belgium | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

606. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Brazil | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Brazil | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

607. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Burundi | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Burundi | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

608. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Canada | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Canada | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

609. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | China | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | China | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

610. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Deutschland | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Deutschland | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

611. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | France | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | France | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

612. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Germany | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Germany | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

613. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Greece | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Greece | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

614. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Hong Kong SAR | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Hong Kong SAR | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

615. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | India | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | India | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

616. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Indonesia | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Indonesia | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

617. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Israel | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Israel | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

618. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Italy | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Italy | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

619. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Japan | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Japan | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

620. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Kenya | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Kenya | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

621. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Korea | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Korea | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

622. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Luxembourg | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Luxembourg | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

623. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Marshall Islands | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Marshall Islands | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

624. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Mexico | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Mexico | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

625. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Monaco | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Monaco | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

626. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Morocco | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Morocco | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

627. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Netherlands | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Netherlands | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

628. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Nordic Region | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Nordic Region | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

629. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Pakistan | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Pakistan | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

630. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Poland | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Poland | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

631. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Singapore | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Singapore | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

632. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | South Africa | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | South Africa | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

633. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Thailand | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Thailand | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

634. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Turkey | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Turkey | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

635. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Uganda | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Uganda | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

636. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | United Kingdom | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | United Kingdom | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

637. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | United States | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | United States | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

638. Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Zimbabwe | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets | Zimbabwe | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Navigating financial crime risks in the time of cryptoassets

639. Neural Network and Liability: When the information lies in Hidden Layers

On March 11, 2021, Christie’s auction house made a landmark sale by auctioning off an entirely digital artwork by the artist Beeple, a $69 million transaction in Ether, a cryptocurrency.1 In doing so, the famous auction house put non-fungible tokens (“NFT”), the product of a decentralized blockchain, in the spotlight. While many extol the benefits of such crypto asset technology, there are also significant risks associated with it,2 requiring greater vigilance when dealing with any investment or transaction involving NFTs. What is an NFT? The distinction between fungible and non-fungible assets is not new. Prior to the invention of blockchain, the distinction was used to differentiate assets based on their availability, fungible assets being highly available and non-fungible assets, scarce. Thus, a fungible asset can easily be replaced by an equivalent asset with the same market value. The best example is money, whether it be coins, notes, deposit money or digital money, such as Bitcoin. On the contrary, a non-fungible asset is unique and irreplaceable. As such, works of art are non-fungible assets in that they are either unique or very few copies of them exist. Their value is a result of their authenticity and provenance, among other things. NFTs are crypto assets associated with blockchain technology that replicate the phenomenon of scarcity. Each NFT is associated with a unique identifier to ensure traceability. In addition to the art market, online, NFTs have been associated with the collection of virtual items, such as sports cards and other memorabilia and collectibles, including the first tweet ever written.3 NFTs can also be associated with tangible goods, in which case they can be used to track exchanges and transactions related to such goods. In 2019, Ernst & Young developed a system of unique digital identifiers for a client to track and manage its collection of fine wines.4 Many projects rely on cryptocurrencies, such as Ether, to create NFTs. This type of cryptocurrency is programmable and allows for metadata to be embedded through a code that becomes the key to tracking assets, such as works of art or other valuables. What are the risks associated with NFTs? Although many praise the benefits of NFTs, in particular the increased traceability of the origin of goods exchanged through digital transactions, it has become clear that the speculative bubble of the past few weeks has, contrary to expectations, resulted in new opportunities for fraud and abuse of the rights associated with works exchanged online. An unregulated market? While there is currently no legislative framework that specifically regulates crypto asset transactions, NFT buyers and sellers are still subject to the laws and regulations currently governing the distribution of financial products and services5, the securities laws6, the Money-Services Business Act7 and the tax laws8. Is an NFT a security? In January 2020, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) identified crypto asset “commodities” as assets that may be subject to securities laws and regulations. Thus, platforms that manage and host NFTs on behalf of their users engage in activities that are governed by the laws that apply to securities trading, as long as they retain possession or control of NFTs. On the contrary, a platform will not be subject to regulatory oversight if: “the underlying crypto asset itself is not a security or derivative; and the contract or instrument for the purchase, sale or delivery of a crypto asset results in an obligation to make immediate delivery of the crypto asset, and is settled by the immediate delivery of the crypto asset to the Platform’s user according to the Platform’s typical commercial practice.”9 Fraud10 NFTs don’t protect collectors and investors from fraud and theft. Among the documented risks, there are fake websites robbing investors of their cryptocurrencies, thefts and/or disappearances of NFTs hosted on platforms, and copyright and tradem[Truncated to 4000 Characters]

640. "New Federal Bitcoin Law" by Addison Cameron-Huff

"New Federal Bitcoin Law" by Addison Cameron-Huff

New Federal Bitcoin Law

Bill C-31 passed last Thursday and with it comes new rules for businesses dealing in Bitcoin.

