The vote marks the first time the U.S. Senate has passed significant digital asset legislation and puts the industry one step closer to regulatory clarity for certain stablecoins....more
6/23/2025
/ Banks ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinTech ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Stablecoins ,
U.S. Treasury
U.S. House lawmakers introduced the bipartisan CLARITY Act of 2025 proposing a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets that would delineate agencies' oversight roles, establish a provisional registration regime...more
6/4/2025
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinTech ,
Investment ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform
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 House Committees on Financial Services and Agriculture have unveiled a discussion draft for a new comprehensive U.S. crypto market structure bill, aiming to establish clear regulatory boundaries between the U.S....more
5/14/2025
/ Capital Raising ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stablecoins
The Federal Reserve Board ("Board") softened its stance on regulation of crypto activity by banking organizations by rescinding supervisory letters that created hurdles for crypto-asset activities and by joining the Office of...more
4/28/2025
/ Banks ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinTech ,
Investment ,
New Guidance ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Reform
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 FDIC has rescinded an earlier Financial Institution Letter establishing a prior notification requirement for FDIC-supervised institutions that wish to engage in specified crypto-related activities and has clarified that...more
4/3/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deregulation ,
Digital Assets ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
New Guidance ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rescission
As Congress moves to enact comprehensive stablecoin legislation under the Trump administration, both the Senate and the House of Representatives have updated their respective payment stablecoin bills. Our recent Commentary...more
3/18/2025
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinTech ,
Payment Systems ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Stablecoins ,
U.S. Treasury
In recent years, U.S. federal bank regulators significantly limited banks' authority to engage in crypto-asset activities, including participating in public blockchains, owning digital assets as principal, and even providing...more
President Trump's recent executive order "Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology" promoted the development of dollar-backed stablecoins as official U.S. policy. To facilitate this policy, Congress...more
3/3/2025
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
Payment Systems ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Stablecoins ,
Trump Administration
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
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: In parallel federal actions, the Department of Justice ("DOJ"), Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC"), and Federal Trade Commission ("FTC")...more
7/24/2023
/ CFTC ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Market Manipulation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
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)
California's new Digital Financial Asset Law ("DFAL") will impose a variety of regulatory requirements on digital asset companies and cryptocurrency exchanges. Governor Newsom is expected to sign the DFAL into law, and new...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
The SEC's Proposal -
On January 26, 2022, the SEC released a rulemaking proposal that, among other things, would expand the definition of "exchange" under Rule 3b-16 of the Exchange Act. ...more
On February 26, 2021, the SEC's Division of Examinations released a Risk Alert to make digital asset market participants aware of recurring issues that have arisen in the course of recent examinations, and provide notice of...more
On October 11, 2019, the heads of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC"), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN"), issued a joint statement...more
10/23/2019
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Joint Statements ,
Money Services Business ,
New Guidance ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
The Situation: In a recently released joint statement ("Statement"), the Staffs of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") Division of Trading and Markets, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority...more
8/5/2019
/ Blockchain ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Customer Protection Rule ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Securities ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investor Protection ,
Joint Policy Statements ,
Rule 15c3-3 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SIPA