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
The Securities and Exchange Commission has confirmed that its X account “was compromised, and an unauthorized post was posted.” The SEC confirmed that it “has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin...more
Welcome to Debt Download, Goodwin's monthly newsletter covering what you need to know in the leveraged finance market. Are the debt capital markets this summer as hot as the weather? Read on to find out!...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
This article is the fifth in a multi-part series in which we explain how the SEC has structured its anti-cryptocurrency campaign, why the SEC has over-reached its regulatory authority in attacking the creators of digital...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
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
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
Developments continue at a frenetic pace in the crypto industry. Issues barely on the radar screen 18 months ago have come front and center in today’s headlines. Areas with relatively small market capitalizations a year ago...more
Gary Gensler, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), attracted a lot of attention following his remarks at the Aspen Security Forum earlier this month, asking Congress for more authority “to write rules for...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
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce continues to be one of the most vocal persons in leadership positions at federal regulators who are promoting innovation in digital currency and the blockchain....more
Many crypto entrepreneurs are seeking to build decentralized networks in which a token serves as a means of exchange on, or provides access to a function of the network. In the course of building out the network, they need...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a statement that seeks innovative proposals that would improve the secondary market structure for exchange listed equity securities that trade in lower volumes, or “thinly traded...more
BROKER-DEALER - SEC Proposes to Require Proposed NMS Plan Fee Amendments to Follow Public Notice, Comment and Approval Procedure - On October 1, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed an amendment to...more
SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce was awarded the nick name “Crypto Mom” by digital asset aficionados in a previous speech encouraging forward thinking by the SEC in the regulation of tokens and initial coin offerings....more
Technology evolves and events unfold at a dizzying pace in the blockchain world, but even by those standards this past week was tough to keep up with. Every day seemed to bring a new first for the industry...more
New Appointments to the SEC and CFTC Have Their Eyes on Virtual Currency - The U.S. Senate voted this week to confirm Dawn Stump (R) and Dan Berkovitz (D) as commissioners of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission...more
SEC Bars Perpetrator of Initial Coin Offering Fraud - On August 14, 2018, the SEC obtained permanent officer-and-director and penny stocks bars against David T. Laurance of Tomahawk Exploration LLC (“Tomahawk”), who...more
...Favoring cryptocurrency regulation is really something when you consider that slightly more than a decade ago in 2008, the creator of Bitcoin proposed the system for electronic transactions as one that didn’t “rely on...more
U.S. Developments - Regulatory Updates - CFTC Issues Customer Advisory Urging Public to Use Caution When Buying Virtual Currencies - On July 16, 2018, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) issued...more
Previously, the Bats BZX Exchange, Inc. filed a proposed rule change with the Commission, seeking to list and trade shares of the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust. The SEC Division of Trading and Markets disapproved the proposed rule...more
If you do not currently own Bitcoin, the odds are in the last few months you have thought about the merits (or lack thereof) of owning Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is a digital or virtual currency (commonly...more