Rivista del Diritto Commerciale e del diritto generale delle Obbligazioni

Abstract: This paper deals with the phenomenon of cryptoassets, with a special focus on security tokens. After a brief overview of the operational aspects of Initial Coin Offerings and Distributed Ledger Technology, the financial nature of transactions involving such tokens is affirmed and, on the basis of this assumption, questions are raised as to whether they can be qualified as financial instruments. The latter part of the work is instead dedicated to the identification of contact points between security tokens and the shares of a joint stock company.  

Sommario: 1. Introduzione. – 2. La tecnologia e il procedimento di offerta. – 3. Il cryptoasset. – 4. La natura giuridica del security token. – 5. Security token e fenomeno societario: un connubio possibile? – 6. Conclusioni.  

Keywords: Blockchain — Cryptoassets — Distributed Ledger Technology — Initial Coin Offerings — Security Tokens.