After years of regulatory uncertainty, the Trump administration has signaled a new approach to digital assets, including by establishing a working group focused on digital assets and nominating crypto-friendly chairs to the...more
5/6/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
FinTech ,
NYDFS ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Attorneys General ,
Technology
On 5 February 2025, Skadden hosted a series of panel discussions looking at the evolving EU, UK and US crypto-asset landscape... The discussion explored how market participants and investors can best anticipate and prepare...more
2/13/2025
/ AML/CFT ,
Blockchain ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
EU ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinTech ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sanctions ,
UK
President Trump has taken the first steps toward fulfilling his promise to reverse the Biden administration’s approach to digital assets by issuing an executive order that establishes a framework for fostering the growth of...more
2/10/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Revocation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration
Key Points -
- A Republican president and Congress are expected to be more supportive of digital assets than the current administration.
- There is a reasonable chance that legislation creating a regulatory framework...more
1/15/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Capital Markets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Federal Bank Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration
SEC Wins Summary Judgment on Howey Issue in Terraform Litigation -
On December 28, 2023, Judge Jed Rakoff in the Southern District of New York issued a summary judgment decision in SEC v. Terraform Labs Pte. Ltd., a...more
Hong Kong regulators recently brought criminal enforcement actions against virtual asset trading platform JPEX and individuals associated with the platform. This case has become the first opportunity for local authorities to...more
11/16/2023
/ AML/CFT ,
Compensation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Derivatives ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Futures ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Internal Controls ,
Investors ,
Jurisdiction ,
Know Your Customers ,
Licensing Rules ,
Misleading Statements ,
New Regulations ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities ,
Stablecoins ,
Stock Trades ,
Trading Platforms
On September 7, 2023, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued three enforcement settlement orders against developers of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. The orders charge Opyn, Inc., Deridex, Inc., and...more
Two recent indictments highlight the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) continuing use of the traditional wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft statutes to pursue fraud involving digital assets, indicating that law...more
8/1/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Crimes ,
Fraud ,
Identity Theft ,
Money Laundering ,
Popular ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud
On July 13, 2023, Judge Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a much-awaited summary judgment decision in SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc., No. 1:20-cv-10832-AT-SN (S.D.N.Y. July 13, 2023),...more
7/18/2023
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ripple ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unregistered Securities
On March 9, 2023, the New York State Attorney General’s Office (NYAG) filed a lawsuit charging crypto trading platform KuCoin for “failing to register as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and falsely representing...more
3/14/2023
/ Blockchain ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Commodities ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Ethereum ,
Investment Adviser ,
New York ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Attorneys General ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unregistered Brokers ,
White Collar Crimes
On February 7, 2023, Ishan Wahi (Ishan), a former Coinbase product manager, pled guilty to wire fraud charges in an indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY)....more
Over the last few years, there has been increasing debate surrounding the appropriate trademark classification for digital assets. The most recent edition of the Nice Classification (the 12th Edition), which took effect on...more
On November 7, 2022, Judge Paul Barbadoro of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire issued an order in SEC v. LBRY, Inc., granting the SEC’s motion for summary judgment against LBRY Inc. (LBRY). The court...more
Over the last few years, stakeholders in the digital asset space have questioned how digital assets should be treated for purposes of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), a comprehensive body of laws relating to commercial...more
On September 16, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Department of Justice released four much-anticipated reports on different aspects of cryptoasset regulation. They confirm the Biden administration’s broad but...more
9/29/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Blockchain ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
U.S. Treasury
Takeaways Many businesses are exploring NFTs as a way to capitalize on intellectual property and reinforce relationships with fans and customers. Those weighing whether to “mint” NFTs need to look closely at existing...more
On September 8, 2022, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued its report on the impact of distributed ledger technology on climate change and U.S. environmental policy, as directed under President Biden’s...more
A flurry of legal and enforcement activity has arisen over the last two weeks across a wide range of areas in the Web3 space, including actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of Foreign Assets Control,...more
8/25/2022
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
FDIC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Virtual Currency
On July 21, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) each brought insider trading charges against a former Coinbase product manager, his brother and a close friend for using...more
7/27/2022
/ CFTC ,
Coinbase ,
Confidential Information ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Recent guidance from the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) and a proposed bill in the U.S. Senate portend more regulatory and legislative activity to clarify the status of and requirements for stablecoin...more
The recent indictment of an employee of OpenSea, a prominent NFT marketplace, highlights the risk of trading digital assets based on the improper use of confidential information, even where the digital asset is not a...more
In recent years, innovation in the blockchain or “Web3” space has been impacted by uncertainty on the regulatory front. Undoubtedly, the greatest area of uncertainty has involved the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and...more
On April 6, 2022, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, and an advocate for clarity in cryptocurrency regulations, released a discussion draft of legislation that would provide a...more
The Web3 community has long expressed frustration at the lack of clarity emanating from the SEC regarding the treatment of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets under current securities laws, with many characterizing the...more
As the digital asset sector has exploded in recent years, there has been growing frustration in the U.S. at the lack of clarity on the application of existing laws to this new ecosystem and a perceived lack of coordination...more