This issue discusses a variety of legal, regulatory and enforcement developments in the digital asset space in the U.S. and Europe....more
4/19/2021
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethereum ,
FinCEN ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Virtual Currency
Recent and significant regulatory and legislative events in the digital asset space demonstrate the evolving and expanding approach by U.S. and international regulators to the burgeoning digital asset markets. These...more
10/31/2020
/ Banks ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Consent Order ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Derivatives ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinCEN ,
Global Market ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
OCC ,
OECD ,
Offshore Listings ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Restricted Transactions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Tokens ,
Smart Contracts ,
Stablecoins ,
Summary Judgment ,
Taxation ,
UK ,
Virtual Currency
On March 24, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) voted unanimously to adopt an interpretation of the term “actual delivery” with respect to retail virtual currency transactions (2020 Guidance)....more
4/8/2020
/ Actual Delivery ,
Amended Rules ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Enforcement ,
Futures ,
Leveraged Lending ,
Margin Requirements ,
Retail Investors ,
Swaps ,
Virtual Currency
In this issue, we examine the release of the much-anticipated Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub) guidance for analyzing how U.S. federal securities laws apply to initial coin offerings, the...more
4/16/2019
/ Advertising ,
Blockchain ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
CNIL ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Default ,
Digital Assets ,
Discovery ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Division of Corporate Finance ,
Ethereum ,
EU ,
FinHub ,
France ,
Frozen Assets ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Contract ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
No-Action Letters ,
NYDFS ,
Offerings ,
Payment Tokens ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Plea Agreements ,
Popular ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Profits ,
Public Comment ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Safe Harbors ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Tokens ,
Securities Violations ,
Settlement ,
Smart Contracts ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
This is the second edition of The Distributed Ledger, a periodic publication covering the latest trends and developments in blockchain technology, digital assets and smart contracts. In this issue, we examine the SEC’s new...more
11/8/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
CNIL ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Data Controller ,
Data Processors ,
Digital Assets ,
EU ,
FATF ,
FinHub ,
FinTech ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Startups ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
Virtual Currency
This is the inaugural issue of The Distributed Ledger, a periodic publication covering the latest trends and developments in blockchain technology, digital assets and smart contracts. In this edition, we examine a federal...more
10/16/2018
/ Anti-Fraud Provisions ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Exclusive Jurisdiction ,
Fraud ,
Misappropriation ,
NYDFS ,
Popular ,
Research and Development ,
Smart Contracts ,
State Attorneys General ,
State Legislatures ,
Trade Market Abuse ,
Trading Platforms ,
Virtual Currency ,
Young Lawyers
On October 2, 2018, in a speech to the Economic Club of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo forcefully emphasized the agency’s commitment to an active...more
Recent federal court decisions, and a pending appeal in the Ninth Circuit, highlight disagreement among the courts as to the scope of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) anti-fraud and anti-manipulation...more
10/2/2018
/ Administrative Authority ,
Anti-Fraud Provisions ,
Anti-Manipulation Rule ,
Appeals ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
Split of Authority ,
Swaps ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Use in Commerce ,
Virtual Currency
On June 29, 2018, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, and together the Commissions) announced that the Commissions approved a memorandum of understanding...more
7/10/2018
/ CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Derivatives ,
Dodd-Frank ,
FX Swaps ,
Information Sharing ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Security-Based Swaps ,
Swaps ,
Trump Administration ,
Virtual Currency
On March 6, 2018, Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled that virtual currencies are commodities under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and therefore subject to the...more
3/8/2018
/ Administrative Authority ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Derivatives ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Jurisdiction ,
Market Manipulation ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Standing ,
Trial Court Orders ,
Virtual Currency
In 2017, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo made clear he will strive to improve, not abolish, many reforms the CFTC adopted to implement the Dodd-Frank Act’s mandate for new...more
1/31/2018
/ Benchmarks ,
Bitcoin ,
CCPs ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Derivatives ,
Dodd-Frank ,
EU ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Interest Rates ,
Libor ,
Popular ,
Swaps ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Virtual Currency
On December 15, 2017, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) released its proposed interpretation of the term “actual delivery” with respect to virtual currency retail commodity transactions. A retail...more
On October 17, 2017, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) newly formed financial technology (fintech) innovation group, LabCFTC, released its first fintech primer, “A CFTC Primer on Virtual Currencies” (VC...more
11/15/2017
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Instruments ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
LabCFTC ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Swaps ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency