News & Analysis as of September 21, 2024

Virtual Currency › Regulatory Oversight

+ Follow

Virtual Currency (aka Digital Currency or Digital Money) is a type of currency or medium of exchange that is not issued by any government nor guaranteed by a government currency. Despite lacking legal tender status, Virtual Currency is still traded and exchanged in some environments, typically online environments or communities. Bitcoin is the most well-known form of Virtual Currency. less -

Blockchain+ Bi-Weekly: July 2024 #2

Polsinelli on 7/25/2024

While the nation was preoccupied with the significant developments in the Presidential race, advocates and promoters of the blockchain ecosystem were particularly attentive to the news, given the perception that the current...more

Significant State Regulatory Development in the Virtual Currency Industry in California and New York

Goodwin on 4/30/2024

California enacted its own version of New York’s “BitLicense” law, the Digital Financial Assets Law (DFAL), becoming one of the first US states to implement a virtual currency-specific regulatory regime. ...more

CryptoLink - June 2023

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP on 7/6/2023

CryptoLink is a compilation of news stories published by outside organizations. Akin aggregates these stories, but the information contained in them does not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of the firm. Akin's...more

Blockchain+ Bi-Weekly - June 2023 #2

Polsinelli on 6/30/2023

The Blockchain Bi-Weekly presented by the Polsinelli Blockchain+ team is a rundown of some of the key stories in the Web3, blockchain and crypto ecosystems curated by our attorneys navigating the intersections of code, smart...more

First Attempt to Regulate Spot Digital Asset Activities

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP on 4/6/2023

On March 29, the National Futures Association (“NFA”) promulgated Compliance Rule 2-51, setting forth Requirements for Members and Associates Engaged in Activities Involving Digital Asset Commodities, which includes both...more

The Distributed Ledger: Blockchain, Digital Assets and Smart Contracts

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on 8/25/2022

A flurry of legal and enforcement activity has arisen over the last two weeks across a wide range of areas in the Web3 space, including actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of Foreign Assets Control,...more

All About Web3: The Regulatory Outlook for Cryptocurrency

WilmerHale on 8/11/2022

Cryptocurrency continues to dominate the headlines, from starting the year at a high with major TV ads to questions in recent weeks about the stability of the market. In this episode of In the Public Interest, co-host and...more

SEC Reported to Add Another Dimension to its Cryptocurrency Enforcement Push: Insider Trading

Dechert LLP on 7/6/2022

Key Takeaways - According to sources with firsthand knowledge, the SEC is conducting an industry-wide inquiry into alleged insider trading activities of cryptocurrency exchanges. Insider trading occurs when a corporate...more

The Crypto Industry Is Talking Tax, and the Senate Is Listening

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP on 6/23/2022

On June 7, 2022, U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act (the “Act”), a comprehensive legislative scheme for the regulation of...more

U.S. Government Steps Up Its Enforcement in the Digital Assets Space

Alston & Bird on 5/26/2022

Our Blockchain & Digital Assets Team offers a snapshot sample of significant recent developments by a panoply of federal agencies and departments that represent the expanding array of enforcement tools used by federal...more

SEC Targets Companies Conducting Cryptomining

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP on 5/11/2022

The SEC recently doubled the size of its Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit. Since its inception in 2017, the SEC’s Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit has launched more than 80 investigations resulting in over $2 billion in monetary...more

California Governor Orders Agencies to Create Transparent Regulatory Framework for Blockchain and Digital Assets

Jones Day on 5/11/2022

California's governor issued an executive order requiring state agencies, led by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, to create a "transparent" regulatory framework for blockchain technologies and digital...more

Federal Reserve explores benefits and risks of potential US Central Bank Digital Currency while the Biden Administration issues...

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP on 5/9/2022

In January of this year, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued a research and analysis paper titled Money and Payments: The US Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation, in which the Fed...more

President Biden Signs Executive Order Outlining Crypto Policy

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 3/10/2022

On March 9, President Biden signed a highly anticipated executive order outlining his administration’s cryptocurrency policy. We have previously blogged about the Biden administration’s working group on stablecoins and the...more

The SEC Begins Regulation of Cryptocurrency Interest Account Offerings

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP on 3/9/2022

On June 29, 2021, a major cryptocurrency exchange (the “Crypto Exchange”) announced a new program called “Lend” in which it proposed offering customers a 4% interest rate on cryptocurrency tied to USD....more

Crypto at Quantico: New FBI Cryptocurrency Unit Adds to Growing U.S. Criminal Enforcement Measures

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP on 2/22/2022

Speaking at last week’s Munich Cyber Security Conference, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the formation of a new FBI unit dedicated to blockchain analysis and virtual asset seizure – the Virtual Asset...more

Virtual "Currencies": Not actual currencies

White & Case LLP on 2/17/2022

As with any new phenomenon, the rise of digital assets has created a new lexicon. "Blockchain," "tokens," and "coins" are now household vocabulary. Central to the discussion are a set of assets generally classified as...more

Cryptocurrency Congressional Activity Watch

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP on 2/15/2022

As the 117th Congress moves into 2022, cryptocurrency and digital assets will continue to be an area of intense focus and discussion for both Democrats and Republicans. Member interest continues to grow in this space, with...more

Cryptocurrency Primer

Bilzin Sumberg on 1/26/2022

We’ve previously written about the push for greater regulation of digital currency and a growing number of lawsuits targeting cryptocurrency companies and their celebrity endorsers. Notwithstanding cryptocurrencies’...more

Regulating Crypto: Cryptocurrency Executives Head to Capitol Hill

Kohrman Jackson & Krantz LLP on 1/11/2022

A recent study found that 16 percent of Americans have invested in, traded or used cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether. This widespread use, coupled with the cryptocurrency industry having limited to no regulatory...more

FATF Updates Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach to Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers

Dechert LLP on 12/22/2021

The Financial Action Task Force ("FATF"), the global money laundering and terrorist financing (“ML/TF”) watchdog, recently issued updated guidance related to compliance risks resulting from activities involving Virtual Assets...more

The Tangled Web of Proposed Crypto Regulation

Foodman CPAs & Advisors on 12/14/2021

Don’t Expect Coherent Rules to Align Any Time Soon - Multiple enforcement agencies within the US government agree that the $2.5 trillion crypto industry needs regulation. And heads of the largest crypto companies have told...more

Pre-Enforcement Challenges—A Vital Tool for Regulated Parties in the United States

Jones Day on 12/13/2021

The digital asset industry has now met the regulatory state. Those interested in building digital asset businesses that operate in the United States thus need to be aware of a vital tool for resisting regulatory overreach by...more

OFAC Issues Sanctions Compliance Guidance for Virtual Currencies

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP on 12/13/2021

In October, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) published new guidance for the virtual currency industry focusing on compliance with the financial industry’s obligations...more

“Hashing” It Out: Federal Jury Decides Some Cryptocurrency Products are not Securities

Dechert LLP on 11/19/2021

Whether a cryptocurrency product is a security is an issue with serious regulatory consequences. In recent years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has taken a broad position that various crypto assets are...more

213 Results

View per page

Page: of 9

Virtual Currency › Regulatory Oversight

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"