Blockchain Legal Frameworks

Quote: "AI companies argue that using copyrighted materials is unavoidable and that no viable systems exist for detailed, user-centric licensing. This argument is false. Technologies like blockchain and decentralized licensing platforms have already demonstrated their ability to provide transparent, user-specific licensing models. For example, a blockchain music licensing platform has enabled artists to register their works and receive royalties through automated smart contracts, ensuring fair and timely payments. (...) These solutions can track usage, allocate royalties accurately, and create accountability — all while respecting intellectual property rights. For instance, blockchain-based systems can register works with immutable timestamps, ensuring clear ownership and usage records. Smart contracts can automate royalty payments, distributing revenue to creators whenever their work is used. These contracts address common royalty distribution challenges by eliminating intermediaries and reducing payment delays. For example, based on pre-set percentages, they can automatically allocate payments to multiple stakeholders, such as songwriters, producers, and performers. This ensures transparency and fairness, significantly reducing disputes and administrative overhead in royalty management. These technologies offer a blueprint for ethical AI training that prioritizes creators rather than exploiting them. A Technological Path Forward The tools for fair and ethical AI training are available. Here are the key technologies that can reshape this landscape: Blockchain for Copyright Registration: Blockchain’s immutable ledger provides an unalterable record of copyright ownership. Creators can register their works securely, ensuring their rights are protected and easily verifiable. Smart Contracts for Licensing: Smart contracts enable automated and transparent licensing agreements. These digital contracts enforce usage terms and trigger royalty payments instantly when predefined conditions are met. Decentralized Metadata Management: Decentralized platforms enhance the discoverability of works while maintaining robust rights protection. AI developers can access licensed datasets with clear terms, creating a fair marketplace for creative content. Quantum-Enhanced Detection: Advanced AI-powered tools, such as Quantum Natural Language Processing (QNLP), can detect unauthorized usage of creative works with unprecedented accuracy. These systems ensure AI outputs align with licensing agreements and trace back to sources. Adaptive Licensing Models: Licensing platforms can offer tiered, user-centric options tailored to specific use cases, from small-scale research to commercial applications. This flexibility ensures that all parties — creators and users alike — can operate transparently and fairly." Source: https://lnkd.in/e7iMUdss

In one year, regulators made more updates to crypto rules than in the past five. This report from PwC explains how countries are setting clearer, stricter rules for crypto, and what that means for businesses and investors. Here are my key takeaways: 🔶 Europe’s new MiCAR rules give crypto companies across the EU one clear set of licensing and reporting standards to follow. 🔶 In the US, lawmakers are proposing clearer rules for stablecoins, custody, and even tokenised ETFs. 🔶 Stablecoins are getting more attention. Some governments are open to letting regulated private companies issue them instead of launching central bank digital currencies. 🔶 Governments are running pilots for blockchain-based bonds, but they’re also closely examining how the technology holds up in real-world use. 🔶 DeFi is now firmly on the regulatory radar. Global bodies like IOSCO are warning about risks tied to leverage, transparency, and investor protection. 🔶 Anti-money laundering rules are getting stricter. Countries are starting to apply the Travel Rule to crypto transactions, and privacy coins are facing more scrutiny. 🔶 Places like the UAE, Singapore, and Hong Kong are licensing crypto firms more actively and gaining ground as global hubs. 🔶 The UK is developing its own framework for crypto staking, custody, and disclosure, aiming to roll it out fully by 2026. 🔶 Governments are working together more often to set shared standards, especially as bigger investors enter the space. Some markets regulate to attract capital. Others regulate to retain control. If you're building or investing in crypto, you need to know which is which. #crypto #fintech #regulation2025 #couchonomics #payments #fintech #embeddedfinance #digitalassets #futureofmoney #futureoffinance NORBr Onalytica Favikon ⁠Global Finance & Technology Network Thinkers360 - ⁠- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 👍 Hit like ♻️ Share it with your network 📢 Drop a comment 🎙️ Check out my podcast Couchonomics with Arjun on YouTube 📖 Get my weekly newsletter on LinkedIn: Couchonomics Crunch 🕺💃 In the MENA region? Join our Fintech Tuesdays community. 🤝 Let's connect! - ⁠- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Inside the European Blockchain Sandbox Best Practices Report 2nd Cohort: 5 Stats You Need to Know 1. 80+ Regulators Engaged Across Europe - The second cohort of the European Blockchain Sandbox saw over 80 national and EU regulators take part—double the number from the first cohort. - Each use case attracted an average of 8 regulatory authorities, far surpassing the original 1.5 target. 2. 20 Use Cases Covering 17+ Regulatory Areas - From GDPR, MiCAR, and AML to AI, e-voting, and battery passports, the cohort explored compliance across 17 core EU legislative domains. - These use cases went well beyond crypto, touching ESG, customs, cybersecurity, and sustainability. 3. Deep Tech Convergence on the Rise - Blockchain is no longer a standalone topic: DLT + AI + IoT combinations are becoming the norm. - The EU’s regulatory sandbox model is evolving to address the complexity of intersecting technologies—especially in areas like the AI Act and eIDAS 2.0. 4. Smart Contracts Under Scrutiny - Smart contracts were discussed in nearly every regulatory area—from GDPR compliance to digital identity, ESG reporting, and MiCAR. - The report highlights growing demand for standardisation and legal clarity for smart contract infrastructure across the EU. 5. Regulatory Innovation with Real Impact - Changes introduced based on first-cohort feedback—like regulator-only meetings and centralised expert briefings—boosted engagement. - These tweaks contributed to overwhelmingly positive feedback and will now be a permanent feature. So What? The EU’s Blockchain Sandbox isn’t just a talking shop—it’s becoming the blueprint for tech-forward regulation. With real regulator engagement, wide industry representation, and a focus on cross-border and cross-sector issues, this initiative is shaping how Europe regulates emerging technologies. If you’re building in Web3, plugging into this dialogue matters more than ever. Great work European Commission, Bird & Bird and OXYGY

#FinTech | #Regulation - 🚨 Big move from the Financial Conduct Authority on #Cryptoasset Regulation 🚨 The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has just published its long-awaited Consultation Paper (CP25/25) on how the FCA Handbook will apply to regulated cryptoasset activities. This is a major milestone in bringing crypto firmly inside the UK’s regulatory perimeter. So, what’s changing? 🔹 Scope of Regulation Expands For the first time, activities like #stablecoin issuance, #custody, trading platforms, intermediation, and staking will all fall under the FCA’s remit. Firms must seek authorisation under FSMA before carrying out these activities in the UK. 🔹 “Same Risk, Same Regulatory Outcome” Crypto firms will now face requirements already familiar to traditional finance firms, including: Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SM&CR) – personal accountability at leadership level. Operational Resilience standards – stress-testing for outages, hacks, or validator failures. Financial Crime rules – AML/CTF, the Travel Rule, and stronger systems against fraud and scams. High Level Standards (PRIN, COND, GEN) – conduct, governance, and treating customers fairly. 🔹 Consumer Protection is Front & Centre The FCA is clear: crypto harms are real. Their research shows: 26% of UK crypto users have been targeted by scams, with 10% losing money Many consumers wrongly believe they have financial protections when buying crypto. The proposed rules aim to reduce risks like mis-selling, poor disclosures, hacks, and the infamous “single point of failure” (think Quadriga or FTX collapses). 🔹 Economic Impact The FCA’s cost-benefit analysis estimates: £130m in reduced losses from scams over 10 years. £92m in compliance costs for firms (IT, governance, reporting) In short: stronger markets, fewer consumer losses, but firms must invest heavily in compliance. 🔹 A Global Signal The FCA isn’t acting in isolation. With the EU’s MiCA, US debates around stablecoin laws, and Asia tightening rules, this consultation shows the UK wants to position itself as a safe but competitive hub for digital assets. This is not the end of “wild west crypto” in the UK—it’s the start of a maturing market where innovation can scale within clear guardrails. Firms that can adapt will benefit from higher trust and access to institutional adoption. Those that can’t may struggle to survive.

Digital Identity Wallet Ecosystem 💡 📱 Wallet Issuers. From the eIDAS 2.0 perspective, wallets issuers are Members States or entities mandated by Member States or recognised by them to issue EUDIW to users, both individuals and organisations. The wallet, as an electronic identification means issued under national schemes, must attain the “high” LoA. This ensure the certainty that the individual claiming an identity is indeed the rightful owner of that identity. Presently, the aim is to provide the EUDIW via mobile phone, downloadable from the relevant App Store. Users must activate the wallet at the “high” assurance level, incorporating their personal identification data (PID) from an existing eID scheme meeting the ‘high’ level criteria. Activation may occur in person at designated public offices or potentially remotely with Member States defining rules to meet the requirements of the ‘High’, level, GDPR, or any other national or union law. 👨💻 Attribute Providers. An attribute denotes a characteristic of an individual or organisation. This attribute is held under the responsibility of a public sector body or private entity which is considered to be the primary source of that information, also known as the Authentic Source. The Attribute Provider is the entity responsible for supplying electronic attestations of these attributes, enabling their presentation and authentication. A defined minimum set of attributes enables qualified providers to electronically verify user authenticity, based on public sector authentic sources: address, date of birth, gender, civil status, family composition, nationality, citizenship, educational/professional qualifications, public permits and licenses and company data. 🙋♂️ Relying Parties. Relying Parties, whether individuals or organisations, depend on electronic identification means, including the EUDIW, or a trust service to offer their services. To leverage the EUDIW, they must register in their respective Member State, notifying the intended data requests, usage, and reasons for each service provided. Maintaining an interface with the EUDIW for attestation exchange is mandatory, and they are obliged to facilitate mutual authentication for attestation exchange. Relying Parties are also responsible for authenticating received attestations from the EUDIW. Relaying Parties must maintain an interface with the EUDIW for attestation exchange and are obligated to provide attestations with mutual authentication. They are also responsible for authenticating received attestations from the EUDIW. The acceptance of the EUDIW by Relying Parties is crucial for the success of the ecosystem. The involvement of private relying parties is essential to attract more users to adopt the wallet. Source: Worldline - https://t.ly/VZJR- #Innovation #Fintech #Banking #Ecommerce #EUDIW #FinancialServices #Payments #Loans #Insurance #KYC #Wallet #DigitalIdentity 

