{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "DefinedTerm", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/entities/digital-assets", "identifier": "kaal:entity:digital-assets", "name": "Digital assets", "termCode": "digital-assets", "inDefinedTermSet": { "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/entities/index.json" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wulf A. Kaal", "identifier": "https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0757-275X" }, "dateModified": "2026-07-29", "canonicalForm": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/entities/digital-assets.md", "sha256": "c1b7ceef454b6aa35cebe96140ed2959b4957090a6a09c2a0bc6ddaee21c1364", "additionalProperty": [ { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "status", "value": "derived" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "claim_count", "value": 52 }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "work_count", "value": 17 }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "year_span", "value": [ "2017", "2025" ] }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "non_current_claims", "value": 0 } ], "subjectOf": [ { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/2959730-016", "identifier": "kaal:claim:2959730-016", "text": "The author stipulates that a blockchain is a shared digital ledger or database that maintains a continuously growing list of transactions among participating parties regarding digital assets, described as blocks.", "abstract": "As such, a blockchain is a shared digital ledger or database that maintains a continuously growing list of transactions among participating parties regarding digital assets –", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Blockchain Applications and Fee Structure Developments in Private Investment Funds (2017). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2959730", "datePublished": "2017", "claim_type": "definitional", "confidence": "asserted", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "used as the operative definition for the remainder of the article" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "ebd86972d8817b0c1c80326ae5564476983cedba3f258ff3b2610f156b93fb50", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/2998033-014", "identifier": "kaal:claim:2998033-014", "text": "Private investment funds operating solely on the Melon protocol are less likely to be required to register as a commodity pool operator or commodity trading advisor, because the CFTC has not labelled digital assets a currency under its guidelines.", "abstract": "Because the CFTC has not labelled digital assets a currency under CFTC guidelines, private investment funds operating solely on the Melon protocol will be less likely to be required to register as a CPO or CTA.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Blockchain Innovation for Private Investment Funds (2017). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2998033", "datePublished": "2017", "claim_type": "condition", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "as of 2017 CFTC guidance" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "aafb1be3c25cd33da477d759df9ca2f856f0a8fe133d6396da2e75d0af573dbd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3405401-002", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3405401-002", "text": "Narrowly construed, a digital asset is instantiated through computer code and depends on consensus computer algorithms to trigger and validate any transaction in that asset; broadly construed, digital assets extend to items such as video game goods that have no validating consensus algorithm and no comparable security.", "abstract": "Narrowly construed, digital assets are instantiated through computer code and depend on so-called \"consensus computer algorithms\" to trigger and validate a transaction in a given digital asset.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralized Commerce – A Primer on Why Decentralized Reputation Verification Systems Are Needed (2019). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3405401", "datePublished": "2019", "claim_type": "definitional", "confidence": "asserted", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "narrow versus broad construction of the term digital asset" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "bc2d6f0ddc0852fb4085c4543c7c1dec19aaf8745eb67e3acc637e552bd7fb7d", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3406323-003", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3406323-003", "text": "Decentralized commerce is defined as the global exchange of financial instruments, goods, and services via emerging decentralized technologies.", "abstract": "Decentralized commerce may generically be defined as the global exchange of financial instruments, goods and services via emerging decentralized technologies.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization - A Primer on the New Economy (2019). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3406323", "datePublished": "2019", "claim_type": "definitional", "confidence": "asserted", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [], "source_pdf_sha256": "6293780b57a1ae1de17ec00f99cc94295d4f72ea4d08b17a5c08c44772b221db", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3409548-030", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3409548-030", "text": "Crypto hedge funds deliver diversification by giving investors exposure to a wide range of digital currencies without the risk of investing in either the underlying organization behind a protocol or the digital currency itself.", "abstract": "Such funds provide investors with exposure to a wide range of digital currencies without the risk of investing in either the underlying organization behind a protocol or the digital currency itself.", "citation": "Kaal, Financial Technology and Hedge Funds (2019). SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3409548", "datePublished": "2019", "claim_type": "mechanism", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "crypto