First ICO regulations
Reuters reported some time ago, that Gibraltar’s government together with Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) is planning to develop a law, which will regulate Initial Coin Offerings in the British overseas territory.
Such laws would be the first regulations in the world focused on ICOs. Sian Jones, senior advisor of the Financial Commission, said that one of the interesting approaches to this case is the introduction of “authorised sponsors, who will be responsible for assuring compliance with disclosure and financial crime rules”.
The draft law
The law will require ICO projects to provide “adequate, accurate and balanced information to anyone buying tokens”, which is needed to assure that all of the possible risks and project development plans are clearly and transparently provided to the potential investors, so that they can be aware of the risks and analyze them themselves to make a consent decision whether to buy the offered tokens or not.
According to Reuters, over $3.7 billion was raised through Initial Coin Offerings in 2017, compared to $100 millions in 2016, which now looks like a small number. This rapid expansion of the ICO market is what has most likely inspired Gibraltarian regulators to finally take action.
Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange
Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange is a new project, which wants to “redefine perceptions and develop new industry standards”. The project proposes “A new age for Token Listing”.
GBX chief executive in an interview with Financial Times said that there is a huge interest in launching token sales under the British Overseas Territorys environment with clear ICO regulations. He said: “GBX has to date been approached by up to 200 applicants seeking to launch their ICO through the Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange”.
He added also that “GBX is further scaling up its regulatory team to cope with the demand to ensure it hits its target of five day turnaround on ICO applications for first response”.