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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