Regulation Confusion of Blockchain Systems
It is a common misstatement that Blockchain and its applications are not regulated. The underlying idea here is that there is no tailor-made regulation put in place specifically for Blockchain applications in most jurisdictions. However, it does not mean that what you did via any Blockchain-based platform is beyond the law. Rather, we, at least in most cases, do not have a clear guideline on what rules shall apply to these platforms and transactions made through them.
This difference might not be a problem when everything goes smoothly. But when things get tricky, as it did for example in the DAO hack, the people suffered a loss will look for someone to put the blame on, they will refer to the law for liability and compensation. Then, the examination will start on the rules that shall apply to a given application regardless of how decentralized or how private it is.
It is still far from clear what is the legal status of the crypto-assets. Nevertheless, we see a new regulatory body explanation almost on a daily basis. Crypto-exchanges are subjected to specific rules in most jurisdictions especially due to AML/KYC regulations. Similarly, investor protection and/or crowdfunding rules apply to ICOs in some jurisdictions. With every new risk Blockchain applications posed, we see a new wave of regulatory attempts to clear the uncertainty, mostly in a…
