The legal nature of tokens – according to the Liechtenstein TVTG – with special consideration of the token container model – the contemporary masterpiece of Dr.iur. Thomas Nagele, LL.M. 2021, gives a thorough overview of all these issues. In recent years, Liechtenstein has emerged as an attractive location for companies in the financial technology sector. These FinTechs use new or existing technologies. “Blockchains” and “distributed ledger technologies” all present new challenges. The Liechtenstein legislator has addressed many of these issues with its own framework law, the Token and TT Service Provider Act (TVTG).
Legally securing the digital process is the top priority. There is currently no uniform civil law definition of tokens in Europe. The aim is a “token economy”. This is a regulatory concept that strives for the broadest possible applicability of the legal basis. The legal definition creates a new legal object, the token. These can have their own (inner) value (“intrinsic tokens”) and act as currency. However, they can also present external values in the form of a right (“extrinsic tokens”), such as tokens representing “shareholder rights”.
What exactly is a blockchain? This is the name of the technology on the basis of which cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, Dash, Aeternity or Litecoin are traded. A chain of blocks is created when all transaction data is ordered chronologically and concatenated with the previous block using a checksum (hash). This transaction data, which is stored in these blocks, together form the (distributed) ledger (the distributed database), which in turn provides an overview of the transactions and “account balances”. The author of the book publishes regularly Talks related to blockchains and cryptocurrencies.
Thomas Nagele – Our specialist for blockchains – He is a lawyer in Liechtenstein and advises international financial, technology and industrial companies in the areas of blockchain/DLT, telecommunications and internet as well as public institutions. He has many years of experience as a software developer and deals with Internet/IT law as well as civil and corporate law and teaches and lectures.
