Aim of the project

The legally secure linking of assets with blockchaintokens (tokenisation) is a central field of innovation and application of blockchain technology. In this way, a security can be created in a functional sense that does not require the classic paper document. Tokenisation is particularly important in the area of financial markets, as a significantly expanded group of assets can become marketable and tradable as a result; at the same time, visible efficiency advantages could be gained through the elimination of intermediaries and further process automation.

With the introduction of electronic securities through the eWpG, the German legislator took a first step towards in rem tokenisation in 2021, which also regulates crypto securities. The relationship between crypto securities under the eWpG and the crypto securities and crypto custody business defined shortly beforehand in the German Banking Act has hardly been clarified yet. It is also currently unresolved which law governs tokenisation transactions (so-called private international law), whether tokenised rights can be enforced, whether blockchain tokens can be the subject of an insolvency estate, how they can be realised by insolvency administrators if necessary, and what rank creditors can have in tokenised rights.

Project group

The project group is composed of Prof. Dr. Sebastian Omlor, LL.M. (NYU), LL.M. Eur., Prof. Dr. Florian Möslein, LL.M. (London), both Philipps-Universität Marburg, Prof. Dr. Julia Lübke, LL.M. (Harvard), EBS Universität, Prof. Dr. Nils Urbach, Frankfurt University and RiOLG Prof. Dr. Dominik Skauradszun, LL.M., Hochschule Fulda. The project group is associated with Prof. Dr Barbara Brandl and Dr Carola Westermeier, both Goethe University Frankfurt. Prof. Skauradszun works on the topic of "Private International Law, Enforcement and Insolvency Law".

Third-party sponsor and framework data

The project is funded by the Centre for Responsible Digitalisation (ZEVEDI) and includes several positions for research assistants. In Q1 2023, a workshop was offered that focused on tokenisation in civil and enforcement law. In Quarter 2 in 2023, the workshop focused on tokenisation in corporate law. The third workshop in Quarter 3 in 2023 will look at tokenisation in banking and financial markets law. A final publication will be prepared in Quarter 4. Details here.