By: Jay Lee, Natalie Chow, and Alvin Lam
On 29 October 2024, the Hong Kong District Court issued the judgment of the first legal action (Chan Wing Yan and Another v. JP-EX Crypto Asset Platform Ltd and Others [2024] HKDC 1628) against JPEX, which the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has identified as an unlicensed virtual asset trading platform (VATP).
Read MoreBy: Cheryl L. Isaac, Judith Rinearson, Eden L. Rohrer, and Joshua L. Durham
On 8 October, Crypto.com made two novel, strategic moves to seek regulatory clarity regarding the classification of digital assets. First, the digital asset exchange sued the SEC, claiming that the SEC exceeded its statutory authority with respect to its classification of digital assets as securities without any notice-and-comment rulemaking as required under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Second, Crypto.com’s affiliate that is a CFTC-registered derivatives exchange petitioned the SEC and CFTC to provide a joint interpretation on how its swap products should be governed by the agencies.
Read MoreBy: Jeremy McLaughlin and Joshua Durham
On 2 October 2024, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI), issued draft proposed rules to implement the state’s new cryptocurrency licensing regime, the Digital Financial Assets Law (DFAL). DFPI is seeking comments on the proposed rules and set a deadline of 18 November 2024.
Read MoreBy: Andrew Hinkes and Judie Rinearson
Much has been written about the effort it takes to have a new app approved by the Apple App Store. With good reason, Apple’s strict approval process ensures quality and maintains the standards of its ecosystem. As Apple itself reports, in 2023 it “rejected more than 1.7 million app submissions for failing to meet the App Store’s stringent standards for privacy, security, and content.”1 An article from Decode about the top reasons for an Apple rejection2 included the usual tech-related problems: The app is low quality; there are broken links; lots of bugs and crashes; etc.
Read MoreBy: Daniel Knight and Ben Kneebush
On 4 June 2024, the latest chapter in ASIC’s crypto-asset enforcement efforts unfolded with the Federal Court relieving Block Earner from liability to pay penalties in connection with providing unlicensed financial services (ASIC’s media release can be found here).
Read MoreBy: Dr. Jan Boeing and Tanner Wonnacott
MiCA Update
The Regulation on Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA)1 is part of the European Commission’s Digital Finance Package of September 2020, which includes other regulatory initiatives, such as the Pilot Regime for market infrastructures based on distributed ledger technology2 and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).3
Read MoreBy: Daniel Knight and Kithmin Ranamukhaarachchi
The Australian Attorney-General’s Department (Department) has released five consultation papers outlining proposals for extensive reforms to Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regime.
Read MoreBy: Jay Lee and Anson Chan
Earlier this year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs. In Hong Kong, in view of rapid developments of virtual asset (VA) products and growing investment products offering exposure to VAs, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a circular, on 22 December 2023, detailing requirements for investment funds with exposure of more than 10% of net asset value (NAV) to VA seeking authorization for public offerings in Hong Kong (Circular).
Read MoreBy: Jeremy McLaughlin and Joshua Durham
Hawaii has long been a thorn in the side of crypto companies. That thorn has finally been removed: on 25 January 2024, the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs issued a press release summarizing its findings on the proper regulatory framework for cryptocurrency—its conclusion is that it will not apply the state’s money transmitter law to cryptocurrency activities. Hawaii initially worked with cryptocurrency companies to create an alternative licensing framework, but was ultimately unable to conceive of an adequate digital asset license.
Read MoreBy: Jeremy McLaughlin and Josh Durham
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) is requesting comments on potential rules it will promulgate to implement the state’s recently-enacted Digital Financial Assets Law (DFAL), which establishes a formal licensing regime for digital asset service providers. Please review our client alert for a detailed analysis of the new law, which takes effect 1 July 2025.
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