Govt publishes ICO white paper

The Government of Gibraltar yesterday published a white paper covering the much-awaited ‘token sales regulation’, regulating so-called initial coin offerings [ICOs].

The white paper, which is available on the Gibraltar Government website, explains the background to ICO’s, highlights the key issues associated with them and sets out Gibraltar’s proposed regulatory response.

It follows a discussion paper published in December 2017 and will be reflected in legislation which is currently being drafted and expected to be implemented before the summer.

“The publication of the white paper is a further and important step in the development of the regulatory environment we are creating for the new technology sector generally,” said Albert Isola, the Minister for Commerce.

“We are aware of and sensitive to concerns expressed to us with regard to the ‘ICO’ space and have worked with the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission and the DLT Working Group to put in place regulations, complimentary to the DLT Regulatory Framework, specifically covering token sales.”

“This work is the combination of Government, the Regulator and the private sector working together to provide a framework which will provide consumer safeguards and protection, whilst encouraging innovation in this sector.”

The Gibraltar Government said it was considering further interim steps relating to the sale and promotion of tokens and is also engaging further with regulators internationally.