Walkers hits a home run with $38m. deal
A GROUP of Guernsey lawyers has scored a home run in advising on a partnership between a US baseball team and a crypto-currency organisation.
The Guernsey private capital and trusts practice group of law firm Walkers advised on a partnership between the Washington Nationals baseball team and the Terra crypto-currency community.
The partnership, reported in the US as a five-year, $38.15m. deal, was among the first major transactions involving decentralised autonomous organisations – which Walkers described as effectively organisations using digital currency and smart contracts to pool resources and make decisions through blockchain technology.
Walkers advised Terra on the creation of a Guernsey Purpose Trust to effectively bridge the gap between the digital and traditional economies.
‘We are so pleased to have been able to advise on this innovative transaction and to have been able to work with our colleagues on this deal.
‘This is genuinely ground-breaking work and has been a tremendous partnership between all involved,’ said Walkers partner Rupert Morris, who led the firm’s team on the partnership.
‘It is also very pleasing that Guernsey’s trusts law has enabled us to create a trust structure that gives Terra a platform in the traditional economy and it is a credit to the creative and flexible way that the legislation has been updated over the years.’
The partnership deal includes a sponsorship package, the rebranding of the Nationals Club to Terra Club, a digital series for the club’s social media platforms, and plans to enable the DAO’s stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) to be used throughout Nationals Park, the team’s home stadium.
A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency that relies on a stable asset for its value basis – so pegged to the value of, for example, the US dollar.
