STADLER VÖLKEL Rechtsanwälte GmbH

Stadler Völkel Attorneys at Law and WRTP advise Austrian company Crypto Future on Initial Coin Offering subject to Austrian laws

16 November 2017
Stadler Völkel Attorneys at Law and WRTP advise Austrian company Crypto Future on Initial Coin Offering subject to Austrian laws

Stadler Völkel Attorneys at Law and Wieneroiter Raffling Tenschert & Partner Attorneys at Law (WRTP) advise the Austrian company Crypto Future GmbH in connection with an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) subject to Austrian laws.

By issuing the 'Rotharium' token, the Austrian company Crypto Future GmbH intends to finance costs for development of the Rotharium platform. The Rotharium platform is intended to enable the integration of B2C apps or standard cloud or on-premise solutions into the blockchain. An app based on the Rotharium platform would act as a marketplace, bringing together the companies' business offers for specific services, such as accommodations or storage space, with the demand from potential customers. Merging supply and demand would be achieved on the blockchain. In addition to developing its own applications, Crypto Future is also planning to share the interface with other companies in order to develop more easily blockchain-based applications. Rotharium tokens are required to use the service.

Oliver Völkel, Partner at Stadler Völkel Attorneys at Law, has structured the transaction: "Once again, this new Initial Coin Offering shows which variety of business models are suitable for funding by issuing coins or tokens. From a legal perspective, the Rotharium project is a hybrid between the Austrian ecosystem model and the voucher model. The token is required for using certain features of the Rotharium platform that run on the Blockchain and it is also accepted by the company as a voucher for the services it provides.", says Oliver Völkel.

"Stadler Völkel have once again successfully assisted with an Initial Coin Offering, carried out fully according to Austrian law. We are pleased and grateful to be trusted in the FinTech community as a highly specialized partner for ICO consultancy. We are always happy to recommend Austrian law as the applicable law for ICOs – and the location of Austria as a suitable technology hub", says Arthur Stadler, Partner at Stadler Völkel.

Philip Raffling, Partner at WRTP: "Innovative start-ups often have to follow special laws applying to their business ideas. A flawless legal setup makes a significant contribution to an eventual success", said Philip Raffling.

What is an Initial Coin Offering?

An Initial Coin Offering or an Initial Token Offering is a new means of raising funds from the public based on the blockchain technology that underlies cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ether. In an ICO or an ITO, the developer of a new cryptocurrency or token offers its new coins for sale or in exchange for other cryptocurrencies. These coins are then usually used in connection with an online service, also developed by the company. Unlike with classical means of raising capital, people participating in the sale or exchange usually do not have a right to a dividend or repayment of their investment. Instead, participants are expecting a growth of the market value of the new coins. The funds raised in the ICO are expected to be invested by the company in a way that leads to such growth of value.

Stadler Völkel Attorneys at Law

Stadler Völkel Attorneys at Law (sv.law/en) are specialized on cryptocurrency law and Blockchain applications in Austria. The law firm advises on a regular basis major Austrian corporations and banks on cryptocurrency related legal questions. The company is the first and probably the only law firm in Austria which accepts Bitcoins as a payment method. Stadler Völkel Attorneys at Law aims at playing a pioneering role in the establishment of this new technology and is committed to increasing the acceptance of cryptocurrencies and their underlying blockchain technology. To reach its goal, the law firm organizes events on these topics on regular basis (videos on YouTube) and has contributed to the development of the Blockchain Roadmap of the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and the Economy (Link). In addition, the firm is active in teaching at the University of Vienna (Link) and strives to always stay at the forefront of new technological developments.

Wieneroiter Raffling Tenschert & Partner Rechtsanwälte (WRTP)

WRTP (www.wrtp.at), headquartered in Vienna and Graz, specializes in comprehensive legal advice for start-ups, entrepreneurs and investors, and supports in the long-term development of companies. In addition to topics such as digitization, IoT and data protection, WRTP is also active in all areas of business, corporate and real estate law.

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