Category Archives: Regulatory

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New York’s Superintendent of Financial Services Addresses BitLicense Delays

Photo of Sarah AbergPhoto of Gabriel KhouryBy Sarah Aberg and Gabriel Khoury on Posted in Cryptocurrency, Regulatory
This January, Adrienne A. Harris was confirmed as superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services, which administers New York’s BitLicense program, among others.  In a March 28 interview, Harris discussed the BitLicense program in detail and addressed some of its longstanding issues, including its slow response times to applicants and updating some of the … Continue Reading

Uniswap and VC Backers Sued For Selling Unregistered Securities

Photo of James GattoBy James Gatto on Posted in Regulatory, SEC
A recent class-action lawsuit alleges that the “Uniswap Protocol” exchange is one of the largest crypto-asset exchanges in the world, which permits the  unlawful promotion, offer, and sale of crypto tokens as unregistered securities. According to the complaint, Uniswap has no barriers to entry for users looking to trade or swap crypto tokens on the … Continue Reading

When Does Cryptocurrency Mining Create a Taxable Event? IRS Does Not Clarify

Photo of James GattoPhoto of Sarah AbergPhoto of Gabriel KhouryBy James Gatto, Sarah Aberg and Gabriel Khoury on Posted in Regulatory, Virtual Currency
A couple rejected a refund settlement offer from the IRS over its tax treatment of tokens they earned from mining. Instead, the couple has sought formal adjudication on the issue from the federal courts. The government has filed a motion to dismiss claiming the issue is moot. The relevant issue is whether tax is due … Continue Reading

FinCEN Announces Intention to Require FBAR Reporting of Crypto Currency

Photo of James GattoBy James Gatto on Posted in Cryptocurrency, FinCEN, Regulatory
FinCEN has issued a notice that it intends to amend the regulations implementing the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) regarding reports of foreign financial accounts (FBAR) to include virtual currency as a type of reportable account under 31 CFR 1010.350. Currently, the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) regulations do not define a foreign … Continue Reading

Regulatory Approaches to the Tokenisation of Assets

Photo of James GattoBy James Gatto on Posted in Blockchain, Digital Assets, Regulatory
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published a report on Regulatory Approaches to the Tokenisation of Assets (Jan. 2021).  The report notes that: “Policy makers in different jurisdictions have approached tokenisation in different ways, either by applying existing financial regulations to tokenised assets; by introducing new tailor-made regulatory frameworks or by adapting existing … Continue Reading

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Affirms Authority of a National Bank to Provide Cryptocurrency Custody Services

Photo of Shane KilleenPhoto of Sarah AbergBy Shane Killeen and Sarah Aberg on Posted in CryptoAssets, Cryptocurrency, FinCEN, Regulatory, Virtual Currency
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) recently signaled its approval for banks to fully wade into the cryptocurrency custodian space.  On in a July 22, 2020 interpretive letter, the OCC concluded that a national bank may provide cryptocurrency custody services on behalf of its customers, including by holding the unique cryptographic keys … Continue Reading

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement – Paving the Way for a Cross-Border Fintech Sandbox

Photo of Emilio CazaresPhoto of Curtis DombekBy Emilio Cazares and Curtis Dombek on Posted in Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, FinCEN, Regulatory, Virtual Currency
Key Takeaways The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) provides for financial and digital trade regulations that harmonize the treatment of fintech companies. North American companies leveraging digital assets for payments should consider strategic regional opportunities available under the new USMCA fintech Framework. The USMCA Parties (member countries) continue to license fintech companies using cryptocurrency and create … Continue Reading

FinCEN – We Will Identify Where Compliance Is Not Taking Place And Take Appropriate Action

Photo of James GattoBy James Gatto on Posted in Bitcoin, Blockchain, CryptoAssets, Cryptocurrency, FinCEN, Initial Coin Offerings, Regulatory, Virtual Currency
Last week we reported that FinCEN had issued new guidance addressing cryptocurrency and other convertible virtual currency. The need for compliance was reinforced this week. In a speech by Sigal Mandelker, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, during blockchain week in NY, a stern warning was issued. The message was clear. Regulatory compliance is … Continue Reading

FinCEN Updates Guidance on Crypto

Photo of James GattoBy James Gatto on Posted in Bitcoin, Blockchain, CryptoAssets, Cryptocurrency, FinCEN, Initial Coin Offerings, Regulatory, Virtual Currency
FinCEN has issued  2 new guidance documents addressing cryptocurrency and other convertible virtual currency (CVC). The guidance does not establish any new regulatory expectations. Rather, it consolidates current FinCEN regulations, guidance and administrative rulings that relate to money transmission involving virtual currency, and applies the same interpretive criteria to other common business models involving CVC. … Continue Reading

New Effort to Exempt Crypto Currency from Certain SEC, Tax and Other Regulatory Burdens

Photo of James GattoBy James Gatto on Posted in Cryptocurrency, Regulatory, SEC
A new bill, the Token Taxonomy Act was introduced to congress to amend the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to exclude digital tokens from the definition of a security, to direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to enact certain regulatory changes regarding digital units secured through public key cryptography, … Continue Reading

Considering Blockchain In The Electricity Industry

Photo of James GattoPhoto of Mark SundbackPhoto of Kenneth WisemanPhoto of Andrew MinaPhoto of Mark PatrickPhoto of William RappoltBy James Gatto, Mark Sundback, Kenneth Wiseman, Andrew Mina, Mark Patrick and William Rappolt on Posted in Blockchain, Regulatory
A version of this article originally appeared on Law360 on November 7, 2018. Blockchain technology and smart contracts have the potential to become major disrupters in the energy industry. For example, these technologies may accelerate the automation of some or all aspects of the electricity delivery transaction chain and allow for more decentralized, efficient electricity … Continue Reading

Crypto Firms Make Inroads with State and Federal Regulators

Photo of Jeff KernPhoto of Christopher BoschBy Jeff Kern and Christopher Bosch on Posted in Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Regulatory
Over the past couple of years, the crypto industry has come under heavy scrutiny from skeptical regulators seeking to root out fraud and protect investors amid the initial coin offering boom that generated over $4 billion in 2017. However, this skepticism is starting to give way to a more business-friendly attitude. Crypto firms have made … Continue Reading

Airdrop of Crypto Tokens Hits Regulatory Flak

Photo of Robert Wernli, Jr.Photo of Robert WeberPhoto of Osama KhanBy Robert Wernli, Jr., Robert Weber and Osama Khan on Posted in Cryptocurrency, Initial Coin Offerings, Regulatory, SEC
On August 14, 2018, the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a cease and desist order (the “Tomahawk Order”) against Tomahawk Exploration LLC (“Tomahawk”) and David Thompson Laurance (“Laurance”) for their actions in connection with an initial coin offering of digital assets called “Tomahawkcoins” or “TOM” (the “Tomahawk ICO”). Tomahawk and Laurance’s actions were … Continue Reading

New York’s AG Enters the Cryptocurrency Ring as Federal, State Authorities Find Regulatory Footing

Photo of Jeff KernPhoto of Christopher BoschBy Jeff Kern and Christopher Bosch on Posted in Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Regulatory
On April 17, 2018, the New York State Attorney General (“NYAG”) sent a “Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative Questionnaire” to 13 companies operating virtual currency trading platforms. The questionnaire consists of 34 questions covering a number of topics, including ownership and control, operation and fees, trading policies and procedures, outages and other suspensions of trading, internal … Continue Reading
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