I've written a guest post on the Decentral blog that explains what the new rules are, when they'll take effect and what might happen: http://decentralca.tumblr.com/post/89657114028/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-bitcoin-law.

641. New Québec Tax Obligations as of January 1st, 2020 | McCarthy Tétrault

Miners Be Aware: New GST/HST Measures Announced for Cryptoasset Mining

642. New Streamlined Report of Exempt Distribution: January 30, 2019 Deadline For Funds | BLG

Cryptoassets/digital coins: “Cryptoassets” has been added to the selection of investment fund types and other issuers’ primary business in Form 45-106F1. A number of new security codes have also been added, including for digital coins or tokens. This will allow the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) to monitor issuers that invest in cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency-related assets as well as to identify distributions of securities involving digital coins or tokens.

643. News | Ridout & Maybee LLP

Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, are changing how the world interacts with respect to value transactions. With an increased global interest in cryptocurrencies,…

644. Nicolas Faucher - Financial Institutions lawyer in Montréal | People | Fasken

OSFI Releases Advisory on Cryptoasset Exposures

OSFI has released an Advisory setting out new rules for deposit taking institutions (DTIs) and insurers when dealing with cryptoasset exposures.

645. "No Remedy: Legal Realism And How Smart Contracts Help" by Addison Cameron-Huff

Blockchains record issues forever, and users can see for themselves whether a service is working as intended. The more records are added to the public, immutable, online ledgers, the more people can avoid risks posed by the lack of law. The lack of remedy in the globalized world may further the adoption of these new technological systems. In a world with less trust because there is less law, it's possible that more code will be a part of the answer. Because a service that people have more trust in is one that will attract more users. For example, Bitcoin's incredible utility comes from its ability to act as a type of online money that can't be revoked or counterfeited, and this has spawned a trillion dollar global market for cryptocurrencies in a little over a decade. This sort of innovation will not stop. Consumers demand it and technologists will deliver it.

646. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Australia | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

647. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Belgium | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

648. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Brazil | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

649. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Burundi | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

650. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Canada | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

651. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | China | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

652. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Deutschland | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

653. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | France | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

654. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Germany | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

655. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Greece | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

656. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Hong Kong SAR | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

657. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | India | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

658. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Indonesia | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

659. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Israel | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

660. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Italy | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

661. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Japan | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

662. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Kenya | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

663. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Korea | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

664. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Luxembourg | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

665. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Marshall Islands | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

666. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Mexico | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

667. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Monaco | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

668. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Morocco | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

669. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Netherlands | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

670. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Nordic Region | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

671. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Pakistan | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

672. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Poland | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

673. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Singapore | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

674. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | South Africa | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

675. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Thailand | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

676. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Turkey | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

677. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Uganda | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

678. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | United Kingdom | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

679. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | United States | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

680. Norton Rose Fulbright advises on world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency | Zimbabwe | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins, Sand Dollar is legal tender with the same legal and market acceptability as cash.

681. Norton Rose Fulbright fournit des conseils relativement à la première monnaie numérique fiduciaire du monde prête à utiliser par les consommateurs | Canada | Cabinet juridique mondial | Norton Rose Fulbright

Contrairement aux cryptomonnaies comme le bitcoin ou les stablecoins émises par des entreprises privées, le Sand Dollar a cours légal et jouit de la même acceptabilité légale et commerciale que l’argent comptant.

682. Norton Rose Fulbright wins European Law Firm of the Year for derivatives transactions | Italy | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Led by London-based partners Nigel Dickinson and Daniel Franks, the Norton Rose Fulbright European derivatives team provides innovative markets solutions to leading global investment banks, including in relation to cryptoassets, swap bifurcations, commodity hedging syndication, syndicated repo financing and trade finance.

683. Norton Rose Fulbright | Africa | Global law firm

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

684. Norton Rose Fulbright | Brazil | Global law firm

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

685. Norton Rose Fulbright | China | Global law firm

Cryptoassets and sanctions

How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

686. Norton Rose Fulbright | Global law firm

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

687. Norton Rose Fulbright | India | Global law firm

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

688. Norton Rose Fulbright | Indonesia | Global law firm

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

689. Norton Rose Fulbright | Israel | Global law firm

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

690. Norton Rose Fulbright | Korea | Global law firm

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

691. Norton Rose Fulbright | Marshall Islands | Global law firm

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

692. Norton Rose Fulbright | Middle East | Global law firm

Cryptoassets and sanctions

How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

693. Norton Rose Fulbright | Pakistan | Global law firm

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

694. Norton Rose Fulbright | Papua New Guinea | Global law firm

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

695. Norton Rose Fulbright | South Africa | Global law firm

Cryptoassets and sanctions: How easy is it to freeze cryptoassets?