funds holding broad baskets of digital assets" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "74227ab2656b06bfe4a29c942fc2ba26df9f476917e0a9f85ec038b8c3402c40", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3409548-031", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3409548-031", "text": "The shift of the digital asset market back from the ICO model to the venture model since late 2017 has reduced, not increased, diversification for investors.", "abstract": "Since late 2017, the market for digital assets has moved back from the ICO model to the venture model, leading to less diversification.", "citation": "Kaal, Financial Technology and Hedge Funds (2019). SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3409548", "datePublished": "2019", "claim_type": "empirical", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "digital asset market after late 2017" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "74227ab2656b06bfe4a29c942fc2ba26df9f476917e0a9f85ec038b8c3402c40", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3606663-001", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3606663-001", "text": "Equity funding and token funding are substitutes: because equity investment in a blockchain startup makes issuing a digital currency both less likely and less necessary as a funding source, a market shift back toward equity funding should shrink the total volume of digital currencies issued.", "abstract": "Because equity investments in blockchain startups make it less likely and less necessary for the respective startups to issue digital currencies, at least as a funding source, the market for digital currencies and the total volume of issued digital currencies is likely to recede", "citation": "Kaal, Digital Asset Market Evolution (2020). SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3606663", "datePublished": "2020", "claim_type": "mechanism", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "digital asset and blockchain startups", "token issuance treated primarily as a funding mechanism" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "d1d4a15a293b715bb6a5a32e689f59c3a1587915039ba9a1cf4eeb8ee2a1e57c", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3606663-004", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3606663-004", "text": "The article stipulates a broad definition of digital assets covering all virtual and electronic assets regardless of how regulators name or categorize them, including cryptocurrencies, security tokens, utility tokens, virtual collectibles, stablecoins, and altcoins.", "abstract": "For the purposes of this article, digital assets are defined broadly. Digital assets cover all types of virtual and electronic assets, regardless of how they are otherwise named or categorized by regulatory agencies, including cryptocurrencies, security tokens,", "citation": "Kaal, Digital Asset Market Evolution (2020). SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3606663", "datePublished": "2020", "claim_type": "definitional", "confidence": "asserted", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "definition adopted for the purposes of this article" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "d1d4a15a293b715bb6a5a32e689f59c3a1587915039ba9a1cf4eeb8ee2a1e57c", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3606663-014", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3606663-014", "text": "Regulatory uncertainty is curtailing the growth of the digital asset industry because investor classes across the spectrum, from retail investors to the largest institutions, are hesitant to participate while the legal treatment of digital assets remains unclear.", "abstract": "The regulatory uncertainty in the market for digital assets is curtailing the growth of the industry. Many investor classes - from retail to the largest institutions - are hesitant to participate in the market because of the regulatory uncertainty.", "citation": "Kaal, Digital Asset Market Evolution (2020). SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3606663", "datePublished": "2020", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "early 2020s digital asset market", "absence of sufficient regulatory guidance" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "d1d4a15a293b715bb6a5a32e689f59c3a1587915039ba9a1cf4eeb8ee2a1e57c", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3606663-016", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3606663-016", "text": "Immature markets such as the market for digital assets in 2020 often cannot attract the institutional investors and venture capitalists who have sufficient operating experience in that market, which is a self reinforcing constraint on market development.", "abstract": "Immature markets, such as the market for digital assets in 2020 often cannot attract institutional investors and venture capitalists that have sufficient operating experience in that market.", "citation": "Kaal, Digital Asset Market Evolution (2020). SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3606663", "datePublished": "2020", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "immature or nascent asset markets", "digital asset market as of 2020" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "d1d4a15a293b715bb6a5a32e689f59c3a1587915039ba9a1cf4eeb8ee2a1e57c", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3606663-017", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3606663-017", "text": "Early stage investing in digital assets is a relationships business, and without access to a network of core industry expertise early stage investments in the digital asset industry are rarely successful.", "abstract": "Without access to a network of core expertise early stage investments in the digital asset industry are rarely successful.", "citation": "Kaal, Digital Asset Market Evolution (2020). SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3606663", "datePublished": "2020", "claim_type": "condition", "confidence": "asserted", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "early stage investors in digital asset startups" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "d1d4a15a293b715bb6a5a32e689f59c3a1587915039ba9a1cf4eeb8ee2a1e57c", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3606663-019", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3606663-019", "text": "Because the digital asset market has been so hype driven, technical experience has not added significantly to overall market development and maturity, leaving many top projects in 2020 still afflicted by unresolved technical issues.", "abstract": "Because the market has been so hype driven, technical experience has not added significantly to overall market development and maturity.", "citation": "Kaal, Digital Asset Market Evolution (2020). SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3606663", "datePublished": "2020", "claim_type": "mechanism", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "cryptocurrency market through the early 2020s", "hype driven market conditions" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "d1d4a15a293b715bb6a5a32e689f59c3a1587915039ba9a1cf4eeb8ee2a1e57c", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3652481-012", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3652481-012", "text": "Regulatory uncertainty is holding back both the development of DAOs and the optimization potential DAOs offer for digital assets.", "abstract": "Regulatory uncertainty is holding back the development of DAOs and the optimization potential of DAOs for digital assets.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations – Internal Governance and External Legal Design (2020). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3652481", "datePublished": "2020", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [], "source_pdf_sha256": "530b3a40c244aeca2eb4c53f4c9b4d6b2962bd6be9f92b4ebe17139c17f4c0e0", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3799320-007", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3799320-007", "text": "Regulatory uncertainty is holding back both the development of DAOs and the potential of DAOs to optimize digital assets.", "abstract": "Regulatory uncertainty is holding back the development of DAOs and the optimization potential of DAOs for digital assets.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, A Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) of DAOs (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3799320", "datePublished": "2021", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "regulatory environment of the early 2020s" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "c3dff852f2d3f04718c829a24189309a7db4d92d84f6045d3d4f562d87c03e63", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3808859-030", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3808859-030", "text": "Tokenization of assets is the issuance of a digital asset that forms the digital representation of an existing real-world asset, analogous to securitization in that it converts liquid or illiquid real-world assets into tradable digital instruments.", "abstract": "The tokenization of assets refers to the process of issuing a digital asset that forms the digital representation of an existing real-world asset.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization – Why We Need Technology Infrastructure Upgrades (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3808859", "datePublished": "2021", "claim_type": "definitional", "confidence": "asserted", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [], "source_pdf_sha256": "304ad25d43b5ecea3158e3a2ca04e6e1e3bd2958e2134e2dcefbfedf3b6f3ab7", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3808873-006", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3808873-006", "text": "The profit driven influx into the digital asset space brought rampant fraud that created a chasm between the decentralized asset space and mainstream investors, and lacking regulatory certainty and recognition of cryptocurrencies exacerbated that divide.", "abstract": "With it came fraud in the digital asset space which was rampant and created a chasm between the decentralized assets space and mainstream investors.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization Neutralizers (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3808873", "datePublished": "2021", "claim_type": "mechanism", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "digital asset markets between roughly 2010 and 2020" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "f11493915e6b8c266d421510b5546816e33defb5650aac9d09b20d78549da727", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3808873-023", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3808873-023", "text": "Government controlled regulation of the evolving digital asset space was perhaps the leading decentralization neutralizer of the early 2020s, as regulators sought to fit decentralized solutions into existing regulatory infrastructure and discussed but did not seriously consider carve outs and safe harbors.", "abstract": "In the early 2020s, government-controlled regulation of the evolving digital asset space was perhaps the leading decentralization neutralizer.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization Neutralizers (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3808873", "datePublished": "2021", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "United States digital asset regulation in the early 2020s" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "f11493915e6b8c266d421510b5546816e33defb5650aac9d09b20d78549da727", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3808873-034", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3808873-034", "text": "Because basic standards for the governance of digital assets were still missing at the beginning of the 2020s, the digital asset market stagnated and decentralized finance remained in its infancy; without standards and governance, certainty and market confidence cannot develop.", "abstract": "At the beginning of the 2020s, basic standards for the governance of digital assets were still missing. As a result, the digital asset market stagnated and DeFi (decentralized finance) remained in its infancy.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization Neutralizers (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3808873", "datePublished": "2021", "claim_type": "condition", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "digital asset markets at the beginning of the 2020s" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "f11493915e6b8c266d421510b5546816e33defb5650aac9d09b20d78549da727", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3936876-001", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3936876-001", "text": "Fully compliant legal custody solutions for digital assets increase legal certainty and mainstream investor confidence, and that increased confidence in turn builds markets in digital assets.", "abstract": "Fully compliant legal custody solutions for digital assets increase legal certainty and mainstream investor confidence which, in turn, helps build markets in digital assets.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Hayley Howe, Custody of Digital Assets (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3936876", "datePublished": "2021", "claim_type": "mechanism", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "applies to digital asset markets in their formative stage" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "9bc0903d01910460298e754c451f027df4324367359800a98ee8e638d94aff55", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3936876-004", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3936876-004", "text": "The majority of digital asset custody providers and digital asset exchanges require customers to surrender ownership of their digital assets as a precondition for access and trading.", "abstract": "The majority of digital asset custody providers and digital asset exchanges are requiring customers to surrender digital asset ownership in order to get access and trade.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Hayley Howe, Custody of Digital Assets (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3936876", "datePublished": "2021", "claim_type": "empirical", "confidence": "asserted", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [], "source_pdf_sha256": "9bc0903d01910460298e754c451f027df4324367359800a98ee8e638d94aff55", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3936876-034", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3936876-034", "text": "Credit risk is low in digital asset transactions because the transactions are made instantaneously, which removes the counterparty performance window that generates credit risk in traditional custody.", "abstract": "Fortunately, this risk is low in digital asset transactions because transactions are made instantaneously.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Hayley Howe, Custody of Digital Assets (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3936876", "datePublished": "2021", "claim_type": "mechanism", "confidence": "asserted", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "on chain digital asset transactions" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "9bc0903d01910460298e754c451f027df4324367359800a98ee8e638d94aff55", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3949098-015", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3949098-015", "text": "Only one in one hundred token opportunities returns a large multiple such as 100x, 30x or 10x, which Kaal lists as a core risk factor for running a DAO investment club.", "abstract": "Only 1 in 100 of token opportunities returns 100x, 30x, 10x", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Reputation as Capital – How DAOs Upgrade Finance (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3949098", "datePublished": "2021", "claim_type": "empirical", "confidence": "asserted", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "early stage digital asset investing" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "04297905564a6092b2db7640561f58fd374d3114c79527357bad09d11b909819", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3949098-016", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3949098-016", "text": "Without access to a network of core expertise, early stage investments in the digital asset industry are rarely successful.", "abstract": "Without access to a network of core expertise, early-stage investments in the digital asset industry are rarely successful", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Reputation as Capital – How DAOs Upgrade Finance (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3949098", "datePublished": "2021", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "asserted", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "early stage digital asset investing", "an industry that evolved in silos of information and expertise" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "04297905564a6092b2db7640561f58fd374d3114c79527357bad09d11b909819", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3949098-017", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3949098-017", "text": "Because the cryptocurrency market has been hype driven, technical experience has not added significantly to overall market development and maturity.", "abstract": "Because the market has been so hype driven, technical experience has not added significantly to overall market development and maturity.