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
On September 22, 2022, the CFTC announced an order simultaneously filing and settling charges against bZeroX, LLC (“bZeroX”) and its creators for illegally offering leveraged and margined retail commodity transactions in digital assets, operating as an unregistered futures commission merchant and failing to conduct KYC on its customers. According to the CFTC, a month prior … 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
Back in 2013, the first cryptocurrency matter hit our desks. That was the beginning of the exponential growth of our digital assets practice. Recognizing the importance of the area, we launched this blog, Blockchain and the Law. In our first cluster of posts, we covered topics such as cryptocurrency taxation, blockchain and privacy, and issues … Continue Reading
Advances in blockchain distributed ledger technology have led to dramatic growth in the role of digital assets in finance. This has resulted in new applications and technological developments involving financial services and blockchain. Read the full article at Financier Worldwide.… Continue Reading
On July 5, 2022, cryptocurrency brokerage Voyager Digital filed for chapter 11 in the Southern District of New York Bankruptcy Court, citing a short-term “run on the bank” due to the “crypto winter” in the cryptocurrency industry generally and the default of a significant loan made to a third party as the reasons for its … Continue Reading
There have been a number of developments swirling around stablecoins in the past month, including, earlier this week, the recent introduction in the U.S. Senate of a bill (the “Responsible Financial Innovation Act”) that would put in place a regulatory framework for digital assets and enact certain requirements and consumer protections surrounding stablecoins. The topic … 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
Kryptonite is a fictional substance that causes the mighty Superman to lose all his strength. According to a recent release from the U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration (“DOL”), cryptocurrency might carry similar dangers for otherwise strong and healthy 401(k) plan accounts. That is, in DOL’s view, the benefits of cryptocurrency in 401(k) … Continue Reading
On January 10, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) announced it settled charges in In re tZERO ATS, LLC, No. 93938 (SEC Order Jan. 10, 2022) (“Order”). The Order details how the SEC fined blockchain-based trading platform tZERO ATS, LLC (“tZERO”), an alternative trading systems (“ATS”), for alleged violations of Regulation … Continue Reading
On 19 January 2022, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a consultation paper (CP22/2) (the “Consultation”) setting out its proposals to strengthen its financial promotion rules for high-risk investments (including cryptoassets), as well as for authorised firms which approve and communicate such financial promotions. The Consultation builds on feedback received to its discussion paper … Continue Reading
On January 3, 2022, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) entered an order charging Blockratize, Inc. (d/b/a Polymarket.com) (“Polymarket”) with offering off-exchange binary options contracts and failing to register with the CFTC as a designated contract market or swap execution facility as required under the Commodity Exchange Act (the “CEA”). (In re Blockratize, Inc. … Continue Reading
On May 5, 2021, another federal district court, this time for the Northern District of California, permitted the IRS to proceed with a John Doe summons very similar to the one served on Circle last month (the subject of a recent post). This time, the Summons seeks information on customers of a San Francisco-headquartered digital currency … Continue Reading
On July 23, the New York State Department of Financial Services (the “DFS”) issued a press release announcing the establishment of a new Research and Innovation Division (the “Division”) within the DFS. The Division will take on the responsibility of licensing and supervising entities engaged in “virtual currency business activity” that fall within the scope … Continue Reading
New York State has taken measures this year to modernize its approach to regulation for blockchain-based companies. Even before Assembly Bill A8783B established a government task force to study the effects of blockchain and digital assets on financial markets in the state, in October, the New York State Department of Financial Services (“NYSDFS”) announced that … Continue Reading
Today, Ohio reportedly becomes the first US state to allow taxes to be paid in the form of bitcoin. Although the program, which is spearheaded by Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, will not be available to individual taxpayers until a later time, businesses operating in Ohio are now able to register on OhioCrypto.com to pay 23 … Continue Reading
It was reported this month that ING Groep NV and a major international bank recently completed the first live securities lending transaction settled using distributed ledger technology (“DLT”). The transaction involved the banks swapping baskets of government securities through a collateral lending application from financial technology company HQLAx built using bank consortium R3’s Corda DLT. Securities lending … Continue Reading
On February 7, 2018, the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) issued guidance for all virtual currency entities licensed by New York State regarding the prevention of market manipulation, fraud, and other wrongdoing. According to DFS, New York has granted four licenses and two charters to virtual currency businesses to date. In its … Continue Reading
BitConnect International, PLC had a somewhat unique business model, even for an industry known for its unconventional nature. On its face, BitConnect functioned as an exchange. However, the real purpose of the platform, and what led to its ultimate downfall, was its lending program. BitConnect “borrowed” the crypto investments of its customers in exchange for … Continue Reading
In its latest effort to combat scams in the initial coin offering (ICO) space, the SEC announced today that it has obtained a court order cutting off AriseBank’s ICO of “AriseCoin” tokens, appointing a receiver over AriseBank and freezing AriseBank’s and its co-founders’ digital and other assets. The SEC’s complaint against AriseBank and its co-founders … Continue Reading
On Monday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) halted all trading in the stock of the Hong Kong-based firm, UBI Blockchain Internet, Ltd. (OTC ticker UBIA). “The commission is of the opinion that the public interest and the protection of investors require a suspension of trading in the securities of the above-listed company,” the … Continue Reading
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo issued a statement this week on virtual currencies. The CFTC also released a backgrounder on its oversight of and approach to cryptocurrency futures markets. … Continue Reading
CBOE Global Markets Inc. (CBOE) began trading CFTC-approved bitcoin futures on December 10th, and CME Group Inc. (CME) will begin trading them on December 18th. Bitcoin futures have generated significant attention as the first cryptocurrency-based derivative products to be traded on major U.S. exchanges. Bitcoin futures provide institutional and retail investors increased exposure to the … Continue Reading
Blockchain advocates have been awaiting the final decision by ASX Ltd, the Australian Securities Exchange, as to whether ASX will replace its existing and aged CHESS registry, settlement and clearing system with a blockchain-based system that ASX has been developing and testing for the last two years. Today, ASX announced that it will go ahead … Continue Reading
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