State Distributed Ledger Technology and Blockchain Regulations

In a time of rapidly changing regulations and policies on all securities industry and corporate finance topics, and the development of distributed ledger technology (DLT or blockchain) and associated initial cryptocurrency offerings (ICO’s), I have never had so many topics in the queue to write about. With a once-a-week blog, I will just keep working through the list, reporting on all developments, some quicker than others. In this blog, I am circling back to DLT with a synopsis of state law developments and the Uniform Law Commission’s (ULC) approved Uniform Regulation of Virtual Currency Business Act (Uniform VCBA).

Uniform Regulation of Virtual Currency Business Act (Uniform VCBA)

On July 19, 2017, the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) approved Uniform Regulation of Virtual Currency Business Act (Uniform VCBA) to be used as a model for states seeking to adopt such legislation. The VCBA is a money-transmitting or payment-processing-based legislation. The VCBA defines a money transmitter in an effort to provide clarity on what businesses are required to be licensed. The VCBA also provides an anti-money laundering (AML) framework that mirrors FinCEN requirements.

The VCBA focuses on control over the currency and transaction and requires licensing by any business that has the “power to execute unilaterally or prevent indefinitely a virtual currency transaction.” This definition is meant to distinguish virtual wallets that merely hold an individual’s virtual currency and process a transaction at the behest of such owner, without any additional powers.

Delaware

The Delaware Blockchain Initiative is the state’s program to welcome and encourage blockchain businesses and to establish regulatory clarity for their operations and the use of blockchain technology overall, including DLT.

The August 1, 2017 amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) Section 219, 224 and 232 will allow Delaware private companies to use DLT to maintain shareholder records, including authorized, issued, transferred, and redeemed shares, on a DLT system. As of now, the amendments to the DGCL are limited to private companies; however, the state of Delaware is in talks with the SEC related to implementing the technology for public companies.

DGCL Sections 219 and 224 have been amended to permit corporations to rely on a DLT as a stock ledger itself, potentially eliminating a separate transfer agent for private companies. Section 219(c) defines a “stock ledger” to include “one or more records administered by or on behalf of the corporation.” Section 224 provides that any records “administered by or on behalf of the corporation” could include “one or more distributed electronic networks for databases.”

A ledger must also: (i) be convertible into clearly legible paper form within a reasonable time; (ii) be able to be used to prepare the list of stockholders specified in Sections 219 and 220 (related to stockholder demands to inspect corporate books and records); (iii) must be able to record information and maintain records for various statute sections related to shareholdings, including those related to consideration for partly paid shares, the transfer of shares for collateral, pledged shares and voting trusts; and (iv) be able to records transfers of shares in compliance with the Delaware Uniform Commercial Code.

Delaware is currently working in collaboration with a private company, Symbiont, to put together “smart securities,” which are allegedly impossible to counterfeit. The ledger could be maintained by either a closed or open group of participants. The ledger and any transfers would be updated instantaneously, effectively allowing for T+0 settlement of trades.

Nevada

Preceding Delaware by a month, on June 5, 2017, Nevada’s governor signed Senate Bill 398 into law, confirming that blockchain records have legally binding status. Unlike Delaware, Nevada’s regulations do not amend its corporate statutes (i.e., Chapter 78, Nevada’s Private Corporation Law), but rather, similar to Arizona, amends Chapter 719, Nevada’s Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.

Nevada’s statute defines blockchain as an electronic record of transactions or other data which is: (i) uniformly ordered; (ii) redundantly maintained or processed by one or more computers or machines to guarantee the consistency or nonrepudiation of the recorded transactions or other data; and (iii) validated by the use of cryptography.

The Nevada statute prohibits local governments from imposing taxes or fees on the use of a blockchain; requiring a certificate, license or permit to use a blockchain; or imposing any other requirement related to the use of blockchain. Moreover, the Nevada statute provides “written” status to blockchain records. In particular, “if a law requires a record to be in writing, submission of a blockchain which electronically contains the record satisfies the law.”

Arizona

Prior to both Nevada and Delaware, in March 2017 Arizona passed House Bill 2417 into law, confirming the legal status of blockchain records. Like Nevada, Arizona gives smart contracts and blockchain signatures legal binding status. In addition, the Arizona statute confirms that a smart contract has legally binding status, as would any other legal form of contract. Also like Nevada, Arizona’s provision is an amendment to its electronic transactions statute and not its corporate governance provisions.

