On April 10, 2025, the SEC’s newly formed Crypto Task Force held the second of its promised series of roundtables in the SEC’s “Spring Sprint Toward Crypto Clarity” initiative. Titled “Between a Block and a Hard Place:...more
With the Presidential and Congressional transitions taking place this month, we expect increased investment and transactional activity in capital markets. This will likely include trading platforms, exchanges, clearinghouses,...more
In 2010, the so-called “Flash Crash” of the U.S. stock market brought the overlooked practice of high-frequency trading into the spotlight for the first time. Initial efforts to study and curtail the practice, including a...more
Japanese Crypto Exchange Goes Public in U.S., Stablecoin Initiatives Announced - According to recent reports, the parent company of Coincheck, one of Japan’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has gone public on a major...more
According to a recent press release by the banking cooperative that operates the world’s foremost global payment messaging network, central and commercial banks will soon be able to use the network “to carry out trial...more
Pig Butchering Crypto Scams are scams which resemble the practice of fattening a hog before slaughter....more
In recent years, a new field called “prop trading” has emerged. It enables traders to trade financial products such as stocks, commodity bonds, cryptocurrencies, CFDs, and forex products without using their own money, but...more
On June 17, 2024, the CFTC's Division of Enforcement announced that it had reached a settlement with Trafigura Trading LLC ("Trafigura") over allegations that the firm manipulated oil derivatives prices while discouraging...more
On March 26, 2024, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) filed a complaint (the “Complaint”) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”) for injunctive and other relief against...more
Regulators with the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) have fined JP Morgan Chase & Co. a combined total of $348.2 million over the bank’s failure to monitor client trading activities...more
On Friday, March 15, 2024, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Market Risk Advisory Committee (“MRAC”) convened two roundtables in Washington DC....more
Editor's Note - The following newsletter provides a roundup summarizing enforcement actions, guidance, rulemakings, and other public statements taken by a federal and/or state financial services regulatory agency,...more
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform, has recently been hit with a staggering $4.3 billion fine for intentionally violating anti-money laundering laws and other financial regulations. This landmark...more
The CFTC has announced three enforcement actions this month that further cement the CFTC’s jurisdiction over the decentralized finance space (“DeFi”). Back in 2022, the CFTC filed its first DeFi cases, including the...more
On July 13, the FTC announced a proposed settlement to resolve allegations that a crypto platform engaged in unfair and deceptive acts or practices in violation of the FTC Act. The FTC also alleges that the defendants...more
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California recently granted the CFTC’s motion for default judgment in an action accusing a decentralized autonomous organization of violating the Commodity Exchange Act...more
On March 27, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), the U.S. derivatives regulator, charged three Binance entities (collectively “Binance”) and its founder and chief compliance officer (“CCO”) with numerous...more
On February 22, the New York attorney general filed a petition in state court against a virtual currency trading platform (respondent) for allegedly failing to register as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and...more
Mango Markets is a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to purchase and borrow cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency-related financial products. Mango Markets is run by the Mango Decentralized Autonomous...more
In conjunction with the DOJ’s criminal indictment, the SEC brought civil charges against SBF. The SEC charged SBF with orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors in the FTX exchange (FTX Trading Ltd.). The SEC...more
On December 13, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (the “U.S. Attorney’s Office”), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the...more
Foreign Regulators Approve Crypto Platforms; Ethereum Approaching PoS - According to recent reports, several major cryptocurrency platforms have obtained regulatory approval from Italy’s Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM)...more
In last week's Cabinet News and Views, we examined the U.S. regulators' approach to the digital asset space, with a focus on the assertion of jurisdiction by the CFTC, the SEC, prudential regulators, state executive and...more
On June 29, 2022, Grayscale Investments, LLC petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for review of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s June 29, 2022 final order disapproving of an October...more
Over the last five years, decentralized finance (DeFi), especially cryptocurrencies and other digital assets are a space that continues to grow at an exponential rate, not only for retail investors but also for private...more