The VASP Act defines “Virtual Assets” as digital representations of value that can be digitally traded or transferred and can be used for payment or investment purposes. Digital representations of fiat currencies (which is...more
What is the action cryptocurrency investors need to take immediately? What has changed, and why should any digital asset holder or investor pay attention to this game-changing development? Here is the short answer: If you...more
In recent years, the virtual asset industry has experienced exponential growth, bringing about innovations in digital payments, tokenisation and decentralised finance (Defi). While highly innovative, the volatile nature of...more
Crypto and Web3 Firms Announce Fintech Integrations - A major U.S. fintech firm recently announced a product integration with MoonPay, a Web3 infrastructure company, “that allows MoonPay users in the U.S. to seamlessly buy...more
On March 26, 2024, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) filed a complaint (the “Complaint”) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”) for injunctive and other relief against...more
Hong Kong regulators recently brought criminal enforcement actions against virtual asset trading platform JPEX and individuals associated with the platform. This case has become the first opportunity for local authorities to...more
On October 19, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dismissed its claims against Ripple Labs, Inc. (Ripple) executives Bradley Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen for allegedly aiding and abetting Ripple’s violations of...more
New ERC-4337 Smart Contract Standard Released to Enhance Wallet Security - According to reports, Ethereum has deployed a new feature known as “account abstraction,” which has been in development for two years and can “make...more
In a headline-grabbing action, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced on February 9 that it had instituted and settled an enforcement action against Kraken, a large crypto trading platform, in which it...more
It is no secret that over the last several years, there has been an exponential increase in the utilization of blockchain and digital assets. Crypto trading and lending platforms have grown rapidly and the total crypto market...more
On top of all the legal trouble for FTX’s founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (“SBF”), the company has also filed for bankruptcy and SBF has been ousted as CEO. John J. Ray III, an attorney and bankruptcy professional, has...more
In conjunction with the DOJ’s criminal indictment, the SEC brought civil charges against SBF. The SEC charged SBF with orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors in the FTX exchange (FTX Trading Ltd.). The SEC...more
Payments Firms Launch Crypto Products, New DeFi Price Indices Announced - A U.S. fintech company recently announced the launch of a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp, which facilitates fiat-to-crypto payments using “a customizable...more
Since at least 2016 the IRS has been ferreting out taxpayers who failed to report their taxable gains from cryptocurrency transactions by issuing John Doe summonses to crypto exchanges and dealers. A John Doe summons enables...more
Unlike the current prohibitive policies on the trading and dealing of cryptocurrencies in China, the Chinese government has taken a more pragmatic approach towards non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”). It considers NFTs to be...more
Cryptocurrency investors, who were already in the icy clutches of the so-called “crypto winter,” now have another reason to shiver. Insolvency issues are cropping up with some frequency among crypto companies, which is...more
In last week's Cabinet News and Views, we examined the U.S. regulators' approach to the digital asset space, with a focus on the assertion of jurisdiction by the CFTC, the SEC, prudential regulators, state executive and...more
Over the last five years, decentralized finance (DeFi), especially cryptocurrencies and other digital assets are a space that continues to grow at an exponential rate, not only for retail investors but also for private...more
In April, we continued to see a steady pace in the seriousness and frequency of crypto enforcement actions by state and federal law enforcement. (See our March 2022 Crypto Enforcement Actions Roundup blog here where we...more
While investors used to need to possess a certain level of tech-savviness to trade cryptocurrency, that is less and less the case these days. In recent years, many mainstream brokerage firms began to allow customers to buy...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently issued proposed amendments to the Securities Exchange Act (the “Exchange Act”) that would significantly broaden the definition of “exchange” for purposes of...more
On January 10, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) announced it settled charges in In re tZERO ATS, LLC, No. 93938 (SEC Order Jan. 10, 2022) (“Order”)....more
On January 3, 2022, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) entered an order charging Blockratize, Inc. (d/b/a Polymarket.com) (“Polymarket”) with offering off-exchange binary options contracts and failing to...more
With new types of digital assets and related business on the rise, federal authorities have been busy investigating. Recently, the SEC, FinCEN and the CFTC have imposed some notable settlements involving cryptocurrency...more
On Friday March 12, Bloomberg News reported that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) has opened an inquiry into Binance Holdings Ltd. (“Binance”) to investigate allegations that the exchange allowed US citizens...more