🇺🇸 What is the industry's take on the US Treasury DeFi Risk Assessment? This is a good one for anyone keeping tabs on #global #DeFi policy and #regulation! In April this year, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released its Risk Assessment on DeFi. Arguably one of the most fulsome pieces of policy thinking on DeFi from a major jurisdiction to date, the Assessment made a number of key points about the DeFi ecosystem, for example: 1️⃣ "𝐃𝐞𝐅𝐢"𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: While there is no generally accepted standard definition, the Assessment found "that DeFi services often have a controlling organization that provides a measure of centralized administration and governance." 2️⃣ 𝐀𝐌𝐋 𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: The Assessment noted that in the #US' activity-based AML regime, DeFi services could have obligations if they meet the definition of a regulated activity such as money transmission. 3️⃣ 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐞𝐅𝐢 𝐨𝐟𝐟-𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐬: While bad actors are using DeFi to more creatively obfuscate their fund flows, they eventually need centralized exchanges to off ramp gains into more usable fiat. In a TRM Talk immediately following the Assessment's release, Treasury's Caroline Horres described it as a "discussion starter." 𝑺𝒐, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒚'𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆? TRM Labs' Ari Redbord sat down with Rebecca Rettig of Polygon Labs, Michael Mosier of Arktourous PLLC (former FinCEN) and Jai Ramaswamy of Andreessen Horowitz (former DOJ) for another TRM Talk to answer the Assessment. Key highlights from the discussion include: 🔹 The Assessment is the right first step, to contextualize and define DeFi #risks before any rule setting. 🔹 Aligning on the definition of "DeFi service" in order to determine AML obligations is a key challenge for the industry. 🔹 Deploying existing resources effectively – rather than attempting to build a new toolkit from scratch or extending the regulatory parameter – holds the key to addressing illicit finance vulnerabilities in the financial system. 🔹 Public-private partnership is an essential success factor. 🔹 Other factors - including future blockchain use cases - should also be taken into consideration. 👉 Catch the full replay and/or written recap on our website: https://lnkd.in/g6NrzQ-e 📷 : Seafood Plateau from Hank's Oyster Bar, Washington DC

🌍 INATBA’s DeFi Self-Regulation. Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is one of the most groundbreaking financial innovations of the century. 🔥Regulators yet to establish clear guidelines, the question arises: Can the industry self-regulate to ensure security and growth while maintaining decentralization ? #INATBA’s Finance Working Group produced a report, which proposes a structured approach to DeFi self-regulation, offering best practices designed to mitigate risks and foster trust without compromising innovation. 🎯 To prevent common pitfalls and establish a sustainable financial ecosystem, the report highlights 5 key areas where self-regulation can enhance security and compliance ... 1. Real-Time Financial Reporting DeFi protocols should implement transparent, automated dashboards to track liquidity, collateral levels, and risk exposure in real time—ensuring financial resilience without external oversight.   2. Smart Contract Security Standards Strict audit requirements and on-chain fail-safe mechanisms should be adopted to prevent exploits, front-running, and liquidity attacks.   3. Decentralized & Transparent Governance Governance models must prevent excessive insider control by distributing decision-making power fairly, ensuring no single entity can compromise security.   4. KYC/AML Compliance at Key Intermediary Layers Rather than imposing #KYC on decentralized protocols, self-regulation should focus on centralized intermediaries like fiat on/off-ramps, maintaining financial privacy while preventing illicit activities.   5. Open-Source & Permissionless Innovation Protocols adhering to self-regulatory standards should gain preferential access to integrations, promoting trustless and verifiable financial tools as industry norms. 🚀 Bottomline - By implementing these principles, #DeFi can build confidence among institutional and retail users, prevent fraud and technical vulnerabilities before they occur, ensure sustainable decentralized financial innovation, and help legislators construct a sound, sensible, and affordable regulatory framework. A proactive, industry-driven approach allows DeFi to evolve responsibly while maintaining its core values of decentralization and accessibility

