The Dark Side of Web3

In my keynote about “Market Abuse in Web3” on the Nordic Blockchain Conference, I reminded on how much the conversation around insider dealing in crypto has matured - and how many blind spots still remain.

For years, the industry mostly associated “insider trading” with the obvious headline cases: tipping relatives before a token listing or using privileged employer or customer data. These are the cases everyone immediately understands. What is far more interesting - and legally likely relevant under MiCA - are the seemingly harmless situations:

👉 The independent developer fixing a protocol bug.

👉 The DAO contributor seeing a roadmap change before publication.

👉 The ecosystem consultant sitting in a partnership call.

👉 The person casually hinting that “something big is coming.”

Many people in those situations still do not perceive themselves as “insiders”.

💡 But MiCA does not restrict market abuse rules to formal issuer management or exchange employees. The scope is significantly broader and captures anyone who obtains inside information through their profession, duties, role, or involvement in DLT-related activities - and ❗even anyone who “ought to know” the information is inside information❗ 

That creates an important cultural shift for Web3. Crypto historically evolved in highly informal environments: Telegram chats, Discord servers, governance calls, private dev groups, ecosystem grant discussions. While traditional finance built disclosure around highly formalized information rails and officially appointed mechanisms, crypto markets function fundamentally differently. Investors often receive relevant information through exactly those social media rails long before traditional media reacts.

MiCA’s implementing standards increasingly acknowledge this operational reality - but that also creates entirely new compliance challenges around:

• verifiable dissemination

• timestamping

• integrity of communications

• website disclosure requirements

• cross-linking between channels

• auditability of social media disclosures

One of the key takeaways: Trust in digital asset markets is no longer only about code security or decentralization narratives. It is increasingly about verifiable information governance.

Kudos to Magnus Jones for organizing this conference and also Charlotte Bossen Nielsen for perfectly managing the stage!