Brochure liability at the token sale – What is the risk of a faulty whitepaper?

Fachanwalt Lutz Auffenberg has specialised in the field of fintech and innovative technologies with his law firm Fin Law. In particular, block chain technology and its regulation is the focus of his work. In today’s guest commentary, the specialist solicitor deals with prospectus liability at Token-Sale. In addition, he clarifies the question of what threatens in the event of a faulty „white paper“.

Since around 2015, start-ups in particular have often chosen to finance their company via a so-called Initial Coin Offering (ICO). This involves the creation of their own crypto tokens by Ethereum Code, which are then sold to interested investors. Depending on the project, ICO issuers combine the tokens they issue with other rights for the token holders, such as special discounts or other advantages when purchasing the goods or services offered by the issuer in the business to be financed.

ICO tokens do not usually grant investors real company shares and rarely give them participation rights. In order to promote ICOs, ICO issuers are likely to produce a document called a „white paper“, along the lines of the concept paper on Bitcoin published by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, in which they present their project and vision to investors, and possibly some details of the planned token sale.

However, the promotion of investment products is a very sticky issue and providers should be extremely cautious. The legal requirements are determined by the specific nature of the product offered and the rights associated with it.
Special statutory and civil law prospectus liability

As a rule of thumb, any publication for the general public that appears to provide a comprehensive description of an investment product for investors can be considered a prospectus under the prospectus liability rules applicable in Germany.

The specific legal requirements that such documents must meet always depend on the investment product offered

For tokens that are to be classified as transferable securities within the meaning of the EU uniformly regulated securities regulation, the EU Prospectus Regulation determines what content securities prospectuses must have and what legal consequences providers who fall short of the requirements face.

Special prospectus preparation and prospectus liability rules apply to tokens which, for example, are only transferable to a limited extent and therefore qualify as investments under the German Investment Act. If, on the other hand, tokens represent neither securities nor investments, the sales documents used for their sale may nevertheless give rise to prospectus liability claims in accordance with the principles of so-called civil law prospectus liability developed by German jurisdiction.

Thus, all marketing materials used for the public sale of investment products are potential sources of liability. The liability rules do not distinguish whether a provider refers to a marketing instrument as a prospectus, advertising brochure, information leaflet or white paper.

Bitcoin a commencé à montrer des signes de faiblesse après une forte baisse la semaine dernière

La pièce se négocie actuellement à 19 000 dollars, en dessous des 19 900 dollars de l’année précédente, mais au-dessus des 18 200 dollars de l’année précédente.
Certains pensent que Bitcoin reste dans une tendance haussière tant qu’il détient la région des 17 800 dollars
Un analyste a indiqué que cette région était d’une importance technique clé en raison de la confluence autour de cette région

Bitcoin doit contenir la région de 17 800 dollars

Bitcoin a commencé à montrer des signes de faiblesse après une forte baisse la semaine dernière. La pièce se négocie actuellement à 19 000 dollars, en dessous des plus hauts de 19 900 dollars enregistrés depuis le début de l’année, mais au-dessus des plus bas de 18 200 dollars enregistrés localement.

Certains analystes restent optimistes malgré la récente baisse des prix. Nik, qui se fait appeler Truenomic sur Twitter, a récemment déclaré qu’il pense que Bitcoin sera haussier à moins que la cryptocouronne ne passe sous la barre des 17 800 dollars. Il a partagé un graphique qui montre que cette région est un niveau d’importance technique pour la CTB à moyen terme.

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Il pense que si ce niveau et d’autres gammes techniques clés peuvent tenir, Bitcoin pourrait faire du commerce dans un coin d’élargissement ou un cylindre d’accumulation Livermore. Ces deux modèles pourraient être considérés comme haussiers, car ils marquent souvent un marché qui présente des creux et des sommets de plus en plus élevés :

„Je serai haussier jusqu’à la rupture 17,8k$, il me semble que nous avons deux scénarios de l’action future des prix : un coin d’élargissement (fractal à partir de novembre 2017) ou un cylindre d’accumulation de Livermore“.

Certains analystes s’inquiètent toutefois de la récente évolution des prix de Bitcoin.

John Bollinger, un analyste technique légendaire connu pour avoir créé l’indicateur des Bandes de Bollinger, affirme que Bitcoin pourrait former une formation supérieure :

„OK, il est temps de faire attention, $BTCUSD. C’est une formation de tête classique. Pas encore de confirmation et la formation pourrait facilement être dépassée, mais les traders avisés devraient laver leurs verres“.

Il est à noter qu’il a fait ce commentaire avant que la CTB ne fasse une deuxième tentative pour dépasser la région des 19 800 $. Il n’est pas clair si ce nouveau test de macro-résistance a affecté le marché d’une manière qui pourrait le faire changer d’avis.

Graphique de l’action des prix de BTC au cours des neuf derniers mois avec une analyse de l’éminent analyste technique John Bollinger

Tendances à long terme haussières

Les tendances à long terme soutiennent également l’action sur les prix, selon les analystes.

Comme indiqué précédemment par Bitcoinist, Willy Woo, un analyste de la chaîne, pense que Bitcoin atteindra 200 000 dollars et au-delà du prochain cycle :

„Je n’ai jamais été aussi optimiste pour 2021. Cette phase de réaccumulation coïncide avec un épuisement des stocks du marché au comptant environ 2x plus long et plus profond que le dernier cycle. Elle enverra la CTB“.

Les analystes sont également haussiers en raison de la dynamique de l’offre et de la demande qui a été provoquée par la réduction de moitié. Cette dynamique devrait forcer la demande à augmenter par rapport à l’offre.

The large crypto exchange is withdrawing from Uganda, but continues to strive for the African market.

After the market-leading crypto exchange Binance had to close its branch in Uganda in October , there is now good news from Africa for the trading platform, because its Binance P2P service is successfully showing itself on the second most populous continent in the world.

In a related blog post, Binance highlights the growth of peer-to-peer trading services in the region

Binance P2P is said to have traded an equivalent of 280 million US dollars in African currencies since March. Originally, the program only started with the Nigerian naira (NGN).

Binance also points out that the program enables crypto traders in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt and Morocco to earn “between 30 and 350 US dollars a day” by selling crypto currencies to their compatriots. In another blog entry, Binance had previously advertised that it is „easy to do your own crypto trade“.

The reference to the success of its own P2P service in Africa is against the background of the statements made by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao in May.

At that time, „CZ“ had described the African market as “ still untouched „, where there were great opportunities but also great challenges

„We see the entire African market as a crucial market,“ said Zhao in this context. And further: „At the moment it is not that easy to buy cryptocurrencies in Africa, which is why we are trying to improve the situation.“

Chris Maurice, CEO of Nigeria-based crypto exchange Yellow Card, contradicted Zhao’s assessment in an interview with Cointelegraph in July. Rather, he means that cryptocurrencies are already quickly establishing themselves in Africa:

„The crypto industry is growing very quickly here across the continent, and especially in Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and Kenya.“

The data also support this thesis, as according to a September report by Chainalysis crypto market researchers, the amount of small crypto transactions in Africa increased by more than 50% over the course of the year.

This is all the more interesting as cryptocurrencies have great potential to make cross-border payments in Africa much more efficient and cost-effective.

Bitcoin has had a wild high this year. Valuing 156% so far in 2020, its price exploded above $18,000 this week.

The argument that Bitcoin „is bad because it can’t be used to buy coffee“ is no longer tolerable, according to Michael Sonnenshein, the director of the world’s largest digital asset manager, Greyscale. The company manages nearly $11 billion in digital assets

Michael said the pandemic this year was an important factor behind investments in Bitcoin. Greyscale saw investors with different motivations to buy the digital currency.

In the middle of 2020, 11 years after the birth of Bitcoin and with all the information available on the internet, it is still common to see ignorant critics on the subject to criticize digital currency, as happened yesterday, with a Brazilian fund manager saying that bitcoin „is useless“ (sic).

The growing involvement of major financial sector companies „really shows the staying power of the asset class and validates the involvement of others,“ he told the Business Insider.

Investors are no longer clinging to the idea that since we are not using Bitcoin to buy a cup of coffee, „it has failed as a currency,“ Michael said.

„They understand today that buying Bitcoin and putting it in their portfolio means being a store of value, a protection against inflation, a digital gold, a digital form of money that is much better suited to the digital world we live in today“.

For those who insist on criticising digital money, he said: „Bitcoin was born outside the realm of traditional financial services, it was not born in an arena where it should be traded on a stock market or that it would be held in custody in the same way as stocks or bonds“.

Michael thinks people should not worry that there are only 21 million Bitcoins
Each coin is divisible to the eighth decimal place, which means there are 100 million units within each Bitcoin. This is one of the features that investors like, because they can buy only a fraction of the currency and increase their position over time.

„When you think how many millionaires or billionaires or even what the global population is, there are 21 million Bitcoins times the 100 million units of each Bitcoin,“ he said. „There is a possibility that anyone who wants to get involved will own some part of Bitcoin“.

The world’s most popular cryptomeda had a wild ride this year. It has risen 117% so far in 2020, and its price has exploded above $18,000 this week.

This can be checked with government bonds. German government bonds, rated with the top AAA rating, promise a return of -0.59 percent over ten years. Not a particularly good investment, but pretty safe. Meanwhile, the current interest rate for 10-year Brazilian bonds is 7.84 percent. The rating agency Fitch rated the paper BB-. Investors have to take into account a potential bankruptcy of the Brazilian budget when investing.

Conversely, what percentage of the portfolio investors invest in which type of security depends solely on their risk tolerance. Risk-averse investors are likely to prefer a portfolio that relies more on safe bonds and more aggressive investors focus more on stocks, ETFs and alternative investments.

Safe is not always better

Anyone who follows the textbook opinion about the linear relationship between risk and return runs the risk of missing out on the really good opportunities. There are investments that don’t quite fit into the described pattern. One of them, as you can already guess, is Profit Secret. Not only is Bitcoin retrospectively the best performing asset in human history; Even in relation to the associated risk, BTC beats the competition by far. Depending on where you start measuring, BTC has grown by over three million percent in the first decade of its existence.

So do investors have to be extremely willing to take risks in order for a BTC investment to be considered? Limited. Because, contrary to what modern portfolio theory suggests, Bitcoin is less risky than assumed. Sure, digital gold is quite volatile – significantly more volatile than gold, oil and the S&P 500, for example. But not as volatile as the price should theoretically be with such a return. In other words, Bitcoin is what is known as an asymmetrical investment.

Exponential growth possible

With cryptocurrency no.1, risk and return are not linear, but rather convex. The return does not increase proportionally to the risk, but increases exponentially.

This already intuitively conclusive description of the course events can be measured with the Sharpe ratio . This is a quantitative indicator that relates risk, measured by volatility, to return. A Sharpe Ratio> 1 means an excess return on the asset in relation to the risk assumed. It turns out that when compared to assets like gold, stocks and oil, Bitcoin is the big winner in terms of asymmetry. BTC currently has a Sharpe ratio of 2.62. The next best asymmetrical asset is gold with just 1.66.

One thing is clear: if you are looking for the asset with the best asymmetrical return, you will find it with Bitcoin.

The Bitcoin train hasn’t left yet

Nobody knows how Bitcoin will fare in the future. Investors should keep in mind that BTC is still a risky investment. The cryptocurrency has been working flawlessly for 10 years with a reliability of 99.99 percent. A bug or other as yet unknown risks could still endanger the project. It therefore makes sense to participate in the course with moderation and moderation – the growth potential is large enough.

Even if it feels different for some: Bitcoin is still in its infancy ten years after its genesis. Optimistic estimates assume that just one percent of the world’s population owns Bitcoin. An asset that has what it takes to become a world reserve currency is still very modestly capitalized at 242 billion US dollars (USD). Anyone who invests now is still an early adopter and is betting on a continued bullish course.

The bottom line is that there is still massive upward potential – and the signs point northwards. With the halving in May of this year, supply growth tightened again, and news like MicroStrategy’s USD 425 million allocation are massive harbingers of exponential price growth similar to 2017.

With each passing day, the likelihood of failure decreases and the risk of investing in BTC decreases. Presumably the risk / return ratio has never been better than it is now.

Asymmetric investing is the holy grail of investing and Bitcoin is holy water.

Bitcoin får gevinster under usikkerheden i det amerikanske præsidentvalg, mens Ethereums gasdata fremhæver et fald i DeFi.

Bitcoin (BTC) handler omkring $ 14.061 pr. 21:00 UTC (16:00 ET). Får 2,2% i løbet af de foregående 24 timer.
Bitcoins 24-timers rækkevidde: $ 13.545- $ 14.232
BTC over sine 10-dages og 50-dages glidende gennemsnit, et bullish signal for markedsteknikere.

Jason Lau, administrerende direktør for San Francisco-baserede kryptokurrencyudveksling OKCoin, sagde, at han ikke er overbevist om, at bitcoins spring onsdag har noget at gøre med valgets resultat. „Mens alle øjne er rettet mod valget, er det for tidligt at tilskrive Bitcoin Code gevinster til det med hensyn til den makropolitiske indvirkning fra begge kandidater,“ fortalte Lau CoinDesk.

Bitcoins pris opnåede gevinster onsdag og ramte så højt som $ 14.232 omkring 17:00 UTC (kl. 12 UTC) ifølge CoinDesk 20-data efter en kort dukkert i tidligere handel.

Læs mere: Bitcoin dypper, når Trump truer med at stoppe stemmetællingen
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„Bitcoin er kommet sig efter sit fald efter valget og krydser niveauet på $ 14.000 igen,“ sagde John Kramer, en erhvervsdrivende på kryptomarkedsfirmaet GSR. „Aktivet har gjort et godt stykke arbejde med at gå sin egen vej hele året og overstige aktier meget.“

Bitcoin er steget med 90% i forhold til S&P 500s relativt dårlige ydeevne på 4,5% i 2020.

Lagrene er op onsdag på trods af manglen på en bekræftet vinder endnu i det amerikanske præsidentvalg. ”Aktierne er uberørt af usikkerheden og samler sig over to mulige resultater,” tilføjede Kramer i GSR.

Nikkei 225 sluttede dagen med de grønne 1,7%, da positive økonomiske data fra Asien signaliserer økonomisk ekspansion.
Europas FTSE 100 lukkede 1,6%, da lunkne fremstillingsdata fra oktober troede investorernes bekymring over Trumps for tidlige erklæring om valgsejr.
I USA steg S&P 500 med 2,2%, da tekniske aktier opnåede gevinster på trods af frygt for præsidentvalget.

Cryptocurrency-analytikere holder også øje med US Dollar Index, et mål for greenbackens styrke i forhold til en kurv med andre valutaer, som er steget 0,15% pr. Pressetid. ”Nedgangen i dollaren skyldes genoptagelse,” sagde Bill Noble, Chief Technical Analyst hos Token Metrics.

Bitcoinere forbliver, som det ofte er tilfældet, ikke desto mindre.

„Alt for mange mennesker tror, ​​at valget kan stoppe kryptoens uptrend,“ sagde Token Metrics ‚Noble. ”Et stærkt ønske om økonomisk frihed og fremkomsten af ​​inflation driver optrenden i krypto. Disse tendenser er i bevægelse, og de vil forblive i bevægelse, uanset hvem der besætter Det Hvide Hus. ”

„Min mening er, at BTC vil stige, uanset hvem der vinder dette valg på kort til mellemlang sigt,“ bemærkede Alessandro Andreotti, en kryptohandler uden recept.

Et signal for bullish stemning: Over natten handles over 6.700 CME bitcoin futureskontrakter (33.500 ækvivalent BTC), 75% mere end det, der er observeret år til dato, og mere end det dobbelte af den observerede volumen siden lanceringen, ifølge en repræsentant fra CME.
Ethereum gas op, gebyrer ned

Den næststørste kryptokurrency efter markedsværdi, ether (ETH), handlede onsdag og handlede omkring $ 400 og klatrede 4,6% på 24 timer fra kl. 21:00 UTC (kl. 16:00 ET).

Anvendelse på Ethereum, udtrykt i total gas, er hidtil vokset med 113% i 2020 fra 37.252.588.523 den 1. januar til 79.617.868.730 tirsdag.

I mellemtiden er gebyrer på Ethereum-netværket, der kræves for at gennemføre transaktioner og interagere med decentraliseret finansiering eller DeFi, fortsat være lavere. Den 1. november faldt de gennemsnitlige transaktionsgebyrer så lave som 0,00229753 ETH.

Ben Chan, vicepræsident for ingeniørarbejde for oracle-udbyder Chainlink, siger, at disse data antyder, på trods af væksten i 2020, der i øjeblikket er mindre efterspørgsel på Ethereum-netværket, da interessen for DeFi tilsyneladende er aftaget. „Hvad dette kan betyde er, at folk er mindre presserende med at få transaktioner ind, de er villige til at vente længere,“ sagde han til CoinDesk.

Maratón y disturbios luchan por el título del mayor minero de Bitcoin de América

La reciente compra de 10.000 Antminer S-19s ha puesto al Marathon Patent Group en camino de convertirse en la mayor empresa minera de Bitcoin de Norteamérica para el tercer trimestre de 2021.

La empresa minera de criptografía con sede en Nevada, Marathon Patent Group, ha anunciado la compra de 10.000 Antminer S-19 Pro ASIC como parte de su plan para convertirse en la mayor empresa Bitcoin Up minera de América del Norte.

La empresa, que cotiza en bolsa, anunció la compra el 26 de octubre, revelando sus planes para alcanzar una tasa de hash operacional de 2,56 exahashes por segundo (EH/s) en julio de 2021 – equivalente al 1,9% del actual poder de hash de toda la red de Bitcoin.
El Grupo de Patentes Marathon proyecta un crecimiento de la potencia de hash hasta julio de 2021: Globenewswire

La empresa había pedido previamente 10.500 S19 Pros para reforzar su operación existente de 2.560 unidades

Con la excepción de 500 mineros que llegarán en noviembre de este año, los mineros serán entregados a lo largo de la primera mitad de 2021 – con 4.000 unidades programadas para llegar en enero, 6.300 en febrero, 4.800 en marzo, y luego 1.800 en abril, mayo y junio respectivamente.

Parece que la carrera por la corona del mayor minero de Bitcoin de Norteamérica está en marcha, con Riot Blockchain anunciando la compra de 2.500 S19 Pros a principios de este mes, cuyo despliegue está previsto para diciembre

Hasta el anuncio de Marathon, Riot Blockchain pretendía emerger como el principal minero de la región con una tasa de 2,3 EH/s prevista para junio de 2021 después de comprar 18.640 S-19 este año.

Mientras que la actual tasa de hash operacional de Riot, de 519 pentahashes por segundo (PH/s), supera actualmente la capacidad de Marathon, de unos 300 PH/s, Marathon espera superar a Riot en abril de 2021.
El Bloqueo de Disturbios proyecta un crecimiento de la potencia de hash hasta junio de 2021: Prnewswire

La empresa Layer 1, con sede en Texas, parece haber sido desviada en su intento de reclamar el 30% de la tasa mundial de hachís, y un juez de distrito de los Estados Unidos rechazó la moción de la empresa de desestimar una demanda por infracción de patente presentada por la empresa de tecnología Lancium.

Lancium afirma que las operaciones mineras de la Capa 1 violan su patente de un sistema que ayuda a los centros de datos a cerrar o reiniciar en respuesta a la fluctuación de los precios de la electricidad. A pesar de haber presentado su patente en marzo de 2020, Lancium reclama que Layer1 está usando el mismo sistema bajo el título de „software propietario de respuesta a la demanda“.

„Apreciamos la rápida negación del Juez Albright“, dijo el CEO de Lancium, Michael McNamara, añadiendo: „Esperamos con interés las próximas fases del caso y, en última instancia, la oportunidad de presentar nuestro caso al jurado“.

La Capa 1 no ha anunciado ninguna expansión de la capacidad desde que se presentó la demanda.

Mainstream-Investoren mochten offenbar die Hinwendung des Unternehmens zur Krypto.

PayPal (PYPL) erreichte am 21. Oktober 215,87 USD, ein paar Dollar nach dem bisherigen Allzeithoch von 212,38 USD, das am 2. September 2020 nach Angaben von TradingView festgelegt wurde.

Diese Preisaktion erfolgte kurz nachdem das Zahlungsunternehmen angekündigt hatte, bald Krypto-Assets auf seiner Plattform aufzunehmen

PayPal plant , die Angebote von Bitcoin Era, Etheruem ( ETH ), Litecoin ( LTC ) und Bitcoin Cash ( BCH ) im Jahr 2021 in sein Netzwerk zu integrieren.

PayPal eröffnete den Handelstag bei 206,20 USD und stieg schnell über sein Allzeithoch, aber nur knapp – und überschritt das Niveau um etwa 0,14 USD. Der Vermögenswert fiel anschließend, bevor er mit Überzeugung das vorherige Hoch durchbrach und über 215 USD stieg.

Bitcoin hat auch die Vorteile der PayPal-Nachrichten genutzt und kurzzeitig 12.900 US- Dollar erreicht – eine Preiserhöhung von 1.000 US-Dollar über 24 Stunden.

Der Preis ist zum Zeitpunkt der Veröffentlichung auf 12.750 USD gesunken

Nicht jeder ist jedoch beeindruckt. Der Krypto-Analyst PlanB beschrieb die Nachrichten in einem Tweet als antiklimaktisch und stellte fest, dass Kunden ihre digitalen Assets nicht über PayPal transportieren können, basierend auf einer FAQ-Seite auf der Website des Unternehmens. „Derzeit können Sie nur die Kryptowährung, die Sie bei PayPal kaufen, in Ihrem Konto speichern“, heißt es auf der Seite. „Außerdem kann die Kryptowährung in Ihrem Konto nicht auf andere Konten mit oder außerhalb von PayPal übertragen werden.“

PlanB überprüfte seine Meinung in einem Follow-up- Tweet und stellte fest, dass Bitcoin als Reaktion auf die Entwicklung eine Preisaktion durchführte und dass PayPal möglicherweise einen potenziellen Mainstream-Kryptozugriff hinzufügte.

PlanB ist in der Kryptoindustrie für sein Stock-to-Flow-Modell bekannt, das vorhersagt, dass der Preis von Bitcoin über 100.000 USD pro Münze steigen könnte.