Arizona defines “blockchain technology” as “distributed ledger technology that uses a distributed decentralized, shared and replicated ledger, which may be public or private, permissioned or permissionless, or driven by tokenized crypto economics or tokenless. The data on the ledger is protected with cryptography, is immutable and auditable and provides an uncensored truth.”

Arizona defines a “smart contract” as “an event driven program, with state, that runs on a distributed decentralized, shared and replicated ledger and that can take custody over and instruct transfer of assets on that ledger.”

Vermont

Vermont defines “blockchain technology” as “a mathematically secured, chronological and decentralized consensus ledger or database, whether maintained via Internet interaction, peer-to-peer network, or otherwise.” The Vermont statute confirms that blockchain records will be considered regular business records and makes blockchain records admissible as evidence under the Vermont rules of evidence.

Miscellaneous Virtual Currency Provisions

Multiple states, including Connecticut, New York, Oregon and Tennessee, have enacted legislations defining virtual currency and requiring money transmitters or payment processors which exchange virtual currency for U.S. dollars, to be licensed. The New York statute (the BitLicense Regulation) has received a lot of pushback, with many claiming it is vague or overly difficult to comply with, causing many in the business to avoid New York jurisdiction.

Further Reading on DLT/Blockchain and ICO’s

For an introduction on distributed ledger technology, including a summary of FINRA’s Report on Distributed Ledger Technology and Implication of Blockchain for the Securities Industry, see HERE.

For a summary on a report on an investigation related to the DAO’s ICO, statements by the Divisions of Corporation Finance and Enforcement related to the investigative report and the SEC’s Investor Bulletin on ICO’s, see HERE.

For a summary of SEC Chief Accountant Wesley R. Bricker’s statements on ICO’s and accounting implications, see HERE.

The Author

Laura Anthony, Esq.
Founding Partner
Legal & Compliance, LLC
Corporate, Securities and Going Public Attorneys
330 Clematis Street, Suite 217
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Phone: 800-341-2684 – 561-514-0936
Fax: 561-514-0832
LAnthony@LegalAndCompliance.com
www.LegalAndCompliance.com
www.LawCast.com

Securities attorney Laura Anthony and her experienced legal team provides ongoing corporate counsel to small and mid-size private companies, OTC and exchange traded issuers as well as private companies going public on the NASDAQ, NYSE MKT or over-the-counter market, such as the OTCQB and OTCQX. For nearly two decades Legal & Compliance, LLC has served clients providing fast, personalized, cutting-edge legal service. The firm’s reputation and relationships provide invaluable resources to clients including introductions to investment bankers, broker dealers, institutional investors and other strategic alliances. The firm’s focus includes, but is not limited to, compliance with the Securities Act of 1933 offer sale and registration requirements, including private placement transactions under Regulation D and Regulation S and PIPE Transactions as well as registration statements on Forms S-1, S-8 and S-4; compliance with the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including registration on Form 10, reporting on Forms 10-Q, 10-K and 8-K, and 14C Information and 14A Proxy Statements; Regulation A/A+ offerings; all forms of going public transactions; mergers and acquisitions including both reverse mergers and forward mergers, ; applications to and compliance with the corporate governance requirements of securities exchanges including NASDAQ and NYSE MKT; crowdfunding; corporate; and general contract and business transactions. Moreover, Ms. Anthony and her firm represents both target and acquiring companies in reverse mergers and forward mergers, including the preparation of transaction documents such as merger agreements, share exchange agreements, stock purchase agreements, asset purchase agreements and reorganization agreements. Ms. Anthony’s legal team prepares the necessary documentation and assists in completing the requirements of federal and state securities laws and SROs such as FINRA and DTC for 15c2-11 applications, corporate name changes, reverse and forward splits and changes of domicile. Ms. Anthony is also the author of SecuritiesLawBlog.com, the OTC Market’s top source for industry news, and the producer and host of LawCast.com, the securities law network. In addition to many other major metropolitan areas, the firm currently represents clients in New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Atlanta, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Washington, D.C., Denver, Tampa, Detroit and Dallas.

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