Digital Gold or Digital Security? Unravelling the Legal Fabric of Decentralised Digital Assets

Casey Watters ()
Additional contact information
Casey Watters: Faculty of Law, Bond University, Gold Coast, QLD 4226, Australia

Commodities, 2023, vol. 2, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: This paper offers an in-depth exploration into the intricate world of decentralized digital assets (DDAs), shedding light on their categorization as currencies, commodities, or securities. Building on foundational cases such as SEC v. Howey , the analysis delves into the current controversies surrounding assets like XRP and LBC, exploring the nuances in their classification. By highlighting the challenges of defining categories of DDAs within traditional legal frameworks, this study emphasizes the need for a simple taxonomy that encapsulates the dynamism of digital currencies while permitting flexibility. A proposed framework aims to simplify the categorization process while respecting recent jurisprudence, ensuring regulatory clarity for developers and users of DDAs.

Keywords: cryptocurrency; virtual asset; decentralized digital asset; digital asset; Howey test; XRP; Ripple; Bitcoin; regulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 D4 E3 E6 F0 F1 F3 F4 F5 F6 G1 O1 O5 Q1 Q2 Q4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2813-2432/2/4/20/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2813-2432/2/4/20/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jcommo:v:2:y:2023:i:4:p:20-366:d:1254687

Access Statistics for this article

Commodities is currently edited by Ms. Wendy Yu

More articles in Commodities from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().