Hagen Weiss, Counsel in Dentons’ Frankfurt office, has contributed to a publication entitled “Proof-of-Stake: Towards a reliable taxonomy and understanding of PoS and “related” services in an EU regulatory setting”. The paper was published jointly by the European Blockchain Association, the International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA), the IOTA Foundation, Blockpit, Tangany and Dentons.

Staking is a one of the most fundamental pillars of blockchain technology. It is used to secure the efficient functioning of proof-of-stake (PoS) networks and plays a vital role in crypto asset ecosystems through offering a wide range of services from ensuring network security to managing economic benefits. Regardless of its importance, there has been no clear guidance from policy makers and regulators on how to handle staking. The paper therefore discusses the possible implications of staking under European financial services legislation (both crypto and conventional statutes), offers options on how to potentially manage it and advocates for regulatory clarity and a precise future taxonomy.

The publication is available for download here.