Crypto and Blockchain Capital Markets News From UNICEF, Europe and Hong Kong -
On Wednesday, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced its launch of a newly established cryptocurrency fund, making it the first UN...more
On Oct. 9, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued additional guidance regarding the taxation of cryptocurrency. The guidance comes more than five years after the IRS issued Notice 2014-21, the first and, until now, only...more
Smart Contracts Deployed by Icelandic Retailer, Blockchain for Sneakers and DHS -
A press release issued this week announced the successful completion of an automated invoice payment using the Ethereum blockchain. ...more
Blockchain Developments in Interbank Settlement, Capital Markets, Cryptocurrency Payments -
According to reports this week, a major German bank has joined the emerging payments initiative, built on the Quorum blockchain, of...more
Blockchain Clearing, Settlement, Custody and Capital Markets Developments -
This week, R3 and a major multinational financial services company announced a partnership to develop and pilot a cross-border payments solution...more
Blockchain Developments for Energy Grids, Automobiles, Enterprise Protocols -
Earlier this week, TFA Labs, an internet-of-things security startup, announced plans to explore Factom’s protocol as a solution for validating the...more
Blockchain Applications for Beer Advertising, Hotel Booking and the U.S. Air Force -
Late last week, a major U.S.-based beer brewing company launched a blockchain-based trivia game in conjunction with Vatom Labs as part of...more
Blockchain Capital Markets Platforms Achieve and File for Regulatory Approvals -
The Intercontinental Exchange recently received approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services for its emerging bitcoin...more
Multiple ICO Enforcement Actions by SEC and State Regulators -
This week the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it has settled charges against SimplyVital Health Inc. related to an initial coin...more
Cryptocurrency Exchange and Payment Solutions Continue to Expand -
This week, Blockchain.com, a London-based supplier of digital wallets, announced that it is moving into the trading side of cryptocurrencies with a...more
SEC Issues No-Action Letter, Financial Services Firms and Major Exchanges Make Moves, New Products Launched in Europe -
This week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued to Pocket Full of Quarters Inc....more
Cryptocurrency Exchanges Obtain New Licenses Across Globe Amid Market Growth -
The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced early this week that it approved a virtual currency license for Seed...more
SEC Issues Statement on Digital Asset Custody, Approves First Reg A+ Token Offerings -
This week the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a...more
CFTC Approves Bitcoin DCM, New Bitcoin ETF Proposed, Crypto IRA and Blockchain Depository Receipts Introduced -
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced approval of LedgerX’s registration as a designated...more
Libra Cryptocurrency Plans Released, Crypto Exchanges and Payment Options Expand -
This week, the world’s largest social media company published details on its plans to launch Libra, a new cryptocurrency that would be...more
New Developments and Research on Crypto-Asset Market Activities -
According to data from Bitcoinity, in May 2019, bitcoin trading volume on Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the U.S., reached a...more
Stablecoin Activity Heats Up, Bitcoin’s Speculation Problem and Other Payments News -
Despite the increase in major companies opening up payment options in bitcoin, research from Chainalysis shows that only 1.3% of bitcoin...more
6/10/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Digital Currency ,
Hackers ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Malware ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supply Chain ,
Virtual Currency
Industry Initiatives Indicate Growing Interest in Cryptocurrency Payments -
Late last week, Reuters reported that “[s]everal of the world’s largest banks are in the process of investing around $50 million” to create “… a...more
Supply Chain Initiatives Announced by Major Private and Public Sector Actors -
This week one of the world’s largest technology firms announced an initiative with one of the world’s largest retail coffee stores to develop a...more
Cryptocurrency Exchanges Move Closer to Live Trading, New Stablecoins Announced -
More cryptocurrency exchanges are going live. ErisX announced the launch of its spot market, saying it will immediately support dollar...more
5/3/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Denial of Service ,
Popular ,
Shadow Banking ,
Supply Chain
Academics Detect Manipulation on ‘DEXes’ as Cryptocurrency Trading Expands - A recent academic paper by researchers at Cornell Tech and other academic institutions describes rampant trading manipulation on decentralized...more
4/19/2019
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Blockchain ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
FinCEN ,
Food Supply ,
Malware ,
Money Laundering ,
Popular ,
Supply Chain ,
Virtual Currency
Blockchain Property Records Trial Completed, Energy Grid Project Continues, New Patents Granted -
According to a press release issued late last week, U.K.-based firm Instant Property Network recently completed a successful...more
BakerHostetler’s White Collar, Investigations and Securities Enforcement and Litigation team is pleased to release its 2018 Year-End Cross-Border Government Investigations and Regulatory Enforcement Review, a resource for...more
4/3/2019
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Corruption ,
Cross-Border ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Money Laundering ,
Popular ,
Securities Fraud ,
Trade Secrets ,
Whistleblowers
Welcome to the 2018 Year-End Report from BakerHostetler’s Financial Services Industry Team . We are pleased to share our analysis of some of the key developments in the financial services industry in 2018 and our expectations...more
3/27/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Borrowers ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Lenders ,
OCC ,
Payday Loans ,
Virtual Currency
New Blockchain Payments Solutions Announced for Banks, Merchants and the Unbanked -
Early this week, a leading global technology firm launched a real-time global payments network for regulated financial institutions....more