Simge Aslan

Staking services in insolvency: problems of certainty and predictability

Centralised platforms offer their customers a range of services, a relatively newer one being staking services. In the event of the insolvency of the platform, a fundamental question is how the assets received by the platform for staking purposes will be treated. Will they be part of the insolvency estate, or will they be returned to the customers? This will depend on the legal characterisation of the relationship between the platform and its customers. This article looks at this issue from a functional perspective and argues that the operational practices of the staking platform, fee structures and the level of discretion of the platform should play an important role in the analysis.