696. Notable Amendments to Canada’s Anti-Money Laundering Regime | Bennett Jones

With the rise of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and others, the recent amendments specifically target virtual currency transactions

697. OECD Publishes Report on Implications and Policy Considerations of Decentralised Finance (DeFi) | McCarthy Tétrault

The Report defines DeFi as a development in the crypto-asset space seeking to replicate the traditional financial system in an “open, decentralised, permissionless and autonomous way” based on the use of blockchains, typically built on the Ethereum blockchain network. The key defining features of DeFi projects include:

The Report’s findings suggest that the total value of crypto-assets locked in DeFi applications built on Ethereum blockchains as of November 2021 reached US$100 billion from less than US$2 billion in July 2020, a 50-fold increase.[6]

Financial stability risks – The Report notes a number of financial stability risks associated with DeFi including potentially new forms of concentration risk relating to, for example, reliance on the Ethereum network and developers within that network. The Report also points out that, as crypto-asset activity becomes increasingly mainstream, the boundaries of the decentralised and traditional systems become more porous and the increased interconnectedness of DeFi with traditional financial markets may give rise to contagion risk from DeFi markets to traditional financial markets.

698. OSC Clears Pathway for the First Publicly Offered Bitcoin Fund | BLG

OSC Clears Pathway for the First Publicly Offered Bitcoin Fund | BLG

OSC Clears Pathway for the First Publicly Offered Bitcoin Fund

On October 29, 2019, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) issued reasons for its decision to allow 3iQ Corp. (3iQ), a Canadian investment fund manager, to offer the first publicly offered bitcoin fund in Canada. The OSC Panel ordered that the Director issue a receipt for a final prospectus of The Bitcoin Fund (the Fund), setting aside an earlier decision of the Director to deny the receipt.1

The OSC Panel explained that although the concerns about bitcoin expressed by the Director and OSC staff (Staff) had merit, their concerns did not warrant denying a receipt. The OSC Panel’s reasons are notable because they provide insight into the OSC’s perception of the risks associated with bitcoin, and the regulator’s expectations on managers of prospective bitcoin investment funds in recognizing these risks and employing safeguards to mitigate them.

The Fund is a proposed non-redeemable investment fund (NRIF) that would invest substantially all of its assets in long-term holdings of bitcoin purchased from various sources, including bitcoin exchanges. Investors in the Fund would have limited redemption rights – the right to redeem annually at NAV or monthly at a discount to NAV.

699. OSC Decision in Token Funder Inc. Initial Coin Offering: Is Canada Finally Becoming an ICO-Friendly Jurisdiction? - Langlois lawyers

Operation: initial token offering of 1,000,000,000 digital tokens through a smart contract on the Ethereum Blockchain (each a “FNDR Token”) by way of a private placement conducted under the offering memorandum prospectus exemption provided under section 2.9 of NI 45-106.

Policies: filer will establish, maintain and apply policies and procedures that establish a system of controls and supervision sufficient to manage the risks associated with its business in accordance with prudent business practices, including with respect to the Ethereum Blockchain, cybersecurity and conflicts of interest between the Filer and its investors.

700. OSC Gives Relief to First Initial Token Offering

digital tokens through a smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain (the “FNDR tokens”).

associated with its business, including in the case of the Ethereum blockchain certain cybersecurity

701. OSC Gives Relief to First Initial Token Offering | Cassels.com

Funder is a Toronto-based blockchain business established for the purposes of creating a smart token asset management platform (“STAMP”), which is intended to (subject to regulatory approvals and exemptive relief) facilitate (i) third-party issuers raising capital through the offering of tokens and coins, (ii) token and coin management and governance services for issuers and (iii) the raising of capital in accordance with National Instrument 45-106 – Prospectus Exemption (“NI 45-106”) or as a crowdfunding portal pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 45-108. To fund the establishment of STAMP, Funder will create 1,000,000,000 digital tokens through a smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain (the “FNDR tokens”).

Funder will establish, maintain and apply policies and procedures to sufficiently manage the risks associated with its business, including in the case of the Ethereum blockchain certain cybersecurity and conflicts of interest checks;

702. OSC Issues Orders Against Foreign Crypto Trading Platforms KuCoin and ByBit | McCarthy Tétrault

Cryptoasset

703. OSC Refuses Prospectus Receipt for Bitcoin Fund | BLG

OSC Refuses Prospectus Receipt for Bitcoin Fund | BLG

Insights OSC Refuses Prospectus Receipt for Bitcoin Fund

OSC Refuses Prospectus Receipt for Bitcoin Fund

On February 15, 2019, the Director of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) published a letter (Letter) outlining his view on the issuance of a receipt to 3iQ Corp. (Manager) for a preliminary prospectus in respect of The Bitcoin Fund (Fund). This filing raised the issue of whether a non-redeemable investment fund (NRIF) that would invest substantially all of its assets in bitcoin should be offered to retail investors. The OSC refused to issue a receipt, citing the lack of established regulation for the bitcoin market, which the director believed raised investor protection issues regarding the valuation, safeguarding and liquidity of bitcoin.

The Fund proposed to invest in long-term holdings of bitcoin purchased from various sources, including bitcoin exchanges. The investment objective of the Fund was to seek to provide investors with: (i) exposure to bitcoin and the daily price movements of the U.S. dollar price of bitcoin; and (ii) the opportunity for long-term capital appreciation.

704. "Ontario Could Create the World's Most Popular Casino Using Bitcoin" by Addison Cameron-Huff

"Ontario Could Create the World's Most Popular Casino Using Bitcoin" by Addison Cameron-Huff

Ontario Could Create the World's Most Popular Casino Using Bitcoin

Ontario just launched an online casino: https://www.playolg.ca/content/olg/en.html. This unimaginative step is a wasted opportunity to create a gigantic global gambling company powered by Bitcoin.

The province doesn't seem to want to go global (although that would make a big dent in the deficit and reduce the harm to Ontarians of gambling [The Star]) but if it did, it's current offering likely wouldn't be that compelling because it's a globally competitive market (not a captive provincial one). But if the province did want to expand, Bitcoin would be the way forward and a way to make a behemoth in online gambling.

A Bitcoin-powered casino run by the Ontario government could dominate the gambling industry. Ontario is a trustworthy brand that isn't going to disappear with the Bitcoins and it can afford the necessary investment in software development/games (Ontario/Quebec are host to many gambling and video game companies).

705. Ontario Election 2022: What you need to know before you donate or advertise during an election | McCarthy Tétrault

Yes. Donations may be made by cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin. Such donations are considered monetary contributions.[10]

706. Osler National Blockchain & Investment Summit | Law Event

Brett Bergmann, Co-founder of Citizen Hex, a developer of technology solutions for acquiring, securing and trading Ethereum-based ERC-20 tokens

707. Outlook 2021

Cryptocurrency, while relatively new, is not an invention of the last couple of years. Bitcoin, considered by

708. Outlook 2021: Key Developments in Cryptocurrency Regulation and Enforcement | Cassels.com

Cryptocurrency, while relatively new, is not an invention of the last couple of years. Bitcoin, considered by many to be the marquee crypto asset, became available more than a decade ago. Nevertheless, the concept still seems novel to regulators and investors alike. Regardless of one’s own experience, understanding, or familiarity with the crypto market, it is undeniable that the continued growth of this market has been accompanied by a variety of difficulties for regulators. In response, Canadian regulatory authorities have been forced to apply creative and flexible solutions to the regulation of the cryptocurrency industry.

709. PDF

be coins, notes, deposit money or digital money, such as Bitcoin. On the contrary, a non-fungible

710. Parallel NFT raises US$50 million Series A financing round | Client Work | Fasken

On October 13, 2021, Parallel NFT ("Parallel"), a company developing an NFT sci-fi card game based on the Ethereum blockchain, raised a US$50 million Series A financing at a valuation of US$500 million. The round was entirely financed through an investment by Paradigm, an investment firm focused on investments in crypto companies, protocols, and currencies.

711. Patent Lawyer / Agent in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

bitcoin, Colored Coins, Digital Art Marketplace, Intellectual Property, NFT

712. Patenting Blockchain Technology | Ridout & Maybee LLP

Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, are changing how the world interacts with respect to value transactions. With an increased global interest in cryptocurrencies, questions of patentability are surfacing as institutions, companies and individuals seek to profit off inventive applications of the underlying technology of cryptocurrencies — the blockchain.

Tags: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Canadian Lawyer Magazine, Information & Communications Technologies, Meika Ellis, Software

713. Patents | Ridout & Maybee LLP

As of December 8, 2020, the price of a single bitcoin is approximately US$ 18,891. In January 2016, the unit price of a bitcoin hovered around US$ 380 at one point. The rise of the bitcoin, along with other types of cryptocurrency, has led to one of the fastest growing trends in patent applications worldwide.

714. Patrick McCann | Avocat-conseil en Cols blancs – défense et enquêtes à Ottawa | Équipe | Fasken

À la suite de la cyberattaque contre Colonial Gas aux États-Unis (et la fascinante récupération d’une partie des bitcoins payés en rançon), il ne fait aucun doute que les demandes de rançons par contrôle de données ne sont pas près de cesser. Qu’arrivera-t-il lorsque ce type de menace se transformera en contrôle physique d’infrastructures essentielles? Est-ce que nous paierons ou nous prendrons position? Quelles sont les conséquences en fonction des différents choix? Joignez-vous au groupe d’experts de Fasken alors qu’ils présenteront différents scénarios inspirés de l’actualité et se pencheront sur des questions de légalité, d’éthique, de politique et de tactiques, relativement aux paiements effectués aux acteurs malveillants pour la restitution du contrôle de systèmes essentiels et d’ensembles de données.

