Lowenstein Sandler represented the Solana Policy Institute in the submission of a proposal called "Project Open" to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a pilot program to test the issuance of equity securities on public blockchains. By leveraging the zero settlement times and transparency of these blockchains, Project Open aims to lower the costs of issuance and trading simultaneously.
The recent opening of the current administration to bitcoin and cryptocurrency, and the lessening of the obstacles for public entities and banks to operate with digital assets, present opportunities for a wider adoption of these in the financial world. Project Open seeks to empower the equity world with blockchain, bringing instant settlements, greater transparency, and lower costs to traditional markets.
The pilot as proposed (which remains in its entirety subject to further SEC review and discussion), would last for 18 months, would limit its action to an initial cohort of issuers, which would be able to tokenize new or existing shares as digital assets called "token shares." Investors would need to complete Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures and courses to be able to hold and trade these token shares.
The proposal was reported in The Block and DLNews.
The Lowenstein team included Ryne Miller, Ethan L. Silver, William Brannan, Trevor A. Levine, and Leo B. Choi.