Photo of Jordan Shelton

Jordan Shelton is an associate in the Corporate Department and a member of the Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions Groups.

He earned a J.D. from Boston University School of Law, where he was a symposium editor for the American Journal of Law & Medicine and a director of the Homer Albers Prize Moot Court Competition. While at Boston University, he worked as a law clerk at an immigration firm and was a member of the BU Entrepreneurship & IP Clinic.

During congressional debates over the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), a relatively novel idea was the focus of proposals from the Senate and House of Representatives: “digital dollars.” Several legislative proposals introduced the idea to address the delay between passage of the CARES Act and distribution of direct stimulus payments to taxpayers, one of the pillars of the act. While the concept did not find its way into the final bill, its inclusion in proposals from both the Senate and House indicate that the viability – and specific application – of a central bank digital currency may be emerging.

In the Senate, Ranking Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced the Banking for All Act (BAA) on March 24, 2020. Senator Brown touted the BAA as an avenue for rapid payment of stimulus checks to individuals. Specifically, the BAA would allow all residents and citizens of the United States, and businesses domiciled in the United States, to set up a free digital dollar wallet, called a “FedAccount”, which would be maintained by member national, state and local banks, as well as U.S. Post Offices. A FedAccount would allow a holder “receive payments from the United States pursuant to a Federal law relating to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19),” as well perform more general tasks such as withdrawing and receiving money, and making payments.

Following up on their recent introduction of the Token Taxonomy Act, Representatives Darren Soto (D-FL) and Warren Davidson (R-OH) have teamed up again to introduce a new slate of bipartisan bills related to virtual currency. The two new bills, H.R. 922 and H.R. 923, were introduced on January 30, 2019 and are cosponsored by Representatives Ted Budd (R-NC) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ).

On December 20, 2018, a bipartisan pair of Congressmen, Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Darren Soto (D-FL), introduced bill H.R. 7356 to enact the Token Taxonomy Act (the “Act”). The Act proposes several amendments to federal securities and tax laws that are intended to clarify how cryptoassets should be treated thereunder. Below, we discuss the key provisions of the Act and their potential implications for cryptoasset market participants. Emphasis is placed on “potential” because, as we will discuss, the Act will likely require certain revisions, as well as substantial political support, before becoming effective law.

On November 16, the SEC announced that it settled charges against CarrierEQ, Inc. (“Airfox”) and Paragon Coin, Inc. (“Paragon”) for securities offering registration violations in connection with their respective initial coin offerings (“ICOs”).

The settlement orders represent the first time the SEC has imposed civil penalties