715. Patrick McCann | White Collar Defence and Investigations Counsel in Ottawa | People | Fasken

In the wake of the attack on Colonial Gas in the United States (and the fascinating recovery of some of the Bitcoin involved), it is clear that ransom for the control of data is not going away. What happens when this threat evolves into the physical control of critical infrastructure – will we pay, or take a stand? What are the implications of these choices? Join Fasken’s panel of experts as they tackle scenarios ripped from the headlines, looking at issues of legality, ethics, policy, and tactics related to payments to malicious actors for the return of control of critical systems and datasets.

716. Paycase Financial Corp. - Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

On March 22, 2018, TMX Group announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Shorcan Digital Currency Network, has entered into an agreement with Paycase Financial to launch a new cryptocurrency brokerage service focused on Bitcoin and Ether. Shorcan DCN, together with Paycase, will create proprietary-based cryptocurrency benchmarks based on consolidated data from the world's leading crypto exchanges as well as over the counter (OTC) brokered volume. Shorcan DCN is planned for launch in the second quarter of 2018.

717. Paycase Financial Corp. - Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt S.E.N.C.R.L./s.r.l.

Le 22 mars 2018, le Groupe TMX a annoncé que sa filiale en propriété exclusive, Shorcan Digital Currency Network, avait conclu une entente avec Paycase Financial en vue de lancer un service de courtage de cryptomonnaies, axé sur Bitcoin et Ether. Shorcan DCN, de concert avec Paycase, créera des indices de référence exclusifs sur les cryptomonnaies, fondée sur les données regroupées des plus grandes bourses de cryptomonnaies du monde et sur le volume de courtage négocié hors cote. Le lancement de Shorcan DCN est prévu pour le deuxième trimestre de 2018.

718. "Paying Contractors in Bitcoin: Contract Drafting Tips" by Addison Cameron-Huff

"Paying Contractors in Bitcoin: Contract Drafting Tips" by Addison Cameron-Huff

Paying Contractors in Bitcoin: Contract Drafting Tips

If you are paying contractors in Bitcoin then you should take extra care to ensure your contracts are well-drafted. Specifically, you should make sure that you have a clear method of establishing the exchange rate between your national currency and BTC.

Most contracts, even in the digital currency world, are denominated in a national currency (not BTC). This poses a problem for determining the right amount of bitcoins to pay someone because exchange rate fluctuates by the minute (since bitcoins are a globally traded commodity).

A good choice of exchange rate is one that's a blend of several exchange spot prices or a 24 hour average such as BitcoinAverage. But be wary of writing a specific rate into your contracts because the world of Bitcoin moves fast. Websites come and go so it may be best to specify a secondary source to use if the first isn't available. Another approach is to set a specific exchange rate to be used if the parties disagree on the rate that's applicable at a certain time.

719. Payments Canada: Canadian Payment Methods and Trends Report 2021 | Knowledge | Fasken

The CPMT also touched on digital currency. Digital currency refers to a wide range of electronic money, which includes digital/cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, as well as Stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies (“CBDC”). The CPMT notes that few Canadians understand what digital currency is or have used a digital currency to purchase goods and services, and states that the biggest reasons that Canadians do not yet use digital currency is due to security and safety concerns and because of a lack of knowledge.[14] It also notes, however, that digital currency awareness has grown significantly during the pandemic, due to factors such as greater offerings, use cases, and extraordinary valuations. In addition, at least 80% of the world’s central banks are exploring the potential introduction of digital currency, and it is expected that there will be an increase in the global use of digital currency.[15] In fact, in a timely development on this front, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority released a technical whitepaper on October 5, 2021, with respect to the possible issuance of a CBDC, an “e-HKD”, and aims to provide an initial view on the matter by the middle of next year. Accordingly, there is a need for more consumer education around digital currencies including the security implications of such currencies. As discussed herein and in our earlier bulletin, the pandemic has accelerated the move towards a more fully digital society, including the movement away from paper based payment forms to electronic payment methods. This in turn, leads to, among other things, the potential issuance of a CBDC and the Bank of Canada is working with other parties to assess economic, functional and technical design options for a CBDC.

