Norton Rose Fulbright advises Lendingblock on the launch of GDALA

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Lendingblock on the launch of its cryptoassets lending platform, the Global Digital Asset Lending Agreement (GDALA) and wallet security terms. The advice included the establishment of its rulebook.

Lendingblock is the open exchange for institutional borrowing and lending of digital assets. The GDALA governs the terms of the loan transaction between a borrower and a lender. It provides a bilateral agreement between the accredited counterparties in which both participants enter into a binding transaction via an onscreen confirmation inside the Lendingblock platform.

The GDALA works alongside the wallet security terms, under which Lendingblock acts as security trustee to manage the collateral on behalf of the counterparties.

Norton Rose Fulbright advised on the establishment of the new platform for borrowing and lending cryptoassets and providing cryptoassets as collateral. The firm assisted in the drafting of the platform documents, including the rulebook and associated user-to-user bilateral documentation. The matter was led by London-based partners Hannah Meakin and Daniel Franks, who were supported by senior associate Albert Weatherill.

Daniel Franks commented:

“For decades, we have seen the benefits of master agreements in the traditional capital markets space. The crypto markets have, until now, not benefited from this type of legal technology. Together with the also-innovative wallet security terms over the crypto collateral, the GDALA will greatly facilitate crypto borrowing on the Lendingblock platform, and we were delighted to be at the forefront of developing them. We hope that this enables the further progression of this cutting edge market.”

Hannah Meakin added:

“This has been a great project to be involved in as it transforms the long-established practice of securities lending to the innovative world of cryptoassets and makes use of efficiencies from the multilateral trading space, all areas in which the firm has extensive experience”.

Steve Swain, Lendingblock’s CEO, said:

“As part of our journey to reinvent the traditional capital markets securities lending model, we saw an opportunity to also reinvent the legal framework that protects both parties in the exchange. Security and transparency for our institutional clients has been at the centre point of development in the lead up to our platform launch. As such, we sought guidance from Norton Rose Fulbright and collaborated to ensure that the agreements our clients use are of international and institutional standard and provide the security they need to transact in these markets today and beyond.”