Nicholas is an associate in the Litigation Department, specializing in commercial, international, regulatory and public law dispute resolution.

Prior to joining Proskauer, Nicholas served as judicial assistant (law clerk) to Lord Dyson MR on appeals before the UK Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. He has worked at top tier commercial firms in London and Melbourne, on large scale commercial litigation, arbitration and regulatory matters. He has also worked in disputes roles at the UK Government Legal Department and the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency.

Nicholas is expected to complete a PhD in law from the University of Cambridge in 2020. He earned an LLM from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2016, where he was awarded the prizes for top student in public international law at LSE and between the six University of London law schools. Nicholas also holds Bachelor degrees in arts and law (Hons) from the University of Melbourne.

One driver for the first widely adopted cryptocurrency Bitcoin was to create a store of value that existed outside of government control. It is therefore no surprise that attempts to regulate the rapidly developing crypto asset market have required great efforts from regulators and legislators around the world to keep apace.

In this blog, we compare key drivers and results of the regulatory approach being taken in the US and UK. While the U.S. is leading the way on the enforcement of crypto regulations, the UK has taken greater steps in relation to banking approvals. With regard to tax treatment, the position is becoming much clearer in both jurisdictions.

Just as U.S. regulators are wrestling with the question of how to regulate cryptocurrencies and digital assets, as reported here, the same questions are being asked in the UK. Some have been answered with refreshing clarity; some remain much more opaque.

As with any new technology or asset, there are different spheres of legal and regulatory influence to consider. At the most basic, what is it? (a.k.a. Can I steal it? And can I recover it?). The next level is typically regulatory – Who regulates it? How it is regulated? How are the public and markets protected?

How any jurisdiction answers these questions will have a material impact on the way private firms and others within the asset management industry deal with, and consider potential investments in, crypto assets.