🇫🇷 🤝🏻🇩🇪 : joint French-German proposals by our cyber agencies ANSSI - Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d'information and the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) Security on a decisive topic : the European digital Identity wallet 🇫🇷 ANSSI and 🇩🇪 BSI issued a new joint paper on remote identity verification ⭐️Following an initial joint publication in 2023, ANSSI and BSI are now releasing a new joint document aligned with the updated European regulatory framework. 🌍 Last month, Director General of ANSSI @Vincent Strubel & German counterpart Claudia Plattner reaffirmed the trusted relationship between #ANSSI and #BSI on the topic of remote identity verification. 📈 Since February 2024, the regulatory shift introduced by eIDAS 2 has brought forth the #EU Digital Identity Wallet, which may be issued based on remote identity verification. At the same time, cyber threats have continued to evolve, and European standardisation work on remote identity verification has progressed. Key takeaway =a secure and trusted EUDI Wallet depends on: 🔹Strong, harmonized standards 🔹Advanced defenses against remote attacks 🔹Cross-border interoperability and regulatory support. 🛡️ High Assurance is Essential for EUDI Wallet Onboarding. Remote identity proofing, particularly video-based methods, are being explored as alternatives to national eID systems but present significant technical and security risks. 🎯 3️⃣ Critical Verification Goals to ensure trustworthiness: 🔹Biometric genuineness 🔹Document authenticity (genuine, current, and physically possessed) 🔹Face matching (the face matches the ID document photo). ⚠️ 2️⃣ major categories of attacks: 🔹Presentation Attacks: use of photos, masks, or replayed videos in front of the camera. Exploit the fact that many ID document security features are not verifiable remotely. 🔹 Injection Attacks : Bypass the camera using pre-recorded or AI-generated data; Deepfakes and synthetic documents pose increasing challenges. ✅ Recommendations for Strengthening the Ecosystem 🔹Harmonise Evaluation Criteria -Establish pan-European test specifications directly mapped to LoA High. -Mandate biometric attack testing in evaluations 🔹Bridge the Document Verification Gap -Develop standards for remote verification of ID documents. -Promote chip reading over OCR where legally possible. -Ensure legal frameworks enable conformity assessment bodies to perform robust testing. #cyber #scybersecurity #Europe

Bitcoin is hitting 90k levels, and we are seeing unprecedented spikes in trading! And that’s why I continue with my series - #CryptoMythsBusted MYTH: 🛑 "Crypto is completely unregulated!" When I hear people say that crypto operates in a lawless space, I get it—it’s a common perception. But the truth is, over the past few years, governments worldwide have been implementing serious regulatory frameworks, including India. Countries are tackling everything from anti-money laundering (AML) to consumer protection and market conduct rules. In 2019, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global body, set standards requiring crypto businesses to follow AML and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) rules, including customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, and even the “Travel Rule” for tracking transactions. In India, all of us crypto exchanges have to be registered with the FIU, follow tax laws. There is even a special crypto tax. The government has tightened controls with monitoring transactions through KYC requirements and transaction reporting to ensure compliance. In Singapore, the Monetary Authority has regulated digital payment tokens since 2019 under its Payment Services Act. Australia and South Korea have adopted similar regulations to curb financial crime in crypto. In the U.S., crypto businesses registered as money service businesses (MSBs) must adhere to strict AML/CFT standards, reinforced by President Biden’s 2022 executive order focused on responsible crypto growth. Crypto is far from the "Wild West"—it’s maturing under frameworks designed to protect consumers and stabilize markets worldwide. Source: The Chainalysis Crypto Myth Busting Report 2023 #crypto #myths #giottus

As businesses face increasing pressure to address climate change, eg the EU’s Carbon Border adjustment mechanism coming into force very shortly, AI and blockchain are emerging as key technologies in the drive towards sustainability. These innovations go beyond simple compliance—they offer new ways to promote transparency, accountability, and resilience. One example of this shift is how companies like Changeblock are reshaping the carbon credit market. Through the use of AI and blockchain, they’ve created a platform where carbon credits can be traded with greater confidence and reliability. This helps to solve long-standing issues of credibility and trust, turning carbon credits into a valuable tool for sustainability. Moreover, Changeblock’s Systems Monitoring Technology (SMT) integrates AI, IoT, and blockchain to provide real-time insights into sustainability projects across the globe—from biochar projects in Zambia to clean water efforts in Kenya. This enables businesses to meet environmental standards with precision and speed, ensuring that sustainability becomes an integral part of day-to-day operations. For businesses, the challenge is no longer about whether to embrace AI and blockchain, but how to leverage them to build a future where transparency and trust underpin success. The companies that adapt now will be those that thrive in the sustainable economy of tomorrow. For more information: https://lnkd.in/dAGaMZu3 #Sustainability #AI #Blockchain #BusinessLeadership #CarbonCredits #FutureGrowth