7.1 Regulatory implications

SLCT is not backed by or linked to any underlying asset, currency, financial instrument, or another unit of value, and has no value stabilization mechanisms. Therefore, SmartLeCo tokens are not provided with a claim in the form of a right to redeem against fiat currencies, financial instruments, commodities, or assets.

Furthermore, SmartLeCo tokens do not entail any promise or right to a share in any future company earnings, participation in the capital, voting rights, principal or interests, future capital flows, or passive income. Additionally, SLCT does not entitle token holders to acquire or sell any securities, nor do they entitle them to a cash settlement. The latter also means that SmartLeCo tokens cannot constitute a derivative (such as stock options or futures). As derived from this reasoning, SmartLeCo tokens do not confer rights comparable to transferable securities, thus they do not meet the substantive financial instrument or transferable securities qualification. Since SLCT is a free-floating cryptocurrency, not backed by or linked to any asset and without imposing any redemption right, it does not represent a unit of collective investment undertaking either. There is no central institution responsible for SLCT such as a central bank or any other similar organization, so there is no institution that supervises them or issues the units. Cryptography is used to secure the SmartLeCo tokens while decentralized networks are used to manage them.

Thus, SmartLeCo tokens should not qualify as a so-called “security token”, which is a token that has the characteristics of a security or financial instrument, and it should not qualify as a so-called “stablecoin”, which is a token that has implemented price stabilization mechanisms by linking their value to one or several fiat currencies or other assets or instruments.

While it does grant some utility, the majority of its characteristics do point towards SmartLeCo tokens being categorized as a substitute payment token, which is neither a “stablecoin” nor an “e-money token” as de- fined under the Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on Markets in crypto-assets, and the amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937. It can be accepted by natural or legal persons as a means of exchange and can be transferred, stored and traded electronically.

To the best of one’s knowledge and due care, the results of the legal assessments conducted point towards the reasonable conclusion that the payment tokens, up until this point in development, have not triggered any regulatory, registration, or licensing requirements, and in particular, the use of SLCT for substitute transactions itself is not an activity subject to authorization.