The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published official translations of its guidelines on the conditions and criteria for the qualification of cryptoassets as financial instruments under Article 2(5) of...more
This periodic bulletin is designed to help companies identify important legal developments governing the use and acceptance of blockchain technology, smart contracts, and digital assets. While the use cases for blockchain...more
Stablecoin, Wallet Products Launch; German Bank Launches Crypto Services - Circle, a global fintech firm and issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has announced new smart contract functionality to allow holders of BUIDL, a...more
On December 20th, 2023, the American Bar Association Tax Section published detailed comments and recommendations (the “ABA Comments”) on the proposed crypto broker reporting regulations. As discussed here, the New York State...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
While the blockchain universe continues to expand, the direction and pace of its development will continue to be influenced by a number of variables – including financial markets, regulatory environments and politics. While...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
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has introduced robust new rules for those marketing cryptoassets to UK consumers. In Policy Statement PS23/6, new requirements covering financial promotions for all firms aimed at...more
FTX filed its presentation to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (UCC), reporting that FTX has located about $5.5 billion of cash and other liquid assets but less than $1.8 billion of digital assets identified with...more
On January 20, SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce spoke before the Digital Assets at Duke Conference discussing cryptocurrency lessons for the future. In her remarks, Peirce discussed the current state of cryptocurrency,...more
Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention of Bitcoin in 2009 opened the door to rethinking the way value can be transferred and stored. However, crypto markets have long been considered by most analysts and attorneys as the “Wild West” of...more
On 14 September 2022, K2 Integrity hosted a webinar on considerations in the digital assets space. K2 Integrity Board Member Christopher Brummer and AML/CFT experts Mariano Federici and Alex Levitov discussed the current...more
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
The Regulation is part of the measures proposed by the European Commission aimed at ensuring that the EU embraces the digital revolution in the financial sector. As of today, 22 June 2022, the Regulation (EU) 2022/858 of...more
This week, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu gave remarks to the DC Blockchain Summit titled “Crypto: A Call to Reset and Recalibrate.” By speaking at the Blockchain Summit, Mr. Hsu may have gone into the...more
In the first part of this series of articles, we examined the progress of English law to shape and build an infrastructure to support the development of a secure and certain environment for investment in digital assets. We...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 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
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 Central Bank of Russia did another “shot” at the rights of cryptocurrency holders on July 19, 2021. The Bank issued an Information Letter No. IN-06-59 / 52 “On certain types of financial instruments” on this day. Now...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
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