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Reputation as Capital – How DAOs Upgrade Finance (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3949098", "datePublished": "2021", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "asserted", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "cryptocurrency market of the early 2020s" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "04297905564a6092b2db7640561f58fd374d3114c79527357bad09d11b909819", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3962614-001", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3962614-001", "text": "The rapid growth of digital asset startups into billion dollar businesses with little or no venture capital funding demonstrates that the traditional venture capital model alone was not enough to meet the funding needs of technology startups.", "abstract": "Digital assets startups that grow rapidly into billion-dollar businesses with little or no VC funding have demonstrated that the traditional venture capital model alone was not enough to meet the funding needs of technology startups.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, REPUTATION AS CAPITAL – How Decentralized Autonomous Organizations Address Shortcomings in the Ventu (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3962614", "datePublished": "2021", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "technology startups, especially digital asset startups" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "c6e202e77fd08db801f932774026458b94e5d103abf30cb1189fe6a1c5edf391", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3962614-012", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3962614-012", "text": "Traditional VCs struggle in the digital asset market because of that market's significant volatility and because they lack expertise in a market still dominated by several key specialized players.", "abstract": "Among those are the significant volatility of the digital asset market and lacking expertise of traditional VCs in the digital asset market which is still dominated by several key specialized players.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, REPUTATION AS CAPITAL – How Decentralized Autonomous Organizations Address Shortcomings in the Ventu (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3962614", "datePublished": "2021", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "traditional VCs entering digital asset markets" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "c6e202e77fd08db801f932774026458b94e5d103abf30cb1189fe6a1c5edf391", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3962614-013", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3962614-013", "text": "Traditional VCs often cannot effectively compete with the ever increasing array of decentralized token offering avenues.", "abstract": "Moreover, traditional VCs often cannot effectively compete with the ever-increasing array of decentralized token offering avenues.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, REPUTATION AS CAPITAL – How Decentralized Autonomous Organizations Address Shortcomings in the Ventu (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3962614", "datePublished": "2021", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "asserted", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "digital asset fundraising markets" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "c6e202e77fd08db801f932774026458b94e5d103abf30cb1189fe6a1c5edf391", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3962614-014", "identifier": "kaal:claim:3962614-014", "text": "Because traditional VCs need to defend their investment choices to their own investors, they are often reluctant to invest in digital asset startups that have little history or sales records.", "abstract": "Traditional VCs are often also not able to effectively invest in the digital asset market because they need to defend their investment choices to their own investors. Because of that, traditional VCs are often reluctant to invest in digital asset startups with little history or sales records.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, REPUTATION AS CAPITAL – How Decentralized Autonomous Organizations Address Shortcomings in the Ventu (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3962614", "datePublished": "2021", "claim_type": "mechanism", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "traditional VCs accountable to limited partners" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "c6e202e77fd08db801f932774026458b94e5d103abf30cb1189fe6a1c5edf391", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4021599-013", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4021599-013", "text": "Under the Howey framework the U.S. Supreme Court supplies the investment contract analysis that determines whether a digital asset carries the characteristics of a typical security.", "abstract": "In Howey, 18 the U.S Supreme Court provides a framework for investment contract analysis which can help determine if a digital asset has any of the characteristics of typical securities.19 Although", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Securities Versus Utility Tokens (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4021599", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "condition", "confidence": "evidenced", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "United States federal securities law" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "bb03790af46b3710e306121cfae25f850e3e7477e0f95313af42b9feeb6bc0c4", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4021599-028", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4021599-028", "text": "The term securities token is fairly well defined as of 2022, and additional regulatory guidance will continue to delineate its central features and distinguishing characteristics.", "abstract": "The term securities token is fairly well defined in 2022 and any additional regulatory guidance will continue to delineate its central features and distinguishing characteristics.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Securities Versus Utility Tokens (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4021599", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "predictive", "confidence": "asserted", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "as of 2022; assumes continued regulatory guidance" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "bb03790af46b3710e306121cfae25f850e3e7477e0f95313af42b9feeb6bc0c4", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-001", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-001", "text": "Valuation metrics developed for legacy assets apply only in a limited way to digital assets, so importing them wholesale produces unreliable digital asset valuations.", "abstract": "Existing valuation metrics for legacy assets only limitedly apply in the context of digital assets.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "digital assets as of 2022" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-002", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-002", "text": "Digital asset valuation uncertainty is produced by the combination of an immature digital asset market and a valuation infrastructure, legal, accounting, finance, technology, and back office, that was not built for these assets.", "abstract": "The valuation infrastructure in the current legal, accounting, finance, technology, and back-office framework in combination with the immaturity of the digital asset market create an environment where digital asset valuation continues to be a mystery.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "mechanism", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "current state of the digital asset market" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-003", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-003", "text": "Although many traditional assets also resist full assessment, the absence of established pricing standards for digital assets makes the loss of valuation accuracy for financial reporting worse than in traditional markets.", "abstract": "While many traditional assets also cannot be fully assessed, the lack of valuation accuracy for financial reporting is exacerbated by the lack of established pricing standards for digital assets.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "mechanism", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "financial reporting context" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-004", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-004", "text": "The accounting definition of fair value may not apply to digital assets, with the consequence that correct valuation of digital assets for financial reporting purposes may be impossible.", "abstract": "The definition of fair value under existing accounting terminology may not apply to digital assets.2 As a result, the correct valuation of digital assets may not be possible for financial reporting issues.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "under existing accounting terminology such as FASB 157 and IFRS 13" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-006", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-006", "text": "Digital asset exchanges have no closing prices, so digital asset managers cannot rely on the closing price convention that underpins traditional valuation practice.", "abstract": "Because digital asset exchanges do not have closing prices, digital asset managers cannot simply use the closing price for given asset.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "asserted", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "digital asset exchanges" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-007", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-007", "text": "Because digital asset valuation methodologies vary significantly, the tradeoffs among them leave digital asset managers with meaningful valuation discretion.", "abstract": "Digital asset valuation methodologies vary significantly. Tradeoffs between such methodologies allow for some valuation discretion between digital asset managers.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "mechanism", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "absence of uniform valuation standards" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-009", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-009", "text": "The absence of digital asset valuation standards generates uncertainty and confusion for both investors and managers, and the industry would be better off with uniform standards.", "abstract": "The lack of standards for digital asset valuation leads to uncertainty and confusion among investors and managers. The industry would benefit from uniform standards for digital asset valuation.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "normative", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-020", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-020", "text": "DCF currency translation breaks down for digital assets: no set discount rate or currency exchange forward curve exists for them, because they are not traded in exchange markets where closing prices are readily available and representative of fair value.", "abstract": "However, no such set discount rate or currency exchange forward curve is available for digital assets, as they are not traded in exchange markets where closing prices are readily available and representative of fair value.79", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "DCF analysis where the projection currency is a digital asset rather than fiat" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-021", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-021", "text": "Principal to principal markets are generally not considered observable because little information about their transactions is publicly available, which pushes assets priced there out of the observable input levels.", "abstract": "There is often little information about principal-to-principal transactions publicly available, and as such the markets are generally not considered observable.81", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "mechanism", "confidence": "evidenced", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "principal to principal markets", "fair value input hierarchy" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-027", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-027", "text": "Digital assets become less liquid precisely when large amounts are moved at once, because a large sell order floods the exchange and drives the price down.", "abstract": "Digital assets are less liquid when individuals try to move large amounts at once. If an individual wants to sell a large number of tokens through an exchange, they have to ensure they do not flood the market with token, causing price to drop on the exchange.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "large block sales through a single exchange" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-030", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-030", "text": "Market liquidity in digital assets is not only about exchanging crypto for fiat: allowing crypto to be used as a means of transacting for any good or service may itself increase market liquidity.", "abstract": "Increasing liquidity does not mean only being able to exchange crypto for fiat currency, but also the ability to exchange for any good or service. By allowing for transactions to use crypto as a means of transaction may increase market liquidity.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "design", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "buy in from the business community" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-031", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-031", "text": "Because digital asset exchanges perform both the traditional broker dealer function and the custody function, they face uncertainties and increased liability that traditional exchanges, which never touch custody, do not bear.", "abstract": "By having the crypto exchange perform the services of a traditional broker/dealer and custody holder, digital asset exchanges face uncertainties and increased liability that do not impact traditional exchanges.124", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "mechanism", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "centralized digital asset exchanges holding customer assets" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-033", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-033", "text": "The stablecoin exists as a response to digital asset price volatility: it is pegged to the value of an external asset, frequently a fiat currency.", "abstract": "To reduce price volatility in digital assets, the stablecoin was born. A stablecoin is pegged to the value of an external asset (frequently fiat currency).126", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "definitional", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "stablecoins pegged to external assets" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-034", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-034", "text": "Digital assets resemble high growth companies for valuation purposes, so scenario planning is essential and business leaders must reason backward from the future rather than forward from the present, because the relevant markets may not yet exist.", "abstract": "Digital assets are comparable to high-growth companies, where scenario planning is critical because markets may not yet exist.129 In such a case, business leaders must start from the future rather than the present.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "design", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "assets whose markets have not yet formed" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-036", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-036", "text": "DCF appears at first glance unsuited to digital asset valuation because valuation is framed as pricing a token at a point in time, but it becomes applicable where networks return cash flows to token holders or to those who contribute work.", "abstract": "However, some digital asset networks do return cash flows to token holders or those who contribute work to the network. In such a case, DCF can shed light on the role of these structures in digital asset valuation.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "condition", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "networks that distribute cash flows to token holders or workers" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4033886-040", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4033886-040", "text": "Uniform digital asset valuation standards can only evolve over time as the market evolves, because standard setting requires common core practices, and those practices are only slowly emerging.", "abstract": "Such standards can evolve over time as the market evolves. Standard setting requires common core practices what are slowly evolving.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Samuel Evans, Hayley Howe, Digital Asset Valuation (2022). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4033886", "datePublished": "2022", "claim_type": "condition", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": false, "scope_conditions": [ "standard setting for digital asset valuation" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "52ba05b1292b1be4bfaf1ee5cf56b14fea9c196d870603e794d7ee316df129bd", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4734750-014", "identifier": "kaal:claim:4734750-014", "text": "Legacy code reviews can last weeks or months, and those delays can force complete rewrites of contracts because the underlying protocol may have upgraded core libraries while the review was still running.", "abstract": "These significant delays can impact development and may require complete rewriting of contracts because the underlying protocol may have upgraded core libraries during the code review.", "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Code Review DAO (2024). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4734750", "datePublished": "2024", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "digital asset markets where underlying protocols upgrade frequently" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "60eadf91c0913468505afc664c8d8d1e1673d6c5326d031ca7060addb8ab2eda", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/5554218-010", "identifier": "kaal:claim:5554218-010", "text": "The most damaging effect of legal harmonization is that it eradicates outliers, meaning the unconventional approaches that actually drive technological and legal innovation.", "abstract": "Harmonization's most pernicious effect lies in its eradication of outliers—those unconventional approaches that drive technological and legal innovation.", "citation": "Furrer Andreas, Wulf A. Kaal, Universal Digital Law Codex (UDLC) Building the Legal Infrastructure for the Digital Era (2025). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5554218", "datePublished": "2025", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "harmonization of conflict of laws and substantive rules for digital assets" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "55738b4035a91b70aa2ddaa127552fe4b373ec641afee2719fbdcabebdcbea44", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/5554218-011", "identifier": "kaal:claim:5554218-011", "text": "Harmonized standards and innovative dispute resolution mechanisms are only partial answers, because they cannot keep pace with the continuously evolving technical requirements of digital assets and smart contracts.", "abstract": "Harmonized standards and innovative dispute resolution mechanisms offer potential solutions, but run short of fulfilling the ever evolving technical requirements in the rapid evolution of digital assets and smart contracts.", "citation": "Furrer Andreas, Wulf A. Kaal, Universal Digital Law Codex (UDLC) Building the Legal Infrastructure for the Digital Era (2025). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5554218", "datePublished": "2025", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "rapid technological evolution of digital assets and smart contracts" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "55738b4035a91b70aa2ddaa127552fe4b373ec641afee2719fbdcabebdcbea44", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/5554218-012", "identifier": "kaal:claim:5554218-012", "text": "The authors contest the prevailing scholarly proposition that harmonized conflict of laws principles are necessary to govern digital assets across common and civil law jurisdictions, arguing that this proposition misconstrues the foundational ethos of blockchain technology.", "abstract": "The proposition that harmonized conflict of laws principles are necessary to govern digital assets across common law and civil law jurisdictions, as advocated by scholars like Aleinieh, Zoboli, Atiyah, and Kasatkina, misconstrues the foundational ethos of blockchain technology", "citation": "Furrer Andreas, Wulf A. Kaal, Universal Digital Law Codex (UDLC) Building the Legal Infrastructure for the Digital Era (2025). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5554218", "datePublished": "2025", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "proposals advanced by Aleinieh, Zoboli, Atiyah, and Kasatkina" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "55738b4035a91b70aa2ddaa127552fe4b373ec641afee2719fbdcabebdcbea44", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/5554218-013", "identifier": "kaal:claim:5554218-013", "text": "A constructive balance to the inherent and unavoidable centralized character of national law cannot be achieved by imposing uniform legal standards on digital assets, because uniformity privileges the centralist features of law over the decentralized, permissionless nature of blockchain.", "abstract": "We argue that a constructive balance to the inherent and unavoidable centralized characteristics of national law cannot be found in imposing uniform legal standards on digital assets as this favors the centralist features of law to the decentralized, permissionless nature of blockchain.", "citation": "Furrer Andreas, Wulf A. Kaal, Universal Digital Law Codex (UDLC) Building the Legal Infrastructure for the Digital Era (2025). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5554218", "datePublished": "2025", "claim_type": "condition", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "cross-jurisdictional governance of digital assets", "permissionless blockchain systems" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "55738b4035a91b70aa2ddaa127552fe4b373ec641afee2719fbdcabebdcbea44", "status": "current" }, { "@type": "Claim", "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/5554218-015", "identifier": "kaal:claim:5554218-015", "text": "Harmonizing substantive law would suppress jurisdictional diversity by imposing a one size fits all model that ignores cultural, economic, and technological differences, thereby reducing the resilience of global digital asset ecosystems.", "abstract": "Harmonization of the substantive law would suppress this diversity, imposing a one-size-fits-all model that fails to account for cultural, economic, and technological differences, thereby reducing the resilience of global digital asset ecosystems.", "citation": "Furrer Andreas, Wulf A. Kaal, Universal Digital Law Codex (UDLC) Building the Legal Infrastructure for the Digital Era (2025). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5554218", "datePublished": "2025", "claim_type": "failure", "confidence": "argued", "is_failure_mode": true, "scope_conditions": [ "harmonization of substantive rather than merely procedural rules" ], "source_pdf_sha256": "55738b4035a91b70aa2ddaa127552fe4b373ec641afee2719fbdcabebdcbea44", "status": "current" } ], "description": "52 claims in the published works of Wulf A. Kaal carry the concept tag 'digital-assets'. Derived node: a roster, not an adjudicated definition." }