SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Niclas Rockborn, Rikard Sundstedt and Robin Entenza, Gernandt & Danielsson
low energy prices, attractive tax regulations and a good supply of renewable energy sources. The opin- ion did not result in legislative action. However, MiCA explicitly recognises the potential adverse environmental impacts of consensus mecha- nisms and addresses this through disclosure require- ments. Issuers must include information on princi- pal adverse climate and other environment-related adverse impacts in the White Papers to be drawn up by the offeror, issuer and/or person admitting a cryp- to-asset to trading on a trading platform. Crypto-asset service providers are also required to make the ESG-related disclosures available in a prominent place on their websites, in respect of each crypto-asset available through the service provider’s scope of services. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is empowered to develop detailed delegated legislative acts specifying the content and form of ESG-related disclosures. Following ESMA’s proposal, the European Commission adopted a delegated regu- lation in December 2024 specifying the content, meth- odologies and presentation of sustainability indicators in crypto-asset White Papers and on the website of a crypto-asset service provider. The delegated regu- lation includes an annex which specifies the format and data points to be included in the sustainability disclosures. White Papers must describe the consensus mecha- nism used for each particular crypto-asset (eg, Proof of Work or Proof of Stake) and include an environmen- tal impact analysis. This analysis should be based on three main features: • the energy consumption of each DLT network node; • the location of the DLT network nodes; and • the devices used by each DLT network node to take part in the DLT network and to technically hold a replica of the network’s ledger. In terms of indicators and methodologies for present- ing the ESG-related information to be disclosed, those drawing up White Papers are required to calculate and
disclose quantitative data on energy consumption resulting from the crypto-asset. Annual energy con- sumption is the key mandatory indicator because it is considered to be the most conducive to making inves- tors aware of the impact of consensus mechanisms. For issuers with significant energy consumption levels exceeding certain thresholds, additional disclosures covering energy intensity and greenhouse gas emis- sions are required. 1.2.4 Tax There is no applicable information in this jurisdiction. 1.2.5 Insolvency Resolution or Insolvency Regimes Swedish laws on resolution regimes for certain regu- lated financial sector entities do not apply to digital asset firms. However, in the interest of protecting investors in asset-referenced tokens, MiCA requires authorised issuers to have a reserve of assets cover- ing the risks associated with the underlying asset and the liquidity risks associated with rights of redemption of the tokens. The reserve of assets is required to be legally and operationally segregated from the issuer’s own assets, for protection of token holders’ interests in the event of insolvency of the issuer. The Swedish Escrow Funds Act (SFS 1944:181) ena- bles so-called separation rights to apply to fungible property that is held in escrow by a trustee on behalf of a principal. Separation rights are rights for the prin- cipal to separate its assets from the bankruptcy estate of the trustee, therefore protecting the assets from the other creditors of the trustee. While there is no precedent specifically applying the Escrow Funds Act to fungible cryptocurrencies, the Act has been applied analogously to other types of fungible property. There is therefore reason to believe that the same principles should apply to fungible cryp- tocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ether and other simi- lar cryptocurrencies that are interchangeable in their function as a means of payment. This view is also shared by the inquiry, which drafted the proposal for changes to Swedish law following the DLT Regulation (SOU 2023:102), ie, that general
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