With the GENIUS Act (stablecoins) now signed into law, and the CLARITY Act (market structure) having passed the House and entering active discussion in the Senate, the U.S. federal government’s embrace of digital asset policy...more
8/8/2025
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptoassets ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Executive Orders ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins ,
The GENIUS Act ,
Tokenization
The past two weeks brought some notable progress for the industry, though it still often feels like “regulation by lack of enforcement” rather than a truly proactive approach. The SEC clarified that most proof-of-work mining...more
3/28/2025
/ CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
FinCEN ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Ripple ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stablecoins
The last two weeks have seen a flurry of Congressional hearings addressing key digital asset issues, alongside several noteworthy consent judgments against industry participants from the SEC. These fast-paced developments are...more
The week of May 19-25 was the most promising for the regulation of blockchain technology in the United States in a very long time. Polsinelli’s Blockchain+ team delayed the publication of this Bi-Weekly update by a week to...more
5/29/2024
/ Blockchain ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
ETFs ,
FinTech ,
Investment ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Wells Notice
The focus in Web3 law the past few weeks has been on jurisdictional issues when litigating matters involving borderless digital asset transactions. This is expected to be an ongoing issue, as courts work through these...more
4/25/2024
/ Blockchain ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Investment Opportunities ,
IRS ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Stablecoins ,
Unregistered Securities
The biggest legal news of the past two weeks was the Coinbase loss on two of three categories of claims at the Judgment on the Pleadings stage of litigation against the SEC. While it is rare to win at such an early stage in...more
4/15/2024
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Coinbase ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
The Blockchain Bi-Weekly presented by the Polsinelli Blockchain+ team is a rundown of some of the key stories in the Web3, blockchain and crypto ecosystems curated by our attorneys navigating the intersections of code, smart...more
2/9/2024
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
ETFs ,
FinTech ,
Hackers ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Mining ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency
The Blockchain Bi-Weekly presented by the Polsinelli Blockchain+ team is a rundown of some of the key stories in the Web3, blockchain and crypto ecosystems curated by our attorneys navigating the intersections of code, smart...more
9/21/2023
/ Blockchain ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Ethereum ,
IOSCO ,
Listing Rules ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
The Blockchain Bi-Weekly presented by the Polsinelli Blockchain+ team is a rundown of some of the key stories in the Web3, blockchain and crypto ecosystems curated by our attorneys navigating the intersections of code, smart...more
7/28/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Blockchain ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
FinCEN ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts
On September 15, 2022, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (the “Ag. Committee”) held a hearing to discuss Senate Bill 4760, titled the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act of 2022 (the “Bill”)...more
9/19/2022
/ Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Ethereum ,
Financial Instruments ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stablecoins
In the generally opaque emerging world of “DAOs”, a rare public dispute recently played out between the Web3 investment group Yield Guild Games (“YGG”) and Merit Circle DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization, or “DAO”,...more
Thoughts on Recent SEC statements and Action on Enforcement Related to Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO) -
On November 10, 2021 the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) announced that it had halted...more
An interesting and thoughtful whitepaper called “A Legal Framework for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations” was co-authored by a general counsel of one of the major venture investors in the blockchain space suggesting a...more
On October 28, 2021, The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that sets international standards with an aim to prevent global money laundering and terrorist financing, released updated guidance...more