On April 24, the Federal Reserve withdrew its prior guidance for banks related to their crypto-asset and dollar token activities and also announced related changes to its expectations for these activities....more
5/23/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
OCC ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On April 7, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced in a memorandum to all DOJ employees (the “Blanche Memorandum”) that the DOJ “will stop participating in regulation by prosecution” and “no longer pursue...more
On January 23, President Trump issued an EO, “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology.” The same day, the SEC published SAB 122 which rescinded the earlier staff interpretive guidance, SAB 121....more
On Aug. 7, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued its judgment in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ripple Labs, Inc., marking the end of district court- level proceedings in the highly...more
8/12/2024
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Pending Litigation ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Popular ,
Ripple ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Summary Judgment ,
Unregistered Securities
Crypto Firms Announce Initiatives in Payments, Mining, DAOs and More -
Recent reports provided details on new developments across the cryptocurrency market...more
Financial Services Firms Expand Cryptocurrency Custody Services -
According to recent reports, the cryptocurrency custody arm of a major international bank has launched its institutional cryptocurrency custody services in...more
9/18/2023
/ Blockchain ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFTC ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FBI ,
Hackers ,
IOSCO ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Ripple ,
Scams ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Theft ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wash Trades
SWIFT Publishes Blockchain Pilot Findings; Firms Announce USDC Integrations -
According to a recent press release, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift) recently published a report with...more
9/11/2023
/ Accounting Standards ,
AML/CFT ,
Asia Pacific ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Fair Market Value ,
FASB ,
FATF ,
Financial Stability Board ,
Hong Kong ,
Information Reports ,
International Monetary Fund ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Join BakerHostetler for our series of Fireside Chats about the latest developments impacting the capital markets and their participants, and the blockchain industry....more
7/12/2023
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Blockchain ,
Capital Markets ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement ,
Popular ,
SEC Commissioner ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Webinars
On May 3, 2023, a jury found Nathaniel Chastain, a former manager of OpenSea (a major NFT marketplace), guilty of wire fraud and money laundering in connection with his attempts to conceal his use of confidential business...more
5/25/2023
/ Commodities ,
Confidential Information ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Digital Assets ,
Fraud ,
Insider Trading ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Misappropriation ,
Money Laundering ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities ,
Wire Act ,
Wire Fraud
Background and Scope -
The Assessment was drafted by Treasury’s Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes (“TFFC”), in consultation with multiple U.S. agencies, including the Departments of Homeland Security,...more
Dapper Labs was founded in 2018 shortly after the debut of its first NFT collection, “CryptoKitties,” which was so successful it created a bottleneck of transactions on the decentralized Ethereum Network. Seeking faster...more
3/7/2023
/ Blockchain ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Ethereum ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Securities ,
Securities Act of 1933
Two congressional committees of the U.S. House of Representatives commenced the new year by announcing the creation of new subcommittees for the 118th Congress that are expected to analyze issues concerning cryptocurrency and...more
Reports Address Crypto Ownership, Stablecoins and Dapp Adoption -
Recent reports provide new data on various areas of the digital asset market. In one report, a survey published by a cryptocurrency trading platform found...more
1/30/2023
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
FBI ,
Hackers ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
NYDFS ,
Request For Information ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins
Paper Explores Benefits of DeFi for FX; Australian Bank Launches Stablecoin -
A recent industry paper found that DeFi can reduce costs and enhance transparency in foreign exchange (FX) markets. The paper concludes that...more
1/23/2023
/ Blockchain ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinCEN ,
Online Platforms ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins
New Data Published on 2022 Crypto Exchange Trading Volume, NFT Royalties -
According to recent reports, Binance, currently the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, controlled 92 percent of global...more
1/16/2023
/ CFTC ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data-Sharing ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Royalties
New Research and Surveys Address CBDCs, Institutional Crypto Investment -
Staff from the board of governors of the U.S. central bank recently published a research paper addressing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)....more
12/5/2022
/ Banking Sector ,
Bitcoin Mining ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Collection ,
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Wallets ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Fraud ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Money Laundering ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
USPTO
New Crypto Products Launch; Singapore Completes DeFi Pilot with Major Banks -
In a press release published this week, a major U.S. cross-border payments and money transfer company announced a new service in its existing...more
11/7/2022
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Ethereum ,
Hackers ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Risk Management ,
Royalties
Key Takeaways -
..In June 2022, the DOJ issued a Report recommending increased cooperation amongst international law enforcement to combat crimes involving digital assets.
..The Report identified characteristics...more
6/30/2022
/ Banking Sector ,
Biden Administration ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Cross-Border ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Executive Orders ,
FATF ,
Information Reports ,
Law Enforcement
On June 7, Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced S. 4356, the Responsible Financial Innovation Act (Lummis-Gillibrand Bill). If enacted, the legislation would create a regulatory framework...more
New Cryptocurrency Payments Systems, Tokens and Trade Associations Launch -
A leading global cryptocurrency platform has reportedly announced a partnership with a global e-commerce platform that would allow e-commerce...more
6/6/2022
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
European Central Bank ,
Financial Stability Board ,
FinTech ,
Fraud ,
G7 ,
Insider Trading ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Risk Mitigation ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Virtual Currency
Sports Teams and Messaging Apps Go All-In on NFTs, Potential Hack
Foiled -
A major U.S. football team has reportedly inked a lucrative sponsorship deal with a popular digital asset platform. According to reports, the...more
4/18/2022
/ ATMs ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinTech ,
Hackers ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda
On March 9, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets (EO) and the White House released a corresponding fact sheet summarizing related key policy objectives. As...more
Key Takeaways -
..The court denied Ripple’s senior executives’ motions to dismiss, finding that the SEC had met its pleading burden.
..The court also denied the SEC’s motion to strike Ripple’s fair-notice affirmative...more
Traditional Financial Firms Expand Reach into Cryptocurrency Sphere -
Early this week, a major investment bank announced that it plans to launch a digital asset custody platform later this year. This announcement follows...more
3/7/2022
/ Charitable Donations ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Donations ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
FATF ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Ukraine
Financial Services Firms Make Moves Targeting Cryptocurrency Markets -
A major U.K.-based stock exchange recently announced plans to acquire a provider of cloud-based technology, including order and execution management...more