Tokenisation and currency law

This Chapter considers the legal issues related to the application of decentralised ledger technologies for their originally main purpose, namely the creation of forms of money alternative to fiat currencies. From the archetypical Bitcoin, other crypto-currencies have emerged, often blurring the lines with security-like tokens. Moreover, stablecoins have been proposed in an attempt to combine the best of both worlds, namely the decentralisation offered by the blockchain, and the stability deriving from pegging to existing fiat currencies (or other traded goods, such as commodities), at least in the intention of proponents. Finally, proposals for the creation of Central Bank Digital Currencies have gained the spotlight and raised all sorts of reflections and debates, in an attempt by central banks to counteract the challenges brought by the different forms of crypto-money.