There is broad consensus among international regulators and practitioners that Crypto Assets as an emerging new asset class and related Distributed Ledger/Blockchain Technology (DLT) will have an immense potential for innovation end efficiency gains in the financial sector. Crypto Assets and tokenisation might revolutionise the financial markets in similar ways as securitisation in the past. Considering that, in view of the finance industry forging ahead, the EU Commission has taken up the subject by the initiation of formal proceedings, time has come to attempt an over-arching analysis of the current state.

So far it seems that academics and practitioners have focused primarily on the regulatory aspects of Crypto Assets. Nevertheless, the outcome of the private law analysis might well have a major impact on the stance of international regulators towards the subject matter, which, apart from AML and fraud combating, is driven by considerations in respect of financial stability and investors’ protection. There is no doubt that significant risks and legal uncertainties are involved in both private and regulatory law. The overarching question is whether the national and international l...