DLA Piper and Hogan Lovells have teamed up with global crypto-asset leaders to found a new industry body aiming to support growth in the sector and implement a code of conduct for those operating in this emerging line of work.

DLA will run the registration working group for Global Digital Finance (GDF), which will determine the process by which companies will be admitted to the body, while Hogan Lovells has been helping to develop GDF's 'token taxonomy' – a set of clear definitions for crypto-assets that will help set the standards for members to abide by.

Hogan Lovells fintech partner John Salmon, who is taking a leading role on the firm's involvement with GDF, said: "We were very keen to help baseline a taxonomy and subsequent code of conduct, with the guidance of existing legal and regulatory structures. It has been incredibly positive to see the industry come together with regulators and policymakers to achieve something significant in a relatively short space of time."

The new industry body has also accepted contributions from a number of leading UK and US law firms in developing the code of conduct and taxonomy, including Allen & Overy, Linklaters, CMS, Cravath Swaine & Moore and King & Wood Mallesons.

DLA global fintech co-chair Martin Bartlam, who is leading his firm's involvement with GDF, told Legal Week: "We're supporting what regulators are trying to do, which is protecting consumers. Our aim is to make sure industry is complying with the existing regulatory framework, and complies with the evolving regulatory framework. Regulators, by definition of their own scope, tend to be jurisdictionally focused. We hope to create global standards.

"This is something that will hopefully build confidence while regulators are determining what they want to put in place."

DLA intellectual property partner Anthony Day and US-based partner Mark Radcliffe are also part of DLA's involvement in the new body.

GDF will be accepting applications for membership in the coming months, and Bartlam hopes "several hundred, if not more" companies will join the GDF once registration is open in the first quarter of 2019.

Teana Baker-Taylor, an advisory council member of the GDF, is also encouraging other law firms to become members. She told Legal Week: "If you're involved in the industry, we would love to have your input."

DLA and Hogan Lovells joined Circle, Coinbase, ConsenSys, Diginex and R3 as founding members.

Partners from firms working in digital finance, including Linklaters, Eversheds, Norton Rose Fulbright and Bird & Bird, recently addressed the concerns around the industry, as well as possibilities for the future.