Cryptocurrency – Page 3 – FinTech and Blockchain Law Watch

Federal Reserve Doubles Down on Oversight of Crypto Activities for Banks

Aug 18 2022

By Grant F. Butler, Jeremy McLaughlin, Anthony R.G. Nolan, and Judie Rinearson

The Federal Reserve Board (the “FRB”) issued Supervision and Regulation Letter 22-6 (“SR 22-6”), providing guidance for FRB-supervised banking organizations (referred to collectively herein as “FRB banks”) seeking to engage in activities related to cryptocurrency and other digital assets. The letter states that prior to engaging in crypto-asset-related activities, such FRB banks must ensure that their activities are “legally permissible” and determine whether any regulatory filings are required. SR 22-6 further states that FRB banks should notify the FRB prior to engaging in crypto-asset-related activities. Any FRB bank that is already engaged in crypto-asset-related activities should notify the FRB promptly regarding the engagement in such activities, if it has not already done so. The FRB also encourages state member banks to contact state regulators before engaging in any crypto-asset-related activity.

FDIC Warns Banks on Crypto-Related Deposit Insurance Customer Confusion

Aug 03 2022

By Grant F. Butler

On July 29, the FDIC issued an advisory to FDIC-insured financial institutions regarding deposit insurance and dealings with cryptocurrency companies. The FDIC also issued an accompanying fact sheet for consumers regarding FDIC deposit insurance and cryptocurrency companies.

SEC v. Wahi: An Enforcement Action That Could Impact the Broader Crypto / Digital Assets Industry

Jul 29 2022

By Andrew M. Hinkes and Josh Durham

The SEC has made a new crypto move. On July 21, the SEC filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court, Western District of WA against Wahi, a Coinbase employee, and two others alleging insider trading and charging them with securities fraud. The SEC alleged that nine of the crypto assets that Wahi and other defendants traded were “crypto asset securities”: AMP, RLY, DDX, XYO, RGT, LCX, POWR, DFX and KROM. This action is unique; unlike prior SEC enforcement actions brought against Poloniex, Coburn, TokenLot and others, which alleged the existence of digital asset securities being traded on various types of trading platforms, but failed to identify the specific alleged securities at issue or include any legal analysis of those alleged securities, here, the SEC “names names” and offers some analysis, but does not add the issuers of those 9 assets, or the platform upon which they are traded, as defendants.

Cryptocurrency Market Downturn and Australian Regulation Update

Jul 15 2022

By Daniel Knight and Kithmin Ranamukhaarachchi

In the wake of the drawn out cryptocurrency market downturn, increased regulation of the sector seems inevitable. With nearly one million Australians transacting in cryptocurrencies last year, there have been widespread calls to enact additional protections for retail investors.

MiCA is Here: European Ground-breaking Rules for the Cryptocurrencies Market

Jul 11 2022

By Giovanni Campi, Mathieu Volckrick, Paula Estaban Gomez

On 30 June, European institutions reached a provisional political agreement on the proposal for a regulation on Markets in Crypto-Assets, also known as MiCA.[1]

Change Is Constant* and There’s a lot of Regulatory Change Happening in the UK – Impacting Fintechs and Crypto Asset companies.

Jun 29 2022

By Kai Zhang

Critical third party regime

This is to address the concentration issue where financial services firms outsource key functions/services to a few large service providers (e.g. cloud service providers). HM Treasury will designate which third party service providers are considered “critical”. Then the relevant regulators will be given power to make rules supervising them with respect to certain “material services”. See policy statement of 8 June.

On Heels of Crypto Legislative Activity, NYDFS Follows Up With Crypto Stablecoin Guidance

Jun 21 2022

By Jeremy M. McLaughlin, Andrew M. Hinkes, and Christian Zazzali

On June 8, 2022, the New York State Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) released regulatory guidance applicable only to payment stablecoins that are backed by the U.S. Dollar and issued by entities regulated by NYDFS. The guidance comes one day after Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) released a bill calling for dramatic changes to federal regulation of the cryptocurrency industry (see our quick analysis here) and less than a week after New York’s legislature passed two bills aimed at crypto regulation. Focusing on three criteria—redeemability, reserves, and attestation—the NYDFS stablecoin guidance is intended to ensure that payment stablecoin issuers remain solvent so holders of those payment stablecoins can timely exercise their right to redeem. This guidance does not address a stablecoin’s trading price and does not mandate that the issuer take any active measures to ensure the price of the asset on markets.

New York Legislators Address Crypto Head-On

Jun 14 2022

By Jeremy M. McLaughlin, Christian A. Zazzali, and Josh Durham

On Friday June 3, 2022, New York lawmakers passed two cryptocurrency bills, whose fate now lie in the hands of Gov. Kathy Hochul. Together, they would impose a moratorium on certain cryptocurrency mining operations and establish a cryptocurrency and blockchain task force. If successful, the mining ban would make New York the first state to enact such a moratorium.

10 Impactful Provisions of the Lummis-Gillibrand Bill

Jun 07 2022

By Andrew Hinkes, Eden Rohrer, and Judie Rinearson

The “Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act,” announced this morning, lays out a bold agenda for legal reform across multiple regulatory regimes aimed at clarifying legal requirements for regulated entities to issue, trade, and provide services related to certain digital assets. Although a point by point summary of the 69 page bill is beyond the scope of this post, here’s a brief summary of 10 impactful provisions from the Bill:

California Soliciting Comments on Potential Regulation of Crypto Products and Services

Jun 02 2022

By Jeremy McLaughlin and Christian A. Zazzali

On May 4, 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on digital assets, which seeks sensible, transparent regulation through engagement with developers of digital asset-related products and services. For a detailed discussion on the executive order, see our prior blog here. In response, California’s financial regulator, the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI), issued an invitation to submit comments on crypto-asset related products and services under the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL). The deadline for submission is August 5, 2022.

Tag:Cryptocurrency