Crypto & Politics: Insights from Former Congressman David McIntosh
Podcast - Cracking Down on Carbon Markets: CFTC and FTC Exercise Heightened Scrutiny
How Technology Has Transformed Today’s Agriculture Commodities Market
Risky Business: Effective Commodity Risk Management
A Discussion on Environmental Commodities with Bill Flederbach, President and CEO at ClimeCo
JONES DAY TALKS®: CFTC and DOJ Target Derivatives Trading Across Industries
A Look Ahead at the Biden Administration’s Regulatory and Enforcement Priorities
Path Forward: Borrowing Base Redeterminations In A Restructuring World
Episode 3 - The Freeman Law Project - Cryptocurrency Regulation and Taxation: A Brief Primer
Regulation 2013: Dodd-Frank Position Limits, CFTC Reuthorization, Regulatory Harmonization
After many iterations over the years attempting to regulate the cryptocurrency space, the House of Representatives passed the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, or FIT21 Act, on May 22, 20241. The...more
FIT21 would provide regulatory certainty for the US digital asset ecosystem, balancing support for innovation with consumer protection....more
On September 7, 2023, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced the settlement of three separate enforcement actions in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space: namely, concerning the Opyn protocol and its...more
On September 22, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) asserted its jurisdiction over a decentralized autonomous organization (“DAO”) and its founders, signaling for the industry that even an unincorporated...more
Policymakers introduced bipartisan legislation in the Senate on June 7 seeking to provide a comprehensive regulatory framework for cryptocurrency in the United States. The drafters of the legislation tout it as the first...more
Our fifth episode provides an overview of the key legal issues facing cryptocurrencies and blockchain in the U.S....more
President Franklin D. Roosevelt once noted: “The only thing to fear is fear itself ... ” Apparently, some in the federal government no longer share this belief. In a recent Investor Bulletin[2] (“Bulletin”), the Securities...more
On March 24, 2020, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the Commission or the CFTC) finalized long-awaited interpretive guidance regarding what constitutes the “actual delivery” of a digital asset in the context of...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has approved final interpretative guidance on retail commodity transactions involving certain digital assets, clarifying the agency's views in respect of the "actual delivery"...more
When is a digital asset a security or a commodity? Are SAFTs safe? Does hyping blockchain create an expectation of profit? Is blockchain a trademark, trade secret or neither? Are free tokens tax-free? Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?...more
Developing a framework for consumer tokens - With the rapid growth in the development of blockchain technology, virtual currencies and token sales (sometimes referred to as initial coin offerings, or ICOs), token...more
Crypto currency began with the notion of getting “off the grid” – escaping the regulators and not being regulated. Over time that notion has transmuted. Now platforms trading crypto assets proclaim that the “revolution needs...more
In remarks made at the Yahoo! All Markets Summit in New York, Heath Tarbert, Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said that he believed the Ether cryptocurrency was a “commodity” and should be...more
According to a recent report, the new chair of the CFTC, Heath Tarbert, has declared that he believes that ether is a commodity. He also anticipates ether futures trading on U.S. markets in the near future. The CFTC has...more
It is official. Finally. On October 10, 2019, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Chairman Heath Tarbert announced that he believes ether is a commodity and thus falls under the jurisdiction of the CFTC....more
Over the past two years, prices for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets have experienced extreme gains and declines, while billions of dollars have been raised through Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”). In this dynamic...more
Two important events occurred in the cryptocurrency space last week. The Chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) gave a speech regarding regulators’ role in effectively supervising markets in the era...more
This is the inaugural issue of The Distributed Ledger, a periodic publication covering the latest trends and developments in blockchain technology, digital assets and smart contracts. In this edition, we examine a federal...more
To no one’s surprise, the Fed followed through with its months of promises and raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points yesterday. The FOMC also indicated that it’s planning to raise rates again in December....more
After Bitfinex, the CFTC issued its Proposed Interpretation on “Retail Commodity Transactions Involving Virtual Currency.” Proposed Interpretation, 82 Fed. Reg. 60335 (CFTC Dec. 20, 2017). Although the comment period closed...more
Developing a framework for consumer tokens - With the rapid growth in the development of blockchain technology, virtual currencies and token sales (sometimes referred to as initial coin offerings, or ICOs) in 2017 and...more
In a series of 2015 decisions, the CFTC determined that virtual currency is a commodity subject to its jurisdiction. In a 2016 settled enforcement action, the CFTC took the position that an unregistered platform...more
The 2011 Dodd-Frank Act amended the CFTC’s jurisdiction to authorize regulation of “retail commodity transactions offered ‘on a leveraged or margined basis, or financed by the offeror, the counterparty, or a person acting in...more
With soaring cryptocurrency prices attracting significant new investment in late 2017, U.S. regulators sought to fill the statutory void by exercising jurisdiction over a variety of digital assets. That trend continued in the...more
The market for cryptocurrencies and the current wave of initial coin offerings (ICOs) that seek to raise capital for blockchain-based projects have enjoyed a swell of popularity in recent years. U.S. regulatory agencies and...more