On March 28, 2025, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued guidance on state nonmember bank and state savings association participation in certain cryptocurrency activities (“FIL-7-2025”). ...more
4/9/2025
/ Banks ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Products ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Stablecoins
Joe Castelluccio and Matt Bisanz interview Mark Quandahl, the former Director of the Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance. They discuss his role in the implementation of the Nebraska Financial Innovation Act, including...more
4/1/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Depository Institutions ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Reform
On March 20, 2025, the SEC’s Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the “Division”) issued a statement providing its views that crypto mining activities (as defined in its statement) do not involve the offer and sale...more
On March 13, 2025, the US Senate Banking Committee passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act of 2025 or “GENIUS Act,” out of committee by a vote of 18-6....more
3/20/2025
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Stablecoins ,
U.S. Treasury
On March 7, 2025, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued guidance on national bank and federal savings association participation in certain cryptocurrency activities (“IL 1183”). This guidance is the...more
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BANKS, FINANCIAL SERVICES AND THE DIGITAL ASSETS SECTOR -
Just four days after his inauguration, President Donald Trump has initiated a fundamental shift in federal policy on digital assets with a...more
1/27/2025
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins ,
Trump Administration
On November 26, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a landmark decision holding that the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) exceeded its statutory authority by...more
The outcome of the US presidential election this month, coupled with the prospect of a crypto-friendly president and Congress, have unleashed a torrent of enthusiasm that has been building throughout the crypto sector this...more
On October 22, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized a rulemaking on Personal Financial Data Rights (the “Final Rule”). The Final Rule is intended to accelerate a shift towards open banking in the...more
11/6/2024
/ Banks ,
Consumer Data Requests ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Management ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Open Banking ,
Popular
The 2024 presidential election in the United States is, without question, the country's first ‘crypto’ election.
...more
On September 17, 2024, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) proposed extensive new recordkeeping requirements and other compliance obligations (the “Proposal” ) for certain types of deposit accounts frequently...more
On May 22, 2024, the US House of Representatives passed H.R. 4763, the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), which would amend existing securities and commodity regulatory statutes to...more
6/4/2024
/ CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Investment ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stablecoins
On May 23, 2024, the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets (the “SEC”) approved rule changes (so-called “19b-4 forms”) permitting the listing and trading of eight separate...more
As applications and use cases for digital assets and their blockchain infrastructure grow and become more sophisticated, investments and valuations for businesses in these areas have grown as well. The growing number of...more
5/23/2024
/ Blockchain ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Security ,
Digital Assets ,
Information Technology ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Investment ,
Risk Management
Asset managers who invest in crypto assets are expanding their footprint as managers of capital for investors. Investors are increasingly seeking out asset managers that have expertise in crypto assets. Likewise, crypto asset...more
Token holders for three different decentralized protocols have recently proposed a first-of-its-kind merger of tokens that would create an “Artificial Superintelligence Alliance” (“Alliance”) with a single token and a new,...more
Climate disclosure regulations are among the most significant and complex challenges faced by companies and boards, with a variety of requirements emanating from numerous governmental authorities and non-governmental...more
Executive Summary-
Climate disclosure regulations are among the most significant and complex challenges faced by companies and boards, with a variety of requirements emanating from numerous governmental authorities and...more
The renewable energy and climate/clean technology sectors have witnessed substantial growth and investment in recent years, spurred by accelerating energy transition initiatives and financial incentives passed into law. As...more
While the blockchain universe continues to expand, the direction and pace of its development will continue to be influenced by a number of variables – including financial markets, regulatory environments and politics. While...more
In a published settlement of the charges on August 28, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) stated that non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) issued by Impact Theory, LLC (“Impact”) were “securities” under US...more
9/5/2023
/ Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethereum ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Offerings ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Securities Violations ,
Unregistered Securities
Just weeks after the novel securities analysis in SEC v. Ripple Labs was handed down by Judge Analisa Torres, a different judge in the Southern District of New York has distinguished the approach taken in Ripple and argued...more
For the past several years, many have viewed “SEC v. Ripple” as one of the defining conflicts in the US crypto regulatory landscape. At the heart of this dispute is the question of whether digital tokens are “securities” for...more
7/24/2023
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Ripple ,
Securities Regulation ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities
On December 15, 2022, the New York Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) issued guidance clarifying that all New York banking organizations are required to obtain prior agency approval for virtual currency-related...more
On October 4, 2022, the US Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) released its Report on Digital Asset Financial Stability Risks and Regulation (FSOC Report). The report is the latest in a series of reports issued...more