720. Payments Canada: Canadian Payment Methods and Trends Report 2021 | Ressources | Fasken

721. Perspectives | McCarthy Tétrault

Cryptoasset

722. Peter Mantas | Litigation Lawyer | People | Fasken

723. Peter N. Mantas | Associé en Résolution des différends internationaux à Ottawa | Équipe | Fasken

724. Philippe Leclerc | McCarthy

SATO Technologies Corp. signs a loan agreement with Sygnum Bank AG for C$4M to finance bitcoin mining equipment

725. Plateformes de négociation de cryptoactifs : Cadre réglementaire proposé | Canada

Les organismes canadiens de réglementation des valeurs mobilières pourraient faire valoir leur compétence sur les plateformes de négociation existantes des bitcoins et d’autres cryptoactifs qui ne sont pas des titres ou des dérivés

La question préliminaire clé à laquelle les ACVM tentent de répondre dans le document de consultation porte sur la façon dont les organismes canadiens de réglementation des valeurs mobilières exercent leur compétence sur des plateformes de négociation de cryptoactifs qui fonctionnent comme une forme de paiement ou un moyen d’échange sur un réseau décentralisé, comme le Bitcoin, et qui ne sont pas, en tant que tels, des titres ou des dérivés. Les ACVM reconnaissent que ces types de cryptoactifs sont analogues à la monnaie fiduciaire et aux métaux précieux et présentent plutôt des caractéristiques de marchandises. Néanmoins, les ACVM proposent d’appliquer la législation sur les valeurs mobilières aux plateformes où se négocient ces cryptoactifs là où l’accord juridique entre la plateforme et ses utilisateurs peut en soi constituer un titre ou un dérivé. Pour déterminer si une plateforme doit être ou non assujettie au cadre réglementaire, les ACVM proposent de tenir compte de qui a la garde et le contrôle des cryptoactifs, de qui en a la propriété juridique et de quels sont les droits des utilisateurs en cas d’insolvabilité de la plateforme.

726. Points saillants des technologies : intelligence artificielle (IA), services financiers, technologie

Pour répondre à ces préoccupations, nous avons été témoins du déploiement par certaines organisations de chaînes de blocs privées, notamment Hyperledger Fabric, au sein du réseau privé sécurisé de l’organisation, auquel le public n’a pas accès. Ces chaînes de blocs privées permettent souvent à l’organisation de mettre en place des mesures de contrôle d’accès pour atténuer davantage les risques associés à la sécurité et la protection des données personnelles ou sensibles. Dans les cas où des chaînes de blocs publiques sont utilisées, comme la chaîne de blocs Ethereum, les organisations se disent de plus en plus préoccupées par le stockage de données personnelles ou sensibles directement dans la chaîne de blocs. Lorsqu’il est nécessaire d’enregistrer des données, on stocke souvent un pointeur ou un code de hachage dans la chaîne de blocs qui indique que les données sont enregistrées ailleurs que dans la chaîne de blocs ou la TGLD. Les données sont sécurisées autrement et elles ne sont pas accessibles au public.

727. President Biden issues Executive Order on Ensuring “Responsible Development” of Digital Assets | McCarthy Tétrault

More recently, a private members bill, Bill C-249 An Act respecting the encouragement of the growth of the cryptoasset sector, proposes requiring the Minister of Finance to develop a national framework to encourage the growth of the cryptoasset sector, focusing on lowering barriers to entry into the cryptoasset sector while protecting those working in the sector and minimizing the administrative burden.

728. Privacy in Québec: recent developments and takeaways for businesses | Insights | Torys LLP

In the same line, the Québec Court of Appeal allowed an appeal in part and reinstated the plaintiffs’ class action claim for punitive damages resulting from a “bitcoin ransom” privacy breach where three officers of Nissan Canada received a threatening email suggesting that the personal information of their consumers would be used for malicious purposes if they refused to pay a bitcoin ransom.

729. Project Jasper Update: White Paper Release and Phase 3 Announcement | McCarthy Tétrault

Project Jasper is an experiment being done by the Bank of Canada, Payments Canada and R3 to test the viability and feasibility of using Distributed Ledger Technology (“DLT”) as the basis for wholesale interbank payment settlements. This project was launched in March 2016 and has completed two phases. Phase 1 of Project Jasper employed the Ethereum platform as the basis for the DLT, while Phase 2 employed the custom-designed R3 Corda platform. In June 2017, the Bank of Canada issued a report on its preliminary findings from Project Jasper, which were summarized in our previous article. On September 29, 2017, the Bank of Canada, Payments Canada, and R3 released a white paper outlining their detailed findings from Project Jasper. This article elaborates on our previous article based on the findings from the white paper and discusses the next steps for Project Jasper.

730. Public Investment

Several bitcoin ETFs have also recently launched in Canada.

731. Pôle d’information sur la technologie financière (FinTech) | Canada | Cabinet juridique mondial | Norton Rose Fulbright

Les cryptomonnaies telles que le bitcoin constituent les applications les plus connues de ces technologies. Toutefois, l’étendue des applications potentielles va bien au-delà des cryptomonnaies et comprend, par exemple, les systèmes d’exécution et de règlement des opérations, le financement des opérations commerciales, la gestion de la chaîne d’approvisionnement, l’enregistrement d’actifs, la gestion de la vérification de l’identité (y compris aux fins de la lutte contre le blanchiment d’argent et des exigences de connaissance du client) et la gouvernance.

732. Raising Capital through Cryptoassets - The State of Security Token Offerings | McCarthy Tétrault

Raising Capital through Cryptoassets - The State of Security Token Offerings | McCarthy Tétrault

Raising Capital through Cryptoassets - The State of Security Token Offerings

Despite the decrease in the total market capitalization of cryptoassets in 2018, the market continues to see interest from entities looking to harness the benefits of blockchain technology in their securities issuances. In 2017, conversations largely focused on the concept of Initial Coin Offerings. However, in 2018 market participants have been largely focused on positioning themselves to raise capital through securities law compliant platforms, which has spurred the growth of Security Token Offerings.

733. Randy Schwartz | McCarthy

SATO Technologies Corp. signs a loan agreement with Sygnum Bank AG for C$4M to finance bitcoin mining equipment

734. Ransomware | S1 EP2 | Canada | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

Right. So some of the questions we get are, if I had to make a top three list of questions clients ask about ransom payments in particular is, number one, is it legal, two, will insurance cover it? And three, do I need to tell law enforcement about any of this, or is it going to be a problem. And-- and what we tell our clients is look at the end of the day, it is ultimately your decision, whether you want to make a payment or not, but there are certain guardrails you should be mindful of. Number one, clients should not negotiate with the attackers themselves. This is typically done through a third party. There are techniques and tactics that these attackers are going to use to bully, intimidate and challenge a client who is inexperienced in dealing with these kind of threat actors. So better to get somebody who has experience and the know-how and there are various vendors in the marketplace that do that work specifically. So that's number one. Number two, in terms of making a payment, just recently, the Office of Foreign Asset Control in the US came out with a subsequent guidance documents on how ransom payments should be made. By and large, although it's a US-based organization, globally, they're viewed as being leaders and you want to make sure you're onside of that. So there's some guidelines and things that need to be verified and checked. So for example, need to get a certificate around a sanction check before a payment is made. If a sanction check, which typically goes through databases of sanctioned entities, could be OFAC, could be DFAIT here in Canada, could be FINTRAC, could be Interpol, there are a variety of them that are out there. But it’s that third party vendor that's negotiating the job to do the sanction check. If it comes back clear, there's the possibility of making a payment. If it does not come back clear, you're in a different place, because you won't be able to make the payment without being offside unless you get some kind of an exemption. And that exemption is not a speedy process, especially when you're losing money as an organization in real time, you want to you want to keep that that option available, but be in mind that an exemption may not be a feasible option. So to John's point earlier about the incident response part, usually when we get engaged as breach counsel, we open up immediately two swim lanes. One is going to be, do we have backups, and can we restore, and then swim lane number two, if you wish, let's open up negotiations or at least communication with a threat actor to see what the demand is, get what we call proof of life, which is basically a validation that they actually have your data or have a decryptor to decrypt your data and then see where that goes to get more intelligence about how they operate and what kind of reliance we can have on the word they give. But when-- when organizations are looking at this, you're absolutely correct, it's a cost benefit analysis in most cases, and you know, is the time that they're going to be down and the time to rebuild and restore? How much is that going to cost versus if the demand is X dollars in Bitcoin is that a better option, recognizing that even when a decryptor is obtained, it's not an instantaneous you’re up and running the next day, it does take some time so there's necessarily going to be some downtime that has to be factored into that process.

Sure, Ailsa, yeah, I think that's a really good question. And historically, in previous years, law enforcement, maybe not, maybe didn't play as large a role as they do now. Whereas now we recommend clients when they're subject to a ransomware attack to-- to keep law enforcement involved and notify them quite early in the process. There's a few reasons for that. One of the reasons is that in order in many insurance policies in order to make a claim under a policy of cyber insurance, that'll be a prerequisite under the policy that it's reported to law enforcement, because it is a crime. So that's usually a prerequisite. Two, and Imran mentioned the new updated guidance from OFAC in the US and whether a ransom payment can be made and whether it's legal, law enforcement's taking a much greater role in this assessment and scrutinizing it and including working, you know, so making a ransom payment in Canada, for instance, Canadian law enforcement will collaborate with the FBI in the in the United States, if there's a nexus to the United States, certainly will be involving the FBI early, typically informing them before the ransom payment is made and after the ransom payment is made, if one is one is made, and the reason for that is, the FBI has had some recent success, in particular, in tracking the Bitcoin wallets used to facilitate some of these ransom payments. And there has been some limited success in actually tracking some of these threat actors. So overall, we would say the role of law enforcement of these incidents is increasing and we're involving them earlier and in a more robust way.

