Latest Posts › Cryptocurrency

Share:

DOJ and CFTC Bring Charges Against Crypto Exchange KuCoin for AML and KYC Failures

On March 26, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) unsealed an indictment against prominent cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin and two of its founders, Chun Gan and Ke Tang.  The DOJ charged the exchange and its founders...more

The SEC’s Recent Action Against Crypto Exchange ShapeShift Lacks Guidance and Draws Internal Criticism

On March 5, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced charges and a corresponding cease-and-desist order (the “Order”) with ShapeShift AG, a cryptocurrency exchange registered in Switzerland that...more

TradeStation Settles Securities Violations Stemming From its Crypto Yield Product

On February 7, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced charges and a related cease-and-desist order (the “Order”) against TradeStation Crypto, Inc. (“TradeStation”) for failing to register the...more

SEC Settlement with BarnBridge DAO and its Founders for Securities Violations Highlights Legal Risks for DAOs and DeFi

On December 23, 2023, BarnBridge DAO (“BarnBridge”) and its founders, Tayler Ward and Troy Murray, agreed to settle charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).  BarnBridge violated Sections5(a) and 5(c)...more

OFAC Reaches Settlement with Cryptocurrency Company CoinList for Violations of Ukraine/Russia Sanctions

On December 13, 2023, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced an enforcement action against CoinList Markets LLC (“CoinList”) for violations of the Ukraine-/Russia-Related...more

Lessons Learned from Binance’s Criminal Settlement (III of III)

Binance’s $4.3 billion fine is one of the largest penalties the DOJ has ever obtained from a corporate defendant.  Furthermore, its founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (“CZ”) was also personally subject to a fine, amounting to...more

Binance Intentionally Avoided Compliance with U.S. Laws Under CEO Changpeng Zhao (II of III)

Binance’s settlement with the DOJ represents one of the largest criminal corporate enforcement actions ever.  A review of the facts reveals that the penalty is likely warranted, as the misconduct was driven from the very...more

DOJ Reaches Groundbreaking Criminal Settlement with Cryptocurrency Exchange Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao (Part I of III)

On November 21, 2023, The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced settlement agreements with Binance Holdings Limited (“Binance”), the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and Changpeng Zhao (affectionally known as...more

SEC and DOJ Charge SafeMoon Cryptocurrency and its Executives For Multi-Million Dollar Fraud

On November 1, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) brought charges against cryptocurrency project SafeMoon LLC and its U.S. subsidiary SafeMoon US LLC, along with...more

Episode 286 -- Matt Stankiewicz on the Ripple Decision and Celsius CEO Indictment [Audio]

Matt Stankiewicz, Partner at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins the podcast to review the recent Ripple decision by District Judge Torres at the Southern District of New York and the recent indictment of Celsius Networks' CEO. On...more

The SEC Targets Cryptocurrency Exchange Coinbase With Suit in Southern District of New York

On June 6, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) officially filed suit against Coinbase, Inc. (“Coinbase”) alleging the company operated as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, and clearing...more

The SEC Sues Cryptocurrency Exchange Binance Alleging Sweeping Securities Violations

In a complaint filed June 5, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) is suing the world’s larged cryptocurrency exchange – Binance Holdings Ltd. (“Binance”), BAM Trading Services Inc. (“BAM Trading”), BAM...more

Bitzlato Cryptocurrency Exchange Founder Charged with Processing $700 Million in Illicit Funds

On Wednesday, January 18, 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) unsealed a criminal complaint in the Eastern District of New York charging Russian-national Anatoly Legkodymov, a senior executive at Bitzlato Ltd....more

Bankruptcy Proceedings Reveal Shocking Lack of Controls at Disgraced Cryptocurrency Exchange FTX (IV of IV)

On top of all the legal trouble for FTX’s founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (“SBF”), the company has also filed for bankruptcy and SBF has been ousted as CEO.  John J. Ray III, an attorney and bankruptcy professional, has...more

The Fall of FTX: The Legal Ramifications of the Collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s Cryptocurrency Empire (I of IV)

The cryptocurrency world is in shock watching the events unfold around the stunning collapse of FTX, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world.  The exchange seemed untouchable just days before everything fell apart. ...more

OFAC and FinCEN Reach Settlement Agreement with Virtual Currency Exchange Bittrex (Part I of II)

On October 11, 2022, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) announced settlement agreements with Bittrex, Inc. (“Bittrex”), a cryptocurrency exchange based in...more

OFAC Focuses on Cybercrime by Sanctioning the Hydra Darknet Market and GARANTEX Cryptocurrency Exchange

Continuing with both its crackdown on cybercriminals and illicit digital marketplaces, along with its continued economic pressure on the Russian Federation, OFAC has sanctioned two entities that fit both criteria.  On April...more

What to Know About the DOJ’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team

In early October, U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the creation of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (“NCET”).  The NCET will handle the Department’s investigations...more

Takeaways from OFAC’s Sanctions Compliance Guidance for Virtual Assets and Cryptocurrency

In early October, OFAC released a guidance brochure on sanctions compliance, specifically tailored for the cryptocurrency and virtual assets industry.  For seasoned compliance veterans, it ends up reading like a refresher...more

A Compliance Crisis at NFT Marketplace OpenSea – Transparency on the Blockchain

The crypto industry is abuzz with a recent scandal involving OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace in the industry (for those not in the know, NFT stands for non-fungible token, and the most common use case at the moment is to...more

China’s Digital Yuan: What to Know About the First Major Central Bank Digital Currency

With the rise of digital currencies, it was inevitably going to attract the attention of governments.  Not just in the regulatory sense, but also in terms of utilization.  The blockchain technology underlying these virtual...more

CFTC Opens Inquiry into Binance, One of the World’s Largest Cryptocurrency Exchanges

On Friday March 12, Bloomberg News reported that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) has opened an inquiry into Binance Holdings Ltd. (“Binance”) to investigate allegations that the exchange allowed US citizens...more

The New York Attorney General’s Office Reaches Settlement with Bitfinex and Tether

In late February, the New York Attorney General’s office (“NYAG”) settled with Bitfinex and Tether stemming from charges relating to financial mismanagement.  The NYAG alleged that Bitfinex and Tether attempted to cover up...more

Ripple and SEC Joint Letter Indicates Sides Far Apart in Settlement Talks

On Monday, Ripple Labs, Inc.; Brad Garlinghouse, CEO; Christian Larsen, board chairman; and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a joint letter with Judge Analisa Torres in the Southern District of New...more

Ripple Responds to the SEC’s Enforcement Action

Following the SEC’s December filing, Ripple Labs, Inc. has now responded and taken its first steps to defend itself against the allegations.  Ripple’s first move was to file FOIA request with the SEC to obtain the information...more

33 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

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

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide