Especially in view of the crisis resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic, the question arises: What happens to tokens in insolvency, especially if they are held in safekeeping by a service provider for his customers?

1 Foreword Simon Croall QC 2 Using Force Majeure Clauses in Relation to Inability to Pay: A Forlorn Hope?

On Wednesday, November 18, two customers of Cred Inc., a cryptocurrency investment platform currently in Chapter 11, asked Delaware Bankruptcy Judge John T. Dorsey to convert the Chapter 11 case to a Chapter 7 liquidation (or, in the alternative, to appoint a Chapter 11 Trustee “with expertise in hunting down . . . stolen cryptocurrency”). Prior to its Chapter 11 filing, Cred received investor-cryptocurrency, typically in the form of loans, and then purportedly used those funds across a variety of investments to generate favorable returns.

The new set of Swiss laws on blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT; Blockchain/DLT Laws) has been approved by the Swiss Parliament on 25 September 2020 and is thus now in final form. Subject to a referendum, which is unlikely, the Blockchain/DLT Laws will presumably enter into force early next year.

The main topics of the Blockchain/DLT Laws are:

This article by Jeremy Richmond QC and Chris Recker of Trowers & Hamlins was first published in International Corporate Rescue by Chase Cambria.

OVERVIEW

In view of the forthcoming Christmas and New Year, we hope that you have been successful in your endeavours and now are happily proceeding to completion of your ongoing projects. As usual, the year-end bustle is speeding up, and Belarus is no exception. In this regard, we are glad to share with you the overview below of the most recent legal and business news.

Encrypted digital currencies (“cryptocurrencies”),1 particularly Bitcoin, have recently become the target of enormous international speculation and market scrutiny. Some expect cryptocurrency payments and other transactions tracked via distributed ledger technology (“DLT”, of which “blockchain” technology is one example) to be the future of commercial interaction. The theory is that cryptocurrencies could become “the holy grail of commerce – a payment system that would eliminate or minimize the roles of third party intermediaries.”2

In this blog, we highlight changes to law, practice and procedure that will or could impact the restructuring insolvency market this year – covering important changes that should be on your radar – as well as providing an update on those changes that were expected but which might be delayed beyond 2020.

Brexit – will it be business as usual for R&I practitioners?

This week sees the UK finally leave Europe.

Introduction

General context

The statutory regulation of cryptocurrency in Russia is yet to be made compatible with the current dynamics of digital assets.