On August 1, 2017, Delaware became the first state to allow corporations to record issuances, transfers and ownership of stock using blockchain technology.  Amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law authorizing blockchain stock ledgers were passed by the Delaware State Senate and House of Representatives in June, signed by Governor John C. Carney Jr. in July and became law August 1. The amendments have enormous potential advantages for emerging companies, including cost savings, error avoidance, accuracy of ownership records and automation of administrative functions.

Blockchain is essentially an automated, decentralized, distributed database or ledger that allows participants on a given network to create an indelible, secure record of asset ownership and transfers directly and without the additional cost and delay associated with intermediaries. Each transaction is cryptographically signed and time stamped. While conventional transfers of assets typically require verification by third party intermediaries, blockchain based transfers rely on algorithms to confirm transaction authenticity.

Delaware law has required corporations to record stock transfers on a stock ledger and to maintain ownership records on the ledger. Stock ledgers are typically maintained by the corporate secretary or the company’s transfer agent who makes entries on paper or on an excel spreadsheet to reflect all transactions in the company’s stock. Under the current system, the corporate secretary or transfer agent must be notified of a stock issuance or transfer in order for the transfer to be recorded on the ledger and for the transferee to be treated as the record owner of the shares. The requirement for intermediaries to record stock transfers creates friction in the form of delay, expense and potential for error.

Prior to the blockchain amendments, Section 224 of the Delaware General Corporation Law provided that corporate records including stock ledgers could be maintained on any “information storage device”, but didn’t specifically allow for storage or recordation on electronic networks or databases, let alone any distributed electronic network or database. Section 224 has now been amended to provide that the information storage devices on which corporate records including stock ledgers could be stored may include “electronic networks or databases (including one or more distributed electronic networks or databases.”

The State of Delaware published an information sheet outlining the benefits to companies from registering issuances and transfers of shares in blockchain form, identifying three categories of benefits: cost savings, accurate ownership records and automation of administrative tasks. For privately held companies, maintaining a stock ledger on blockchain would:

  • enhance accuracy and ease management of the cap table
  • facilitate direct communications with investors
  • enable option grants to remain in sync with authorized shares
  • increase transparency of the shareholder voting process
  • prevent certain “foot faults” common to administering private companies
  • reduce likelihood of disputes

So if a corporation organizing in Delaware elects to use blockchain technology for its stock ledger, the Division of Corporations would cryptographically transfer to the company on the distributed ledger just those shares identified in the corporation’s certificate of incorporation as authorized. By doing so, the Division of Corporations establishes a perfect record of authorized shares, and the distributed ledger then reliably tracks subsequent issuances by the company and transfers by stockholders to produce a reliable record of issued and outstanding shares.

Under existing methods of share transfer and ownership recordation, an issuance or transfer could easily slip through the cracks. It’s not uncommon to discover gaps in a company’s cap table, often at the most inopportune time such as on the eve of closing a transaction, where the company inadvertently issued a number of shares in excess of the amount authorized, thus triggering the necessity for a filing under Section 204 of the DGCL to cure the defective corporate act. Blockchain based stock ledgers would eliminate this possibility.

Finally, the amendments impose certain requirements on blockchain based stock ledgers. First, electronic corporate records must be capable of being converted into legible paper form within a reasonable period of time. Second, as required of other stock ledger formats, blockchain based ledgers must be able to (i) be used to prepare a list of stockholders entitled to vote, (ii) record information required by the DGCL to be maintained in the ledger and (iii) record transfers of stock pursuant to Article 8 of the Delaware Uniform Commercial Code.