$Trump, Crypto Stockpile, SAB 121, DeepSeek, Tornado Cash + More
Crypto in the Crosshairs: What Regulatory Themes Characterized 2020?
Cryptocurrency, Legitimate Uses, and Legal Issues
Episode 3 - The Freeman Law Project - Cryptocurrency Regulation and Taxation: A Brief Primer
Summer Enforcement Action Review; Raising Money in a Pandemic - Investment Management Roundtable Discussion
Investment Management and Private Funds Roundtable: TALF 2020 and PPP Update
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – FinTech initiatives
Theoretical No More: Blockchain Technology, Cryptocurrencies and the Tax, Legal and Business Implications
Stablecoin Initiatives Announced by Fintech Companies, DeFi Protocols - Major U.S. payments firm recently announced plans to enable “disbursement partners” to use the PYUSD stablecoin to settle cross-border money...more
U.S. Fintech Firm Launches Stablecoin; Circle Launches ‘Programmable Wallets’ - A major U.S. fintech and payments firm recently announced the launch of a U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin, PYUSD. According to a press...more
In his famous 2018 speech, William Hinman, Digital Asset Transactions: When Howey Met Gary (Plastic), the Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), asked...more
In the intersection of financial markets and the internet, sometimes it seems like the only certainty in the year of cryptocurrency and “meme stocks,” like GameStop and AMC, is the continuing legal haze of cryptocurrencies....more
This issue discusses a variety of legal, regulatory and enforcement developments in the digital asset space in the U.S. and Europe....more
One driver for the first widely adopted cryptocurrency Bitcoin was to create a store of value that existed outside of government control. It is therefore no surprise that attempts to regulate the rapidly developing crypto...more
Agent Smith in the Matrix described humans as a “virus. A disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we are the cure.” While not alleging all human beings are a virus, the U.S. government views John McAfee, the...more
A government inquiry can result in serious consequences for a company or individual. Our new podcast series, Voluntary Disclosure—brought to you by the lawyers in our investigations, enforcement, and white collar practice—is...more
Steven Seagal just learned the hard way that, unlike the title of his 1988 police action movie, he is not Above the Law. Unfortunately for the prolific action movie star, the SEC took notice of his recent actions and was Out...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
Hollywood martial arts sensei Steven Seagal was recently karate-chopped by the SEC for his alleged undisclosed payments for Twitter-touting a security that was being offered and sold in an initial coin offering. In a settled...more
It was a year filled with tantalizing tidbits and many loose ends. 2019 marked the 10th year since blockchain technology was released into the wild by its still unknown inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto, who mined the first bitcoin...more
Digital assets and Blockchain technologies which were once described as the tools of criminals, are now a key part of efforts by traditional financial services firms to transform their businesses and innovative firms looking...more
Ethereum Fork Implemented, Exchanges Expand Services, New Bitcoin Network Data - The Ethereum network’s Istanbul hard fork went forward late last week with the support of node operators, miners and cryptocurrency exchanges. ...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
This BitBlog summary focuses on the continuing actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) against the issuers of noncompliant initial coin offerings (“ICOs”) and other crypto related transactions including...more
This summary covers the last two weeks which includes news about continued enforcement actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) involving fraudulent digital asset transactions, dismissal of a securities...more
The Polsinelli BitBlog Weekly Update begins with the U.S. Securities and Exchange (“SEC”) settlement with an issuer of securities, who managed to both illegally offer securities, and create an unlicensed exchange to trade...more
A clearing organization for futures and securities was sanctioned US $20 million in aggregate by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly not having and following...more
Two food giants agreed to resolve charges brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that they manipulated or attempted to manipulate prices of the Chicago Board of Trade’s December 2011 wheat futures contract and...more
Last week a Canada-based social media company answered charges filed against it by the Securities and Exchange Commission in June 2019 that alleged its 2017 initial sale of digital tokens constituted an unlawful securities...more
U.S. Developments - SEC Sues Social Media Company Kik over Digital Coin Offering - The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) sued Kik Interactive Inc. (“Kik”) in federal court in Manhattan this week, arguing that...more
U.S. Developments - Regulatory Updates - SEC Commissioner Peirce Says Guidance on Crypto Token Sales Is Coming - In a speech at the University of Missouri School of Law, Hester Peirce, one of the SEC’s commissioners,...more
DFS Issues New BitLicenses, Corda Gains Integration Partners, New Stablecoin Launched - Late last week, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) granted the DFS BitLicense to Robinhood Crypto LLC and Moon...more
In an enforcement action filed on November 8, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered that 31-year-old Zachary Coburn, founder of the EtherDelta cryptocurrency exchange, cease and desist from operating the...more