The Second Circuit recently revived a securities class action against the crypto exchange Binance Holdings Ltd., holding that plaintiffs plausibly alleged their transactions on the exchange were "domestic," as required by the...more
On November 7, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") issued a proposed rule that would grant it supervisory authority over major nonbank technology companies in the consumer digital payments space....more
11/16/2023
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Cards ,
Credit Reports ,
Digital Wallets ,
Electronic Payment Transactions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Nonbank Firms ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Authority
Proposed regulations addressing new tax reporting requirements for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets have been issued by the IRS and Treasury....more
The D.C. Circuit rebuked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on administrative law grounds but left untouched the test the Agency used to deny proposed bitcoin exchange traded products ("ETP")....more
9/7/2023
/ Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Bitcoin ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Financial Markets ,
Listing Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Vacated
Two SEC commissioners dissented and urged the Commission to provide further guidance on non-fungible tokens ("NFTs")....more
9/7/2023
/ Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Securities Violations ,
Unregistered Securities
In Short -
The Situation: Recently, two judges in Southern District of New York were required to apply the Howey test in separate cases to decide whether sales of certain crypto assets were investment contracts, and thus...more
8/22/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Due Process ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Popular ,
Ripple ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stablecoins
In Short -
The Situation: In parallel federal actions, the Department of Justice ("DOJ"), Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC"), and Federal Trade Commission ("FTC")...more
7/24/2023
/ CFTC ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Market Manipulation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
In Short -
The Situation: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC" or "Commission") has reopened the comment period for its January 2022 proposal to amend Exchange Act Rule 3b-16 to broadly expand the...more
In Short -
The Situation: Regulatory "sandboxes" are trending. They represent a unique approach to regulation that permits selected companies to test and experiment with new and innovative products and services....more
In Short -
The Situation: For the first time, the Economic Report of the President (the "Report") includes a chapter on digital assets....more
4/5/2023
/ Blockchain ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
CFTC ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
FedNow ,
Financial Markets ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In Short -
The Situation: Following a string of bankruptcies among virtual currency firms, the New York Department of Financial Services has issued guidance on the practices and procedures it expects from certain...more
In a closely watched trademark infringement case involving non-fungible tokens ("NFTs"), a jury found that the sale of digital images of Hermès's Birkin bags as NFTs infringed and diluted Hermès's trademarks....more
2/14/2023
/ Artistic Works ,
Consumer Confusion ,
Digital Assets ,
Dilution ,
Fashion Branding ,
Fashion Design ,
Fashion Industry ,
First Amendment ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks
In Short -
The Situation: The Federal Reserve Board ("Board") has issued a new policy statement ("Policy Statement") imposing limits, including Board approval requirements, on digital asset activities and other novel...more
In Short -
The Situation: Decentralized finance ("DeFi") is a rapidly growing sector that, by definition, eschews centralized financial institutions altogether. Misconduct that has accompanied that growth has drawn the...more
In Short -
The Situation: Since clarifying the legal permissibility of certain crypto activities in 2020 and early 2021, the Federal banking agencies have begun to tighten regulatory scrutiny of such activities, warning...more
As discussed in previous installments of this White Paper series, the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act (the "Bill") proposes a comprehensive statutory and regulatory framework in an effort to bring...more
In Short -
The Situation: Under the existing legal regimes, decentralized autonomous organizations ("DAO" or "DAOs") have been viewed as a way to hedge against regulatory action by way of a decentralized structure. The...more
In June 2022, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced the Responsible Financial Innovation Act (the "Bill"), one of most comprehensive responses by Congress to date with respect to digital...more
California's new Digital Financial Asset Law ("DFAL") will impose a variety of regulatory requirements on digital asset companies and cryptocurrency exchanges. Governor Newsom is expected to sign the DFAL into law, and new...more
In this latest White Paper on our Bill analysis, we underscore headline proposals in the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act (the “Bill”) regarding consumer protection standards (Title V) and cybersecurity...more
In "Digital Assets Defined: How Lummis-Gillibrand Will Shape the Coming Fintech Debate," we provided a high-level overview of the Responsible Financial Innovation Act (the "Bill") and examined some of its significant...more
In Short -
The Situation: Following the release of the Responsible Financial Innovation Act (the "Lummis-Gillibrand Bill"), four senators on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry released their own...more
In this latest White Paper on our Bill analysis, we underscore headline proposals in the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act (the "Bill") regarding the issuance and regulation of a "payment stablecoin,"...more
On June 7, 2022, U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced the Responsible Financial Innovation Act (the "Bill"), which proposes a regulatory framework for digital assets across nine titles...more
Jones Day Financial Markets partner Mark Rasmussen explains how real-life regulations could cross over into the rapidly expanding metaverse space. He talks about the metaverse's current uses and potential advancements, and...more