The essence of private and public placement of cryptoassets for raising capital in comparison with securities: the approach of the European Union and Ukraine
Authors: Tipikin-Holovko N. O. 
Published: February 2025

The crypto-asset industry is a dynamic field that is developing faster than legislators can adopt the relevant regulations to control it. Today, there are many areas of the crypto-asset sphere where they can already be used, but due to the lack of regulation, their application falls into a gray zone.
It is clear that in technological sectors that are developing quite rapidly, in the case of developing laws, a situation may arise where, by the time they are adopted, they may already seem outdated, since there will be a fundamental change in the way we work with these sectors. However, in any case, the lack of regulation creates obstacles to finance, in particular, the crypto-industry, since customers willing to invest do not have a clear understanding of the protection of their invested assets.
In particular, crypto-projects often face the need for financing for further development. One of the assets that they can offer potential buyers is their cryptoasset, which in the future will become one of or even the main element of their product.
Therefore, in fact, a cryptoasset in this role can act as a financial instrument for attracting capital. This configuration is very similar to the placement of securities, through which joint-stock companies can also raise capital for their further purposes.
Nevertheless, if the regulation of the entire procedure for the issuance and subsequent placement of securities is established in almost all states, then the following procedure for cryptoassets is currently practically absent.
However, in order to develop appropriate provisions for the placement of cryptoassets, an understanding of the essence of this phenomenon is required. Since it is as close as possible to the placement of securities, it is worth examining the regulatory acts of those states that have already taken (or tried to take) appropriate steps in comparison with securities.
It is examined in the article the essence of the concept of placement of crypto-assets comparing to securities in the European Union as the first state that took a step towards enshrining this phenomenon in its own legislation to open up opportunities for raising capital through the sale of crypto-assets. The relevant law of Ukraine, which has never entered into force, which also provides for appropriate provisions for the placement of cryptoassets, is also examined.
At the same time, in the article it is also distinguished the concepts of public and private placement in the legislation of the specified states as two ways of raising capital by selling crypto assets.
As a result, it is concluded in the article that states that wish to promote the development of the domestic crypto-industry, when adopting a profile law or, at least, enshrining it in other legislative acts, should introduce the concept of placement of crypto-assets, as well as develop its detailed regulation, including by dividing it into public and private placement. At the same time, this procedure can mainly be based on the procedure for placing securities, but taking into account the technical nature of the crypto assets themselves.