Blockchain & Crypto Assets
Law meets crypto
Just like many of you, we at Wolf Theiss are passionate about technology, and this also extends to blockchains and crypto assets.
In order to best serve our clients, we have assembled an interdisciplinary group of cutting-edge experts from various legal fields who are highly knowledgeable in the underlying tech and can provide useful and actionable legal solutions. Increasingly, clients across the blockchain ecosystem rely on us for strategic advice as they navigate an uncertain regulatory landscape. They come to us because we are part of the industry: Our lawyers participate in various initiatives, such as the Digital Asset Association Austria (DAAA) and other prestigious industry groups. In a move not really typical for the usual law firm, we founded the WT Crypto Academy, a unique educational initiative aimed at fostering a better understanding of blockchain’s disruptive potential.
Key experts
What makes our team the best blockchain & crypto assets law firm for you?
Our regional, integrated firm offers distinct advantages, spanning the full spectrum of legal services.
- An established international law firm with 60+ years of experience in Austria and CEE/SEE
- A fully integrated team of jurisdiction-specific qualified lawyers across our offices in 13 countries.
- Collaboration and innovation across multidisciplinary teams and offices
- Excellent client satisfaction – responsive, client-oriented, and consistent
- Experience with complex and cross-border matters covering the full spectrum of legal services
- Knowledge and expertise to add value to deals across industries
WT Crypto Academy
with Niklas Schmidt
The WT Crypto Academy provides practical instruction on the technological and economic aspects of crypto assets and blockchains. The lecturer is a well-known expert in the field and has a wealth of hands-on experience. The WT Crypto Academy has recently been approved as an official “Certified Digital Asset Advisor” (CDAA) course. Attending the full WT Crypto Academy will make participants eligible to apply for the CDAA designation. Take part in the webinar to master the fundamentals of crypto.
18th – 22th September 2023 & 25th – 29th September 2023
14:00 – 16:00 CET
Host: Niklas Schmidt
Areas of specialisation
Venture Capital and Private Equity Firms
We assist venture capital and private equity firms investing in blockchain start-ups and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols, in structuring token sales and in carrying out due diligence. We help you to identify risks and explain the legal boundaries within which business models must operate.
Issuers of Tokenized Assets
Blockchain technology has demonstrated substantial potential to transform the current financial system. This applies particularly to tokenization, the process of converting real-world assets (such as financial instruments, IP rights, or real estate) into digital tokens on a distributed blockchain. If you aim to issue tokenized assets we can assist you in setting up the legal documentation and in navigating any regulatory pitfalls.
Financial Institutions
We assist traditional financial institutions such as banks (but also crypto exchanges and crypto brokers) in the implementation of the applicable anti-money laundering (AML) rules and regulations. By closely following the work of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental organisation developing policies to combat money laundering, we are always a step ahead of our competitors in knowing what type of crypto-related policy changes are on the horizon and, most importantly, make sure that our clients remain up to date too. Apart from this, we have successfully supported several banks and bank consortiums exploring the world of blockchains and dipping their toes into this new tech.
Sponsors of Crypto Funds
Our banking & finance team has a wealth of experience in setting up so-called alternative investment funds (AIFs). In the area of crypto, we assist sponsors wishing to set up funds investing in various coins and tokens, but also novel types of staking funds engaging in “proof of stake” consensus algorithms. We help you not only with setting up the fund documentation, but also with drawing up necessary legal agreements with other parties such as qualified custodians.
Start-ups in the Crypto Space
We maintain close contacts with the pertinent regulatory bodies in our region and several team members previously worked at these. Your advantage? We offer start-ups in the crypto space unrivalled legal advice, which is not only theoretical but grounded in practice. Some CEE countries offer so-called regulatory sandboxes, which allow disruptive start-ups to conduct live experiments in a controlled environment under a regulator’s supervision. Here we can also provide helpful guidance. We can also help in drafting risk-minimizing terms & conditions, carrying out data protection compliance checks, provide assistance with intellectual property issues and help with the inevitable tax questions.
High Net Worth Individuals
We regularly advise high net worth individuals from the crypto space, who acquired significant wealth as miners or traders in the early years of Bitcoin and Ethereum or in the bull runs of 2017 and 2020. We offer individual tax planning, the result being a suggested relocation from a high tax country to a jurisdiction offering favourable terms for the taxation of crypto gains. We know the tax systems of various well-known crypto-friendly jurisdictions and can assist with selecting the right country. We can also help if you have not reported taxable income and wish to regularize your situation by filing a voluntary disclosure. Our expertise in fiscal criminal law guarantees that clients will be able to avoid penalties as far as possible.
Family Offices and Trusts
There is an increasing appetite of family offices and trusts to diversify into crypto assets, driven mainly by a younger generation of beneficiaries. We help you vet investment opportunities, while navigating through the patchwork of jurisdiction-specific regulatory requirements. One important aspect is tax reporting and here you are in the best of hands with us: One of our partners is co-editor of the leading treatise on worldwide crypto taxation, a book covering around 40 countries in more than 700 pages.
Issuers in Initial Coin Offerings
As an issuer of tokens in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) we can provide you with legally sound and commercially viable solutions that minimize your risks while realizing your goals. Our advice in this area covers the application of securities laws to this innovative method of financing, as well as the tax and accounting treatment of token issuances.
Get in touch
Whether you need an international team with extensive experience in crypto assets and block chain matters or are looking for a modern thinking tax lawyer, Wolf Theiss can support your business goals through our profound legal practice.
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Wolf Theiss - Leading Lawyers in CEE&SEE
Accessibility Statement
- www.wolftheiss.com
- 26 September 2023
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We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability. To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more. This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs. Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments. If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following emailScreen-reader and keyboard navigation
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:- Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
- Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Disability profiles supported in our website
- Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
- Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
- Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
- ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
- Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
- Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments
- Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
- Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
- Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
- Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
- Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
- Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
- Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.