Foreword: METI Advisory wrote this report for SEBA Bank AG. Abstract: In May 2020, Telegram ended its cryptocurrency project, the Telegram Open Network (TON), and gave up fighting the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which had halted the project last year. One month before, Facebook had re-issued its cryptocurrency project Libra under revised terms, following an implicit global regulatory halt last year. Several less prominent projects suffered a similar fate over the last three years (due to either enforcement or fear of it).
Promoters of cryptofinance and blockchain projects must consider upfront regulators as a key strategic element, not as a mere compliance variable. Traditional finance has learned this the hard way over the last 15 years.