The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (the “GENIUS Act”), which would comprehensively regulate stablecoins in the United States, was adopted by the U.S. Senate on June 17 by a bipartisan...more
6/24/2025
/ Commodities ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Custodians ,
Depository Institutions ,
Digital Assets ,
FDIC ,
Financial Services Industry ,
OCC ,
Payment Processors ,
Payment Systems ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities ,
Stablecoins ,
U.S. Treasury
The discussion draft of a new crypto market infrastructure bill proposes a new regulatory framework based on shared jurisdiction between the CFTC and SEC, expanded CFTC authority, and new SEC exemptions for token sales and...more
5/16/2025
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Discussion Draft ,
FinTech ,
Market Infrastructure ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Token Sales
Regulatory shifts are creating new opportunities in exchange-traded products and public capital markets for digital asset companies....more
4/22/2025
/ Bitcoin ,
Capital Markets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
ETFs ,
Ethereum ,
FinTech ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Funds ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Trump Administration
The SEC currently has several notable rule proposals that have received public comment but have not yet been finalized. The potential direction of these proposals is likely to be influenced by the leadership of the new SEC...more
2/10/2025
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Capital Markets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Custody Rule ,
Digital Assets ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Shareholder Proposals
In one of many executive orders issued by President Trump during his first few days in office, the president has affirmed his campaign promises regarding digital assets and blockchain technology with his order “Strengthening...more
As Washington prepares for new leadership in January 2025, significant policy changes appear on the horizon. The incoming administration’s agenda suggests a substantial shift in US economic and regulatory priorities, with...more
1/7/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Blockchain ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Digital Assets ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Healthcare ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Life Sciences ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
NLRB ,
Privacy Laws ,
Public Procurement Policies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
An interview with Karen Ubell, Partner at Goodwin by Richard Hsu...more
Although the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has postponed broker-related digital asset reporting, a less publicized requirement that applies long-standing reporting rules for physical cash payments to businesses that accept...more
In the span of two days, June 5 and June 6, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commenced proceedings against the largest crypto asset exchange in the world, Binance.com; its affiliated US exchange,...more
6/14/2023
/ Coinbase ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Investment Contract ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Violations ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unregistered Securities
The focus on enforcement has done little to clarify regulatory expectations regarding current facts and market practices.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has used and continues to use enforcement actions as...more
A California federal court recently held that all governance token holders were responsible for any losses suffered in a security incident. Specifically, the court, in denying a motion to dismiss, ruled in part in favor of a...more
4/11/2023
/ Asset Tokens ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) ,
Digital Assets ,
Investors ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Negligence ,
Personal Liability ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Securities Tokens
On February 15, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a proposed rulemaking (the Proposal) that would transform existing Rule 206(4)-2 (the Custody Rule) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the...more
Throughout a tumultuous 2022, the digital currency and blockchain space saw a number of significant investigation, litigation, and enforcement matters as regulators continue their laser focus on the industry. This Year in...more
2/14/2023
/ Bankruptcy Court ,
Blockchain ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Insider Trading ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Stablecoins ,
Unregistered Securities
In a first of its kind enforcement action, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) is attempting to hold participating members of a decentralized autonomous organization (“DAO”) liable for alleged violations of the...more
10/5/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Criminal Liability ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) ,
Illegal Trading ,
Market Participants ,
Registration Requirement ,
Retail Investors ,
Swap Execution Facilities
On July 21, 2022, the SEC charged three individuals with insider trading of digital assets via a scheme to trade ahead of multiple announcements regarding crypto assets being made available on a United States-based digital...more
7/25/2022
/ Criminal Conspiracy ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Howey ,
Indictments ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Wire Fraud
On March 9, 2022, President Biden issued the Executive Order Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets setting forth six principal policy objectives in furtherance of U.S. initiatives in the crypto and digital asset...more
On January 26, 2022, the SEC proposed rule changes that would greatly expand the scope of Regulation ATS, the regulatory regime that governs alternative trading systems (“ATSs”). Applicability to the fixed income markets was...more
In a speech before the Aspen Security Forum on August 3, 2021, SEC Chair Gary Gensler followed the lead of his predecessor and repeated the SEC’s view that current securities regulations are clear and almost all tokens are...more
The past few weeks have ushered in signs of what’s likely to come from the SEC’s Division of Enforcement under the Biden Administration, including a greater number of investigations and a tougher path to “bad boy” waivers for...more
The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a complaint against Ripple Labs, Inc. (“Ripple”) and two of its executives, Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen, on December 22, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the...more
1/26/2021
/ Blockchain ,
Corporate Executives ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Popular ,
Ripple ,
Section 5 ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Unregistered Securities
The SEC, in one of the Commission’s final acts under the leadership of Chair Jay Clayton, approved enforcement action aimed at Ripple Labs, Inc. (“Ripple”) and two of its executives, Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen. The...more
Never one to hold back, especially when it comes to crypto and blockchain matters, SEC Commissioner Peirce recently explained her views on the SEC’s settlement with Telegram and the agency’s approach to regulating the crypto...more