Sky Blog
In a new article, I attempt to build a systematic framework for regulating FinTech-driven innovations. In doing so, I clarify and simplify the confusing terminology that makes FinTech appear more complicated than it is.
“FinTech” refers to the use of …
In a recent paper, we make the case for a smart contract-based automated restructuring framework that can be used by any firm that issues equity and debt securities in tokenized form. The paper is the basis for an actual smart-contract …
The value of assets on the blockchain has soared to billions of dollars, stored everywhere from Bitcoin to Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs to play-to-earn gaming. Some of those assets, though, have crashed and burned in the wake of market …
As the original cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has received more than its share of exposure, including as a harbinger of the possibilities of blockchain. Since the 2008 brainchild of Satoshi Nakamoto hit the internet, supporters of the original cryptocurrency have lauded it …
Global supply chains (GSCs) have become increasingly complex and fragmented over the last few decades due to advances in transportation and production technology, economic globalization, and the emergence of multinational corporations (MNCs). Despite their benefits, GSCs present significant risks of …
While the world recovers from the worst of the pandemic, the economic, political and social repercussions will continue to play out in ways that, while unpredictable, are in some respects characterized by observable patterns of cause-and-effect and cyclicality. The pendulum …
On July 7, 2022, the U.S. Department of Treasury (USDT) published a fact-sheet on the regulation of digital assets(a.k.a. crypto-assets) in which it emphasized the need for global cooperation. However, this fact-sheet is only a drop in an ocean …
We recently wrote about the emergence of a new breed of business organizations — decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) — to contend that the governance design for these blockchain-based organizations should heed some of the hard-fought lessons that have helped to …
While recent gyrations in cryptoasset markets have focused attention on the future contours of stablecoins, market-making, and impending regulation, another feature of the blockchain landscape is also confronting noteworthy challenges. Specifically, a new breed of business organization has emerged …
Although it has only been a little over a year since nonfungible tokens came into the mainstream, the industry has taken a number of twists and turns, not the least of which is the granting of certain commercial exploitation rights …
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) employs blockchain technology and smart contracts with the goal of enabling perfectly disintermediated financial markets. Despite the far-reaching ambition, DeFi markets are experiencing increasing intermediation recently, as a new type of intermediary, so-called Crypto Funds (henceforth, CFs), …
On May 4, California Governor Gavin Newson signed an executive order that is intended “to foster responsible innovation, bolster California’s innovation economy, and protect consumers” and “create a transparent regulatory and business environment for web3 companies which harmonizes federal and …
An NFT is a non-fungible token that represents a particular copy of digital work.[1] It is a digital certificate of ownership that is secured on the blockchain, effectively creating a traceable record of every time the NFT changes hands.…
Some might wonder: What does the SEC have to do with crypto?
Further, why did an organization like the Aspen Security Forum ask me to speak about crypto’s intersection with national security?
As is customary, I’d like to note that …
Since its creation in 2008, the blockchain has seemed incompatible with legal constraint. Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous inventor of Bitcoin, hailed the blockchain’s “unstructured simplicity.” Even now, apostles of distributed ledger technology (DLT) strongly resist the idea that …
Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs, are big news these days. After an NFT for a piece of digital art by the artist Beeple (Mike Winkelmann) sold for $69 million in March 2021―making it the third-most expensive artwork by a living …
Blockchain-based platforms create exciting possibilities for financial inclusion: widespread ownership of deposit accounts and access to payments services. From a macro-level perspective, however, these platforms can aggravate systemic risks. Systemic instability, in turn, threatens financial inclusion and sustainability.
Sustainable finance, …
As the current crypto boom has progressed, it seemed Decentralized Finance (DeFi) had cemented its position as the dominant new narrative of this cycle. This view is supported by the tens of billions of dollars that have flowed into DeFi …