Tokenization is the process of creating an asset, or a digital record of an asset, by issuing a blockchain-based token. It is gaining momentum at institutional and governmental levels by transforming access to public and...more
Digital Asset Treasury Companies (“DATCOs”) are a new class of public companies whose treasuries hold significant amounts of digital assets on their balance sheets. As distinguished from a public company that uses digital...more
In addition to the recent Illinois Digital Assets and Consumer Protection Act, covered in a previous article, Illinois recently passed digital asset legislation aimed at protecting consumers against scams and fraud when...more
On August 18, 2025, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 1797, enacting, in his words, “first-of-their-kind safeguards in the Midwest for cryptocurrency and other digital assets.” This Illinois law is the Digital...more
The America First Policy Institute is a think tank with enormous influence on the Trump Administration. Members of the Institute have joined the administration in senior positions. So, it was fitting for Securities and...more
On August 6, 2025, after a four-week trial in the Southern District of New York (S.D.N.Y.), the jury in the Tornado Cash case reached an impasse. While it found Roman Storm, the founder of a crypto mixing service known as...more
On July 30, 2025, the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets (PWG) released “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,” a comprehensive digital asset report (Report) mandated by President...more
Yes, indeed! What Brad Garlinghouse of Ripple Labs called “Gensler’s reign of terror” ended with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler’s resignation upon President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Paul...more
1/28/2025
/ Blockchain ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
CFTC ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Investment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stablecoins ,
U.S. Treasury
ollowing the approval and launch of Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (EFTs) in January 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved eight Ethereum ETFs for listing and trading on SEC-regulated exchanges on...more
On June 5, 2024, a three-judge panel in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Securities and Exchange Commission exceeded its statutory authority in adopting the so-called “Private Fund Advisers Rule” (or the...more
On January 10, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the launch of several BTC Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs).[1] The approval order resolves the critical legal and regulatory issues entailed in...more
OpenAI, the high-flying developer of the groundbreaking ChatGPT AI chatbot and its associated foundational large language models, recently made headlines that set the corporate governance world abuzz. On a quiet Friday in...more
The landscape of mergers and acquisitions is undergoing a seismic shift powered by the adoption of distributed ledger and other blockchain derivative technology across industries.
Recent challenges in the cryptocurrency...more
9/15/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Automation Systems ,
Blockchain ,
Coinbase ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Investors ,
Mergers ,
Tokenization
Foley & Lardner LLP is closely monitoring the rapidly changing landscape surrounding the recent bank insolvencies.
On Tuesday, March 21, at 5:00 p.m. CT, Foley hosted a webinar where a panel of presenters discussed the...more
Following the recent closures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Silvergate Bank and Credit Suisse’s takeover by Swiss-based rival UBS, ramifications for blockchain tech and crypto-based assets and deals are...more
3/31/2023
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Infrastructure ,
New Regulations ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Technology Sector
Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen, Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. Powell, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg issued a joint statement this evening approving actions...more
Hundreds of public companies have filed current reports on Form 8-K since Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) became insolvent and was taken over by the FDIC. The disclosures made to date have been primarily “voluntary” filings, made...more
On February 9, 2023, the SEC announced that Kraken had settled charges alleging that it violated securities laws by failing to register the offer and sale of its “crypto asset staking-as-a-service program.” To settle the...more
On January 26, 2022, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced its participation in a $22.5 million multi-state settlement with Nexo Capital Inc. (Nexo) relating to unregistered...more
While the story of the first ten months of 2022 was surviving crypto winter, there was also some optimism that better times were coming.
There is a newly elected Congress and new leadership, which many had hoped would be...more
It's no secret that cryptocurrency markets and the larger digital assets economy have been roiled by recent instability, resulting in discussions about how regulatory initiatives, rising inflationary pressure, and public...more
8/3/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Biden Administration ,
Blockchain ,
Copyright ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptoassets ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement ,
Executive Orders ,
Howey ,
Income Taxes ,
Investor Protection ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Risk Assessment ,
Royalties ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency ,
Warranties
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is adding 20 positions to its Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit.
These positions are all enforcement-related. None of the new staff will be charged with carrying out the SEC's...more
5/27/2022
/ 401k ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement ,
Executive Orders ,
Fraud ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced that it will be adding 20 positions to its newly renamed Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, including fraud analysts, investigative staff attorneys, trial counsels,...more
5/13/2022
/ 401k ,
CFTC ,
Cryptoassets ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Executive Orders ,
Fraud ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Investors ,
Joe Biden ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Retirement Funds ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
Stablecoins
On March 9, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the “Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets” (the order), outlining his administration’s intention to begin a strategic review of potential...more
3/16/2022
/ Bitcoin ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Ether ,
Federal Reserve ,
Global Market ,
Joe Biden ,
Money Laundering ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Risk Mitigation ,
U.S. Treasury
As the web further decentralizes based on blockchains, we are seeing new technology business models, particularly in the ecommerce sector, incorporate digital tokens into transaction flows by using digitally native tokens as...more