Jason Finger
Jason Finger is an associate in the Corporate Department and a member of the Private Credit Group.
Jason earned his J.D. from Vanderbilt Law School and his Master of Science in Finance from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management. While at Vanderbilt, Jason was a Teaching Assistant for the legal writing program, and served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Sheryl H. Lipman of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee and for the Honorable Julia Smith Gibbons of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Prior to law school, Jason consulted for a multinational management consulting firm, where he developed operations and technology strategies for consumer products and financial services companies.
Subscribe to all posts by Jason Finger
As discussed in Part I of this series, state DAO LLC laws have been enacted in the last several years and have become one option for decentralized autonomous organizations (or DAOs) to create a so-called “legal wrapper” or real-world corporate entity to shield individual members from liability. In Part II we will look at some … Continue Reading
Little-known legal trivia: In 1977 Wyoming was the first state to pioneer the LLC, which is now a commonly applied legal innovation. Fast forward more than forty years…in July 2021, Wyoming again tried to be at the vanguard of new corporate formations and passed legislation that recognized decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, as legally distinct … Continue Reading
In what appears to be an issue of first impression, a California district court ruled that various defendants allegedly holding governance tokens to the bZx DAO (or “Decentralized Autonomous Organization”), a protocol for tokenized margin trading and lending, could be deemed to be members of a “general partnership” under California law under the facts outlined … Continue Reading
As discussed in Part I of this series, Ordinals are a pioneering new method of utilizing the Bitcoin blockchain that will usher in new and innovative use cases on Bitcoin. As promised, in Part II we will discuss the implications for creators and owners. Implications of Ordinal NFTs for Creators and Owners As with most crypto … Continue Reading
The NFT community has been humming in 2023 after the recent rise in Bitcoin NFT mints. Ordinals, a non-fungible token (“NFT”) protocol, sent the community buzzing in January 2023 when it launched on the Bitcoin blockchain (as updated by soft forks in the protocol in 2017 and 2021, which among other things, added new features … Continue Reading
When it rains, it pours. On January 23, 2023, the New York Department of Financial Services announced that it had issued certain Guidance on Custodial Structures for Customer Protection in the Event of Insolvency in which it emphasized the importance of sound custody and disclosure practices to protect customers in the event of an insolvency … Continue Reading
Demand for virtual currency services, including custody services, has soared in the past several years. Like their counterparts in traditional finance, these custodians are stewards of retail and institutional customer funds and serve an important and valuable function. However, as evidenced by a number of headline-grabbing failures during the lingering crypto winter, inadequate disclosures and … Continue Reading
At a time when states are jockeying for position to become digital asset and cryptocurrency hubs and we’ve witnessed turmoil and regulatory uncertainty within the cryptoasset industry, the New York Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) on December 15, 2022 released its final Guidance (the “Guidance”) to banking organizations seeking to engage in “new or significantly … Continue Reading
On December 12, 2022, Custodia Bank (“Custodia”) – a state-chartered, digital asset-focused bank based in Wyoming – was denied its motion for a default judgment in its battle with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (the “Board”) and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (the “KC Fed”) over its pending application for a master … Continue Reading
At 2:43am EST on September 15, 2022, the first Ethereum block was validated using Proof of Stake, signaling the success of the Ethereum Merge, one of the most anticipated events in blockchain and computer science history. The Merge shifted the Ethereum blockchain (native token ETH, or ether) from a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism to a … Continue Reading
On October 3, 2022, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”) – a collaborative body formed under the Dodd-Frank Act composed of state and federal regulators and tasked with identifying risks and responding to emerging threats to financial stability – released its 100+-page Report on Digital Asset Financial Stability Risks and Regulation (the “Report”). In the … Continue Reading
As of this writing, the Ethereum “Merge,” one of the most anticipated events in blockchain history, is finally expected to occur in September 2022. The “Merge” will shift the Ethereum blockchain (native token ETH, or ether) from a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism that uses over 99.9% less energy. Technically, … Continue Reading
Beyond the wider adoption of cryptocurrencies by consumers in recent years, companies and organizations have also shown increased interest in crypto-assets in the past year. A myriad of industries, from sports to fashion to art to videogames to music, are entering NFTs, which, depending on the marketplace, may be minted on a PoW or PoS … Continue Reading
Back in January, the U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (the “Federal Reserve”) released its long-awaited discussion paper, “Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation” (the “Report”), beginning a public dialogue about central bank digital currencies (“CBDCs”) and weighing the merits of a U.S. CBDC. For the purposes … Continue Reading
On January 20, 2022, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce (the “Committee”) held a hearing on the energy consumption associated with cryptocurrency activity. In announcing the hearing on January 12, 2022, Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Oversight and Investigations Chair Diana DeGette (D-CO) stated: “In just a few short years, cryptocurrency has … Continue Reading
On December 17, 2021, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”) – a collaborative body formed under the Dodd-Frank Act composed of state and federal regulators and tasked with identifying risks and responding to emerging threats to financial stability – released its 2021 Annual Report (the “Report”). In the Report, the FSOC offered wide-ranging insight into … Continue Reading
Part II: With New DAO Law on the Books, Utah Joins Race with Wyoming and Tennessee to Become U.S. “Crypto Capital”
By Jason Finger and Peter Cramer on Posted in Blockchain Governance, DAOs, DeFi & Financial Services, Legislation, Smart Contracts
Part I: With New DAO Law on the Books, Utah Joins Race with Wyoming and Tennessee to Become U.S. “Crypto Capital”
By Jason Finger and Peter Cramer on Posted in Blockchain Governance, DAOs, DeFi & Financial Services, Legislation, Smart Contracts
DAO Deemed ‘General Partnership’ in Negligence Suit over Crypto Hack, Prompting Decentralized Orgs to Rethink Corporate Formation
Part II: When You Jump Chains, Do NFTs Stay the Same? Ordinals on the Bitcoin Blockchain
By Jason Finger on Posted in Bitcoin, Digital Assets, Ethereum, NFTs
Part I: When You Jump Chains, Do NFTs Stay the Same? Ordinals on the Bitcoin Blockchain
By Jason Finger on Posted in Bitcoin, Digital Assets, NFTs
Regulation in the Post-FTX Environment: SEC’s Proposed Enhanced Custody Rule and Its Effects on Crypto
By Jason Finger and Timothy Q. Karcher on Posted in Bankruptcy, Cryptocurrencies, Regulation: Federal, SEC
New York Department of Financial Services Issues Guidance on Cryptoasset Custody in Wake of Recent High-Profile Bankruptcies
By Jason Finger and Timothy Q. Karcher on Posted in Bankruptcy, Cryptocurrencies, NYDFS
New York Department of Financial Services Issues Cryptocurrency-Related Guidance to Banks, Increases Regulatory Scope
By Jason Finger on Posted in Cryptocurrencies, Digital Assets, NYDFS, Regulation: State
Custodia Bank Is, Once Again, Asking for a Federal Reserve Master Account
By Jason Finger on Posted in DeFi & Financial Services, Digital Assets
When Chains Change, Do NFTs Stay The Same? How Hard Forks May Affect NFT Value and Licenses
In Response to the White House’s Executive Order, FSOC Releases Digital Asset Stability Report with Legislative Recommendations
By Jason Finger on Posted in Cryptocurrencies, DeFi & Financial Services, Digital Assets
The Merge Is Upon Us: What It Means for Ethereum
By Jason Finger on Posted in Blockchain Governance, Cryptocurrencies, Ethereum, Securities
ESG Issues and Opportunities Arise as Companies and Asset Managers Hone in on Blockchain-Based Technology Investments
By Jason Finger on Posted in Blockchain Governance, Cryptocurrencies, Environment, Exchanges
As Regulators Double Click on Crypto, CBDC and Stablecoins Remain Favorites
By Jason Finger on Posted in Cryptocurrencies, DeFi & Financial Services, Digital Assets, Government
House Committee Hearing Explores Cryptocurrency Energy Use, Bringing to Mind ESG Issues and Opportunities
By Jason Finger on Posted in Bitcoin, Blockchain Governance, Cryptocurrencies, Environment, Ethereum
Ringing in the New Year: Regulators and Industry Seek to Bring Stability to Stablecoins in 2022. How (Much), Remains a Question.
By Jason Finger on Posted in CFTC, Cryptocurrencies, Digital Assets, FinCEN, Regulation: Federal, SEC
