The leaders of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Agencies”) issued a joint statement to remind persons engaged in...more
10/15/2019
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banks ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Compliance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
FinCEN ,
Joint Statements ,
Money Services Business ,
Mutual Funds ,
NFA ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Terrorism Funding
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...more
5/15/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Compliance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Services Business ,
Money Transmitter ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
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...more
1. Blockchain Games and Collectibles Are on the Rise – The use of blockchain (or distributed ledger) technology for games (a.k.a blockchain games) and token-based digital collectibles is on the rise. The overnight popularity...more
3/20/2019
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
FinCEN ,
Gambling ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Patent Applications ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Technology Sector ,
Token Sales ,
Video Games
Smart contracts, also referred to as chaincode in the Hyperledger world, are one of the most powerful aspects of blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). This “self-executing” code can receive various inputs and,...more
11/28/2018
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchanges ,
Smart Contracts ,
Technology Sector ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities
Blockchain is a revolutionary technology that has great potential to solve many of the fundamental challenges facing the music industry today. In fact, this technology is uniquely suited to address issues across the various...more
10/2/2018
/ Artists ,
Blockchain ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Ownership ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Privacy ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Licensing Rules ,
Music Industry ,
Patents ,
Risk Management ,
Royalties ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Technology Sector ,
Token Sales
Recently, there has been a frenzy of legal activity with U.S. gambling laws and the number of gambling-related legal issues with video games. U.S. gambling laws have changed more in the past few years than they have in a long...more
9/14/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Casinos ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
eSports ,
Fantasy Sports ,
Gambling ,
Game of Skill ,
Games of Chance ,
Internet ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Gaming ,
PASPA ,
Sports Betting ,
Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) ,
Video Games ,
Virtual Currency ,
Virtual Goods ,
Wire Act
The regulatory landscape surrounding cryptocurrency continues to evolve. Most of the activity to date has involved regulatory enforcement actions brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Commodity Futures...more
8/27/2018
/ CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fraud ,
Jurisdiction ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Popular ,
Standing ,
Virtual Currency
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has indicated that nearly all initial coin offering (“ICO”) filings they have seen are securities offerings. Based on this expansive view, it may be more likely to...more
8/24/2018
/ Accredited Investors ,
Blockchain ,
Class Action ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Form D Filing ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
Blockchain is a rapidly emerging technology and has the potential to bring transformative changes to many industries. As more companies become aware of and study this technology, many questions arise. These questions relate...more
8/22/2018
/ Biosimilars ,
Biotechnology ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Emerging Markets ,
Internet of Things ,
Life Sciences ,
Popular ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Smart Contracts ,
Supply Chain
The Major League Baseball Players Association (MBLPA) signed an exclusive deal with the crypto-collectibles startup, Player Tokens. This is believed to be the first professional athlete-based crypto-collectible offering. The...more
The SEC has been busy over the past couple of weeks addressing blockchain and crypto-related issues.
ETF Activity -
The SEC rejected, for a second time, a request by the Winklevoss brothers for a Bitcoin exchange-traded...more
Apple’s App Store Review Guidelines have been updated to address various aspects of crypto currency. Some of the relevant provisions include the following.
One of the provisions relates to prevents an app from including...more
7/13/2018
/ App Store ,
Apple ,
Banks ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Mining ,
Financial Institutions ,
Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Mobile Apps ,
Securities Exchanges ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Video Games ,
Virtual Currency
As we have previously reported, the number of blockchain patents being filed and granted is continuing to increase. According to a Thomson Reuters report, 225 out of the 406 blockchain patents (55.4%) filed in 2017 came from...more
5/23/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patent Applications ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Technology Sector ,
Token Sales ,
Video Games
The use of blockchain technology for crypto games and token-based digital collectibles is on the rise. One of the first crypto games of note was CryptoKitties. It may turn out that CryptoKitties becomes to crypto games what...more
5/11/2018
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
FinCEN ,
Gambling ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Money Transmitter ,
Patent Applications ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchanges ,
Technology Sector ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Video Games ,
Virtual Currency
As the number of blockchain-based patents and patent applications increases, more companies have become interested in pursuing these patents. Other companies still think that blockchain-based inventions are not patentable....more
4/2/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Divided Infringement ,
Ethereum ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Section 101 ,
Technology Sector ,
USPTO
Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are rapidly emerging as disruptive technologies. As has happened with many new technologies, particularly disruptive ones, a patent arms race is occurring. The number of patents...more
1/17/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Design Patent ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patent Applications ,
Patentability Search ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Supply Chain ,
Technology Sector ,
USPTO ,
Utility Patents
As the collective market cap of the cryptocurrencies has jump above $150 billion, traders and investors have accumulated significant gains. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the Internal Revenue Service is stepping...more