IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jcommo/v2y2023i4p20-366d1254687.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Casey Watters

    (Faculty of Law, Bond University, Gold Coast, QLD 4226, Australia)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Casey Watters, 2023. "Digital Gold or Digital Security? Unravelling the Legal Fabric of Decentralised Digital Assets," Commodities, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-12, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jcommo:v:2:y:2023:i:4:p:20-366:d:1254687
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2813-2432/2/4/20/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2813-2432/2/4/20/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sisi Zhou & Kuanching Li & Lijun Xiao & Jiahong Cai & Wei Liang & Arcangelo Castiglione, 2023. "A Systematic Review of Consensus Mechanisms in Blockchain," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-27, May.
    2. Danielle Batista & Ana Lara Mangeth & Isabella Frajhof & Paulo Henrique Alves & Rafael Nasser & Gustavo Robichez & Gil Marcio Silva & Fernando Pellon de Miranda, 2023. "Exploring Blockchain Technology for Chain of Custody Control in Physical Evidence: A Systematic Literature Review," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-20, August.
    3. Elie Kapengut & Bruce Mizrach, 2023. "An Event Study of the Ethereum Transition to Proof-of-Stake," Commodities, MDPI, vol. 2(2), pages 1-15, March.
    4. Muen Uddin & Shitharth Selvarajan & Muath Obaidat & Shams Ul Arfeen & Alaa O. Khadidos & Adil O. Khadidos & Maha Abdelhaq, 2023. "From Hype to Reality: Unveiling the Promises, Challenges and Opportunities of Blockchain in Supply Chain Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-24, August.
    5. Nishant Sapra & Imlak Shaikh & Ashutosh Dash, 2023. "Impact of Proof of Work (PoW)-Based Blockchain Applications on the Environment: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-29, March.
    6. Muneer M. Alshater & Mayank Joshipura & Rim El Khoury & Nohade Nasrallah, 2023. "Initial Coin Offerings: a Hybrid Empirical Review," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 891-908, October.
    7. Aloini, Davide & Benevento, Elisabetta & Stefanini, Alessandro & Zerbino, Pierluigi, 2023. "Transforming healthcare ecosystems through blockchain: Opportunities and capabilities for business process innovation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    8. Murray A. Rudd, 2023. "Bitcoin Is Full of Surprises," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-14, May.
    9. Casey Watters, 2023. "When Criminals Abuse the Blockchain: Establishing Personal Jurisdiction in a Decentralised Environment," Laws, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-16, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. D. Larry Crumbley & Donald L. Ariail & Amine Khayati, 2023. "How Should Cryptocurrencies Be Defined and Reported? An Exploratory Study of Accounting Professor Opinions," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-18, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Namryoung Lee, 2023. "The Relationship between a Company’s Cryptocurrency Holdings and Its Sustainable Performance—With a Focus on External and Internal Financial Issues and Cash," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-15, November.
    2. Luyao Zhang & Fan Zhang, 2023. "Understand Waiting Time in Transaction Fee Mechanism: An Interdisciplinary Perspective," Papers 2305.02552, arXiv.org.
    3. Murray A. Rudd & Lee Bratcher & Simon Collins & David Branscum & Matthew Carson & Shaun Connell & Elliot David & Magdalena Gronowska & Sebastien Hess & Austin Mitchell & Matt Prusak & Kyle Schneps & M, 2023. "Bitcoin and Its Energy, Environmental, and Social Impacts: An Assessment of Key Research Needs in the Mining Sector," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-29, November.
    4. Rupert L. Matthews, 2024. "Untangling the Processes of Bitcoin: An Organizational Learning Perspective," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-18, February.
    5. Tao Yan & Shengnan Li & Benjamin Kraner & Luyao Zhang & Claudio J. Tessone, 2024. "Analyzing Reward Dynamics and Decentralization in Ethereum 2.0: An Advanced Data Engineering Workflow and Comprehensive Datasets for Proof-of-Stake Incentives," Papers 2402.11170, arXiv.org.
    6. Sun, Mingyao & Chai, Qiangfei & Ng, Chi To, 2023. "Managing the quality-speed tradeoff in blockchain-supported healthcare diagnostic services," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    7. Yusuf O. Akinwale & Hoda M. AboAlsamh, 2023. "Technology Innovation and Healthcare Performance among Healthcare Organizations in Saudi Arabia: A Structural Equation Model Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-15, February.
    8. Yan, Tao & Li, Shengnan & Kraner, Benjamin & Zhang, Luyao & Tessone, Claudio J., 2024. "Analyzing Reward Dynamics and Decentralization in Ethereum 2.0: An Advanced Data Engineering Workflow and Comprehensive Datasets for Proof-of-Stake Incentives," OSF Preprints 6ceuz, Center for Open Science.
    9. Tanus Bikram Malla & Abhinav Bhattarai & Amrit Parajuli & Ashish Shrestha & Bhupendra Bimal Chhetri & Kamal Chapagain, 2022. "Status, Challenges and Future Directions of Blockchain Technology in Power System: A State of Art Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-26, November.
    10. Valerio Mandarino & Giuseppe Pappalardo & Emiliano Tramontana, 2023. "Proof of Flow: A Design Pattern for the Green Energy Market," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-23, September.
    11. Casey Watters, 2023. "When Criminals Abuse the Blockchain: Establishing Personal Jurisdiction in a Decentralised Environment," Laws, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-16, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jcommo:v:2:y:2023:i:4:p:20-366:d:1254687. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.