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
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
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 September 15, 2022, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (the “Ag. Committee”) held a hearing to discuss Senate Bill 4760, titled the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act of 2022 (the “Bill”)...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
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
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 Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has renamed and expanded a unit within its Division of Enforcement to address protection of investors in crypto markets. The “Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit,” which also has...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
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
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
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 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
Tokenization - Tokenization limits the exposure of sensitive information and makes digital transactions more secure. Whether people realize it or not, millions of Americans already use tokenization technology on a daily...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
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
The Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA) recently submitted a bill to the National Diet of Japan including certain amendments to finance-related laws for purposes of strengthening Japan’s financial system and financial...more
Members of the US Congress announced on December 2 the proposal of a new consumer protection bill to increase the oversight and regulation of existing stablecoin issuers, potential stablecoin issuers, and stablecoin-related...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
While there are many challenges associated with the prospective LIBOR transition at the end of 2021, one of the most daunting challenges has to be the impact of the prospective transition on outstanding financings and other...more
The Situation: Following the enactment earlier in 2019 of new French legislation to regulate activities related to digital assets (including cryptocurrency but excluding tokenized securities), final regulatory provisions were...more
The SEC Division of Enforcement’s 2019 Annual Report, released earlier this month, shows a continuing focus on activities involving blockchain and cryptocurrency, and its website shows an increase in cases since last fiscal...more