In the generally opaque emerging world of “DAOs”, a rare public dispute recently played out between the Web3 investment group Yield Guild Games (“YGG”) and Merit Circle DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization, or “DAO”,...more
A former employee of OpenSea, the largest marketplace for the purchase and sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), has been indicted and charged with wire fraud and money laundering allegedly in connection with actions he took...more
6/10/2022
/ Art ,
Breach of Duty ,
Confidential Information ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Indictments ,
Insider Trading ,
Money Laundering ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Trading Platforms ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud
Thoughts on Recent SEC statements and Action on Enforcement Related to Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO) -
On November 10, 2021 the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) announced that it had halted...more
On October 28, 2021, The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that sets international standards with an aim to prevent global money laundering and terrorist financing, released updated guidance...more
As the United States Senate considered H.R. 3684, the “Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation In America Act (INVEST in America Act)”, an attempt to modify legislative language concerning...more
8/18/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Bipartisan Budget ,
Blockchain ,
Brokers ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Transactions ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements
Earlier this month the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a statement in response to a letter issued by the Wyoming Division of Banking on the custody of digital assets. The SEC staff...more
Late last month, SoluTech, Inc. and Nathan Pitruzello consented to a cease-and-desist order with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). From April 2018 through March 2019, SoluTech, a technology start-up...more
10/9/2020
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Division of Trading and Markets recently issued a no action letter to FINRA that may help to streamline the settlement of digital asset securities transactions by...more
U.S. Securities and Exchange (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce, referred to by some as “crypto mom” for her support for blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, was nominated on June 3, to serve a five-year term. Peirce is...more
With the world slowly coming out of the COVID-19 lock down and the economy hopefully on the path to recovery there have been many developments in the blockchain / crypto space over the last few weeks....more
5/19/2020
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
FinTech ,
Fraudulent Investment ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Stock Exchange ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
The CFTC recently filed a multi-million dollar fraud action charging three individuals and three companies with fraudulently soliciting tens of millions of customers and prospective customers to open and fund off-exchange...more
On April 28, 2020, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) published an in depth report related to Fintech, titled Fintech: Overview of Innovative Financial Technology and Selected Policy Issues....more
While most of the world was locked down, the preverbal shoe (litigation) finally dropped on Crypto companies that raised money through the sale of digital assets which are alleged to be illegal, unregistered securities...more
Strikeout for Bitcoin ETF -
Another ETF bites the dust. On February 26th the SEC rejected the application of NYSE Acre for the approval of an exchange traded fund sponsored by the New York firm of Wilshire Phoenix to...more
3/4/2020
/ Bitcoin ,
Bitcoin Mining ,
Celebrity Endorsements ,
CFTC ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commodities ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Instruments ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Transactions ,
GAO ,
Influencers ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Transfer ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
Digital assets and Blockchain technologies which were once described as the tools of criminals, are now a key part of efforts by traditional financial services firms to transform their businesses and innovative firms looking...more
1/3/2020
/ Accredited Investors ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Martin Act ,
No-Action Letters ,
Offerings ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sanctions ,
Securities Act ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Regulation ,
Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT) ,
Technology Sector ,
Token Sales ,
Transparency ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
This summary covers the last two weeks which includes news about continued enforcement actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) involving fraudulent digital asset transactions, dismissal of a securities...more
10/2/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ether ,
Extortion ,
FBI ,
Financial Transactions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Innovative Technology ,
Investment Adviser ,
Legal Opinion ,
Offerings ,
Popular ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rewards Programs ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Startups ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Brokers ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
This week saw two items of note in the regulation of digital assets and both came out of the state of New York.
The Return of the Empire State -
A New York State Supreme Court ruled that it has personal and subject...more
8/27/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Blue Sky Laws ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Currency Exchange ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Injunctions ,
IRS ,
Martin Act ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
NY Supreme Court ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
State and Local Government ,
State Attorneys General ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction ,
Tax Liability ,
Virtual Currency
The end of July saw continued regulatory activity in the digital assets space. This entry of BitBlog will cover some of the highlights.
1) The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) continues to dole out bits of...more
8/12/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinTech ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Mt.Gox ,
NYDFS ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
UK
On July 25, the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Division of Corporation Finance published a response to a no-action request submitted by Pocketful of Quarters, Inc. (“Pocketful of Quarters”)...more
As the summer continues to heat up so does the digital asset industry with two major developments.
The Libra announcement last month represented a milestone in the cryptocurrency industry....more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (“FinHub”) hosted an important public forum on Friday, May 31, 2019 at the SEC headquarters in Washington, D.C. ...more
6/21/2019
/ Capital Formation ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Innovation ,
Innovative Technology ,
Investment Management ,
Public Forum ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On January 22, 2019 FINRA, the self-regulatory organization for U.S. broker-dealers, released its “Risk Monitoring and Examination Priorities Letter” for 2019. A number of of FINRA’s hot topics for 2019 should be of interest...more
2/11/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
FinTech ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Market Manipulation ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales