ABSTRACT
Following Satoshi Nakamoto's famous Bitcoin Whitepaper and the subsequent success of the Bitcoin network, cryptocurrencies have emerged as a new asset class. As an area of constant innovation, the cryptocurrency space is expanding very quickly. The surrounding policy debates keep shifting and legal development is trying to keep pace. This chapter charts the emergence of cryptocurrencies with a focus on their underlying technical properties and provides an overview of pertinent current legal issues. It discusses the most recent iterations and tries to anticipate the legal challenges that are likely to arise in the future.
