President Trump's "Working Group on Digital Asset Markets" recently released a report with a strategic roadmap to advance American leadership in digital financial technology....more
8/12/2025
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
FinTech ,
Investment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins ,
The GENIUS Act ,
Trump Administration ,
Working Groups
On August 5, 2025, the Division of Corporation Finance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") issued a statement ("Statement") providing interpretive clarity on the application of federal securities laws to...more
8/11/2025
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
New Guidance ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions
The GENIUS Act's passage marks the first major crypto legislation approved by both chambers of Congress, signaling a significant step toward regulatory clarity for stablecoins, while the CLARITY Act's advancement by the House...more
7/22/2025
/ Bipartisan Agreement ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Markets ,
Investment ,
New Legislation ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins ,
The GENIUS Act ,
U.S. House
A May 29, 2025, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") Division of Corporation Finance statement explains that "Covered Crypto Assets"—crypto tokens without any inherent rights to passive income, business enterprise...more
6/3/2025
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Investment ,
New Guidance ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Regulation
The Trump administration continues its efforts to relax digital asset regulation, including most recently by exempting decentralized finance ("DeFi") apps and wallets from tax reporting and through Securities and Exchange...more
4/15/2025
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
IRS ,
Offerings ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tax Liability ,
Trump Administration
As the Trump administration and Congress seek to establish clear digital asset regulation, uncertainty remains on whether federal agencies consider stablecoins to be "securities" under federal law....more
The United States lacks a regulatory framework geared toward digital assets. This raises consumer protection concerns, causes regulatory turf battles and duplicative enforcement actions, impedes innovation, and puts the...more
President Trump signed an executive order ("EO") titled "Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology" that signals a radical shift in the federal government's posture towards digital assets and the...more
The ruling that the SEC acted arbitrarily in denying Coinbase's crypto rulemaking petition, issued in the waning days of the Gensler-era SEC, invites swift action under an Atkins-led SEC....more
The Second Circuit recently revived a securities class action against the crypto exchange Binance Holdings Ltd., holding that plaintiffs plausibly alleged their transactions on the exchange were "domestic," as required by the...more
In Short -
The Situation: Recently, two judges in Southern District of New York were required to apply the Howey test in separate cases to decide whether sales of certain crypto assets were investment contracts, and thus...more
8/22/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Due Process ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Popular ,
Ripple ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stablecoins
In Short -
The Situation: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC" or "Commission") has reopened the comment period for its January 2022 proposal to amend Exchange Act Rule 3b-16 to broadly expand the...more
In Short -
The Situation: For the first time, the Economic Report of the President (the "Report") includes a chapter on digital assets....more
4/5/2023
/ Blockchain ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
CFTC ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
FedNow ,
Financial Markets ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In Short -
The Situation: Decentralized finance ("DeFi") is a rapidly growing sector that, by definition, eschews centralized financial institutions altogether. Misconduct that has accompanied that growth has drawn the...more
In "Digital Assets Defined: How Lummis-Gillibrand Will Shape the Coming Fintech Debate," we provided a high-level overview of the Responsible Financial Innovation Act (the "Bill") and examined some of its significant...more
On June 7, 2022, U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced the Responsible Financial Innovation Act (the "Bill"), which proposes a regulatory framework for digital assets across nine titles...more
The SEC's Enforcement Action Against Ripple -
In December 2020, the SEC commenced an enforcement action against Ripple and two of its senior executives alleging that the defendants violated Section 5 of the Securities Act of...more
3/23/2022
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair-Notice Standard ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Motion To Strike ,
Popular ,
Section 5 ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Transactions ,
Securities Violations ,
Unregistered Securities