Yep, they want not only a legal opinion regarding the US securities laws, but also "legal opinion letter from a Maltese law firm confirming that the token is a Virtual Financial Asset (VFA) and not a financial instrument". Which at the surface level seems a bit confusing, because if it's not a financial instrument nor a security, then what is it. I'm no lawyer though, so there may be a more nuanced answer for these questions. Many of our top picks, including: Bittrex, Binance, Kucoin, Poloniex, Kraken, all ask for a US securities legal opinion. We are working on it and so far the discussion with legal seems pretty positive, but we have to wait and see.
A couple of other options could be: Bibox, Upbit, Digifinex, Gate.io, Lbank, and as you suggested LAToken. Many of those do not ask for a legal opinion, have decent volume for a variety of coins, and at least a good deal of traffic.
It looks like a lot of people and organizations are having difficulty trying to interpret the security regulations of their own countries, never mind how regulations from foreign countries may affect them. As far as being classified as a "financial instrument" in Malta, I found this article from the Malta Times that sheds a bit of light on the question:
Financial Instruments Test Guidelines getting tested"Definition under MiFID excludes Instrument of Payment and therefore if DLT asset satisfies this definition it is not deemed to be a Financial Instrument."https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20181007/business-news/financial-instruments-test-guidelines-getting-tested.690971The guideline also states that if it is not a financial instrument, it must be determined whether or not it is electronic money. The answer to this would be no.
"The value of electronic money is established by its fiat currency which makes it different from emerging cryptocurrencies. Electronic money is backed by the central bank system. However, In the United States, only a small fraction of the currency is utilized in physical form. The remaining percentage of it is held in bank vaults and also against collateral."Electronic Money
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/electronic-money.asp#ixzz5WTCWWeUF As far as I know, DNotes is one of the only cryptocurrency / token / etc.. that has held steadfast in it's promise to deliver (and has a record of delivering) a global digital currency ("instrument of payment") that is available to everyone.
Thanks Chase, good to see you! Hope you are doing well.
Great find, that certainly gives it a little more clarity.