Sidley represented Paxos Trust Company in connection with a first-of-its-kind crypto-asset redeemable for physical gold. The New York State Department of Financial Services has approved Paxos to issue PAX Gold, making PAX Gold the first regulated digital gold product. PAX Gold is an asset-backed digital token representing one fine troy ounce of London Good Delivery gold stored in professional vault facilities in London, which enables investors to own physical gold, with its value tied directly to the real time value of gold. Built as an Ethereum token, following the ERC-20 protocol, it integrates readily with exchanges, wallets, lending platforms and other crypto products.
The New York-based Sidley team was led by partner Lilya Tessler, with advice from D.C. commodities regulation partner Geoffrey Aronow and associate Daniel Engoren, securities and commodities regulation.