BVI Law and Practice Contributed by: Andrew Jowett, Patrick Gill and Jack Igglesden, Appleby
7. Tokenisation and Real-World Assets 7.1 Treatment As discussed in 2.2 Crypto-Asset Regulatory Frame- works , the primary legal question when considering tokenisation is which regulatory regime an instrument or product falls under: an “investment” governed by SIBA or a “virtual asset” captured by the VASP Act, a combination of both, or neither, given that the BVI does not differentiate between the types of virtual assets which may exist (whether, for example, a util- ity token, stablecoin, NFT or RWA). Recent developments, including the recognition that crypto-assets should be treated as “assets or prop- erty” and the UK’s Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025, firmly establish that a token may constitute a proprietary interest in its own right, rather than oper- ating merely as a contractual or evidentiary artefact referencing an off‑chain entitlement. This reconceptu- alisation expands the range of property law and insol- vency frameworks that can be applied – avenues that were not available or largely uncertain prior to these developments, aligning them more closely with his- toric property law and legal recognition.
sentations of fiat currencies and other assets or mat- ters specified in the Guidelines; or (ii) a digital record of a credit against a financial institution of fiat currency, securities or other financial assets that can be trans- ferred digitally. 6.2.2 Stablecoin Regulation See 6.2.1 Fiat Currency and Algorithmic Stablecoins . 6.2.3 Backing Assets The BVI does not require or impose mandatory reserve, collateralisation, or backing‑asset require- ments on token issuers (which include stable coins). 6.2.4 Special Considerations The sale of a newly issued virtual asset is excluded from the requirement to register under the VASP Act; however, token issuances (and issuers) are still subject to the BVI’s anti-money laundering and ter- rorist financing requirements (including the BVI’s Pro- ceeds of Criminal Conduct Act (Revised Edition 2020) (PCCA) and other general criminal conduct legisla- tion), and must therefore still ensure that appropri- ate measures are in place to ensure that they do not become party or accessories to money laundering, sanctions breaches or other criminal activity through token sales. The BVI has not enacted bespoke systemic risk requirements for stablecoin issuers, and there is no domestic equivalent to enhanced prudential oversight applied in other jurisdictions.
161 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook