While the nation was preoccupied with the significant developments in the Presidential race, advocates and promoters of the blockchain ecosystem were particularly attentive to the news, given the perception that the current...more
Commissioner Uyeda spoke at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s 30th Annual Institute for Securities Market Growth and Development. Commissioner Uyeda focused on the need to root out bad actors and promote transparent...more
On January 16th, the IRS published Announcement 2024-4 (the “Announcement”), postponing certain reporting requirements for large crypto transactions which were set to go into effect for the 2024 tax year. Persons engaged in...more
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) published its annual Risk Review this past Monday, providing an overview of banking conditions for 2022 through early 2023. The FDIC started providing Risk Reviews to the...more
The Blockchain Bi-Weekly presented by the Polsinelli Blockchain+ team is a rundown of some of the key stories in the Web3, blockchain and crypto ecosystems curated by our attorneys navigating the intersections of code, smart...more
On 15 May 2023, Law no. 52 of 10 May 2023, converting the Law Decree no. 25/2023 (DFIL) concerning the issuance and transfer of digital financial instruments into law, was published in the Italian Official Gazette and entered...more
Key Takeaways - According to sources with firsthand knowledge, the SEC is conducting an industry-wide inquiry into alleged insider trading activities of cryptocurrency exchanges. Insider trading occurs when a corporate...more
On June 7, 2022, U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act (the “Act”), a comprehensive legislative scheme for the regulation of...more
On January 3, 2009, the pseudonymous “Satoshi Nakamoto” mined the first bitcoin. In the years following bitcoin’s creation, the price of a single bitcoin has increased exponentially, from essentially zero to an all-time high...more
California's governor issued an executive order requiring state agencies, led by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, to create a "transparent" regulatory framework for blockchain technologies and digital...more
The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance ("MEF") issued a new decree ("Decree") requiring that virtual asset/currency service providers promptly enroll in a soon-to-be established special section of the register held by...more
The battle over blockchain technology and digital assets bears a striking resemblance to the debate over the potential of the internet in the mid-1990s. Where critics see a passing fad with little actual utility or a lawless...more
We’ve previously written about the push for greater regulation of digital currency and a growing number of lawsuits targeting cryptocurrency companies and their celebrity endorsers. Notwithstanding cryptocurrencies’...more
On 19 January 2022, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a consultation paper (CP22/2) (the “Consultation”) setting out its proposals to strengthen its financial promotion rules for high-risk investments...more
A recent study found that 16 percent of Americans have invested in, traded or used cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether. This widespread use, coupled with the cryptocurrency industry having limited to no regulatory...more
Don’t Expect Coherent Rules to Align Any Time Soon - Multiple enforcement agencies within the US government agree that the $2.5 trillion crypto industry needs regulation. And heads of the largest crypto companies have told...more
Danger signs abound - Despite its volatile and speculative nature, a single bitcoin is trading at around $61,134 (11/5/21.) Demand is growing exponentially, despite multiple danger signs. ...more
The digital asset industry has now met the regulatory state. Those interested in building digital asset businesses that operate in the United States thus need to be aware of a vital tool for resisting regulatory overreach by...more
The interagency "policy sprints" are designed to give banks guidance on how to navigate crypto-assets moving forward. On November 23, 2021, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance...more
Whether a cryptocurrency product is a security is an issue with serious regulatory consequences. In recent years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has taken a broad position that various crypto assets are...more
In a recent article, SEC Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw encouraged decentralized finance (DeFi) participants to voluntarily comply with securities law regulations, in particular those governing risk disclosure, warning...more
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
The California Department of Financial Protection is warning consumers that "companies that may be engaging in unlicensed activity and/or falsely advertising cryptocurrency products and services"...more
The People’s Bank of China (“PBOC”) announced this morning that it is banning crypto currencies and related services, including “trading, order matching, token issuance and derivatives for virtual currencies are strictly...more
On Sept. 14, Gary Gensler, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, testified before the Senate Banking Committee that the agency has authority using the existing, “broad” definition of a “security” to regulate the...more