On April 7, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced in a memorandum to all DOJ employees (the “Blanche Memorandum”) that the DOJ “will stop participating in regulation by prosecution” and “no longer pursue...more
On January 23, President Trump issued an EO, “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology.” The same day, the SEC published SAB 122 which rescinded the earlier staff interpretive guidance, SAB 121....more
On November 26, 2024, in a three-judge panel decision, Van Loon v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Court) reversed a Texas district court and held that immutable...more
12/4/2024
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) ,
Ethereum ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Personal Property ,
SDN List ,
Smart Contracts ,
Statutory Authority
On Aug. 7, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued its judgment in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ripple Labs, Inc., marking the end of district court- level proceedings in the highly...more
8/12/2024
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Pending Litigation ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Popular ,
Ripple ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Summary Judgment ,
Unregistered Securities
On July 13, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued its highly anticipated summary judgment decision in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) action against Ripple Labs, Inc....more
On May 1, 2023, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS or Department) issued a consent order (Consent Order), imposing a $1.2 million fine on bitFlyer USA, a cryptocurrency trading platform and custodial...more
5/17/2023
/ BitLicense ,
Compliance ,
Consent Order ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Licenses ,
Licensing Rules ,
NYDFS
Background and Scope -
The Assessment was drafted by Treasury’s Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes (“TFFC”), in consultation with multiple U.S. agencies, including the Departments of Homeland Security,...more
On October 11, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $29 million civil monetary penalty against Bittrex, a...more
10/25/2022
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Consent Order ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinCEN ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Statutory Violations
On Sept. 16, 2022, the White House released a Fact Sheet providing key findings and action items arising from the nine reports addressing digital assets that have been submitted to the president to date consistent with the...more
9/23/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Stability Board ,
Innovation ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
OECD ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
U.S. Treasury
Takeaways -
..U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, or Commission) Chair Gary Gensler reaffirmed his view that the “vast majority” of cryptocurrency tokens are securities, and recent agency enforcement actions...more
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) often involve two areas with known money laundering and terrorist financing risks: cryptocurrencies and high-value assets, like art. As detailed below, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial...more
Key Takeaways -
..SEC enforcement actions related to crypto and cyber are expected to significantly increase with the additional 20 staff assigned to the Division of Enforcement unit dedicated to these industries....more
On March 9, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets (EO) and the White House released a corresponding fact sheet summarizing related key policy objectives. As...more
In a speech before the Aspen Security Forum on August 3, 2021, Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) Chair Gary Gensler urged lawmakers to provide him with the power to police cryptocurrency trading,...more
The Telegram case is arguably the most important case of 2020 involving the legal classification of blockchain-based digital assets. Because it is often cost-prohibitive for companies to challenge the government in court, the...more
On Sept. 30, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) motion for summary judgment against Kik Interactive Inc. (Kik) and denied Kik’s...more
On July 9, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department (First Department) issued a significant decision in James v. iFinex that confirmed the broad authority of the New York State Attorney...more
As chief compliance officers prepare for their annual compliance reviews, they should familiarize themselves with the examination priorities letter the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued last month and other...more
Multiple Pilots Drive Momentum for Leveraging Blockchain in the Food Supply Chain - A major global technology company recently shared additional details about the Food Trust, a consortium consisting of 10 of the world’s...more
These days it seems that everybody is considering getting into the distributed ledger technology business causing the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the securities plaintiffs’ bar to take notice....more