Existing bearer bonds and shares are not illegal but it is no longer legal to issue new bearer shares and bonds in virtually all countries. Maybe somolia allows it but even many offshore locations revised their statutes in the last couple decades. There are a lot of outstanding US treasury bearer bonds. They no longer pay interest but they are normally used as a "reallllly" big cash note so they probably will never be redeemed.
BTW: Nevada prohibited the issuance of bearer shares in 2007.
http://law.justia.com/codes/nevada/2010/title7/chapter78/nrs78-235.htmledit: is it possible to create a blockchain based registry of ownership and not have them be bearer shares?
Sure if the blockchain can verify the identity of all shareholders, collect and store required information, ensure shareholders are accredited before issuing shares, enforce restrictions on transfers for private placements as required by securities laws, and file all necessary documents with regulators in a timely manner.
What about using the existing AML database from Gox and identity verified? Issue the shares and have them accredited/assured/restrictions ensured via ethereum?
Certainly up for someone smarter than me!
It says you can use blockchain for a datastore, GOX be the issuer and be the match for allowed public keys.. the ethereum share then is programmed to only be able to be traded between the primary list of registered holders that were certified by box on the blockchain. If you want to change to a new key you need to register that key with gox and for a fee they will add a new allowed public key to the published allowed list to participate in ownership... I'm just brainstorming here.
Perhaps it is possible?? It would be a very interesting showcase of blockchain technology