735. Ransomware: Implications for Canadian Organizations | Knowledge | Fasken

Once WannaCry gains access to a system, it encrypts the victims' files, leaving them inaccessible. WannaCry then demands that victims pay a Bitcoin "ransom" in order to have their files decrypted. The following screen pops up to the user on an infected computer:

736. "Recent Developments in Canadian Blockchain Law: November, 2019" by Addison Cameron-Huff

A novel Bitcoin investment fund ("The Bitcoin Fund") put forward by 3iQ Corp. was approved by the OSC

THE BITCOIN FUND

A win for progressive capital markets players on October 29th: the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) reversed a staff decision to allow 3iQ Corp. to launch an NRIF for the public to invest in Bitcoin through a professionally managed fund. See my earlier post about this fund from when it was denied to read about what an NRIF is and what this case was about: https://www.cameronhuff.com/blog/3iQ-Bitcoin-Fund/index.html. I attended the openings for this hearing and was not impressed with the OSC's arguments (much of it not about Bitcoin at all), so it was refreshing to see that former securities lawyer Lorie Haber saw the weakness in the government's case and the need for limits on the discretion of OSC staff:

I do not agree with Staff’s submission that investor protection under s. 61(1) necessarily extends to a consideration of the assets a fund proposes to hold or the markets in which those assets trade. If that analysis were applied to deny a receipt to the Fund, as Staff submits it should, it would amount to a ban on any funds holding bitcoin, regardless of their structure or management. Further, the length of Staff’s proposed ban would be uncertain. Staff is effectively proposing a ban on funds holding bitcoin that would remain in place until Staff deems the market for bitcoin to have matured enough that Staff’s concerns about the operational risks have diminished. Staff has not provided any authority for imposing such an indeterminate ban.

Given that investors have other means of acquiring bitcoin, I question whether the ban proposed by Staff would protect investors from “unfair, improper or fraudulent practices”,[34] as provided for under the Act’s purposes. Instead of ensuring that investors could not invest in bitcoin, denial of the receipt would only ensure that investors could not invest in bitcoin through a public fund.

737. Recent Guidance by the Regulators on Marketing and Advertising Activities by CTPs

Digital Bitcoin Rating Services and Triple A Crypto All Stars.”

“‘When I want to buy Bitcoin, I always use the BuyEasy Crypto Platform – it’s so easy to buy!’ said noted

738. Recent Guidance by the Regulators on Marketing and Advertising Activities by CTPs | Cassels.com

“Our platform is consistently rated the safest and most trusted platform by leading rating agencies, including Digital Bitcoin Rating Services and Triple A Crypto All Stars.”

“‘When I want to buy Bitcoin, I always use the BuyEasy Crypto Platform – it’s so easy to buy!’ said noted action movie star….”

739. Recent developments in white collar crime | Gowling WLG

MSBs will include persons or entities dealing in virtual currencies. Although the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act was originally amended in 2014 to apply to persons or entities dealing in virtual currencies, the change never came into force because the necessary amendments to the regulations had not been made. The pseudo-anonymous and decentralized nature of virtual currencies, and the capacity to conduct near instantaneous cross-border transactions, has made certain virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, a preferred currency of criminals (including money launderers and terrorists). The failure of the Canadian government to properly address this loop hole has deprived law enforcement of an important tool in detecting money launderers, terrorist financiers, and other criminals.

740. Recent developments signal a rise in sanctions enforcement risk for UK regulated firms | Deutschland | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

In terms of the actions regulated firms can take now to reduce enforcement risk in relation to sanctions, OFSI, the FCA and the Bank of England released in March a joint statement on sanctions and the cryptoasset sector8. Whilst the key focus of this statement is crypoassets, some of the steps set out in relation to reducing the risk of sanctions evasion are of general relevance to regulated firms. The statement emphasises that controls developed to identify customers and monitor transactions under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 can help with compliance, but that firms will also need to implement additional sanctions specific controls as appropriate.

7 https://www.fca.org.uk/news/statements/uk-financial-regulatory-authorities-sanctions-cryptoasset-sector

741. Recent developments signal a rise in sanctions enforcement risk for UK regulated firms | Germany | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

7 https://www.fca.org.uk/news/statements/uk-financial-regulatory-authorities-sanctions-cryptoasset-sector

742. Recent developments signal a rise in sanctions enforcement risk for UK regulated firms | United Kingdom | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

7 https://www.fca.org.uk/news/statements/uk-financial-regulatory-authorities-sanctions-cryptoasset-sector

743. Regulation Tomorrow podcast | Australia | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright

RT Plus - HMT response to the consultation and call for evidence on the UK regulatory approach to cryptoassets, stablecoins and DLT

In this episode of RT Plus, Albert Weatherill and Hannah Meakin discuss HM Treasury’s recent response to its earlier consultation and call for evidence on the UK regulatory approach to cryptoassets, stablecoins and distributed ledger technology. In particular, they consider the possible impact that the proposed changes will bring and what is around the corner for cryptoasset regulation in the UK.