With the Securities and Exchange Commission’s settlement with Galois Capital Management LLC, the pressing issue of proper custody of cryptocurrency assets has again bubbled to the surface.  Has this issue gained clarity?  Do we still exist in the limbo of regulation by enforcement and not really knowing where the boundaries are until the SEC comes […]

On April 3th, 2019 the US Securities and Exchange Commission staff released a "Statement on Framework for "Investment Contract" Analysis of Digital Assets" and the first no-action letter.

On April 25, 2019, the New York Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) announced that it obtained a court order against the operators of Bitfinex[note]Here, “Bitfinex” refers to the online platform and is operators, iFinex Inc., BFXNA Inc., and BFXWW Inc.[/note] demanding the online digital asset exchange turn over a plethora of important documents related to […]

Blockchain technology, if you believe the hype, is going to revolutionize, well, everything.  In an effort to bring a little sobriety to the Blockchain party, Forbes last year identified ten industries in which Blockchain genuinely seemed likely to disrupt the status quo.  Banking, healthcare, and politics topped the list. Alas, Forbes failed to spot Blockchain’s […]

Despite the breathless excitement (and no small amount of weirdness) that surrounds blockchain technology, the predictions that it will revolutionize business remain just that – predictions.  Still, it probably makes sense to prepare for a blockchain world. European Union officials are trying to do that.

In 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced in the Report of Investigation on The DAO its view that digital tokens (or coins or certain cryptocurrencies) can be securities, subject to regulation by the SEC under the federal securities laws. Last month, it flexed its regulatory muscle.  For the first time, the SEC imposed civil […]

With attention focused on skyrocketing securities of Canadian companies such as Tilray ($TLRY) due to Canada’s country-wide legalization of cannabis on Wednesday, October 17, a groundbreaking case involving Colorado-based HempCoin ($HMP) has flown under the radar.

Part 1 – Introduction On September 11, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or the Commission) announced “public administrative and cease-and-desist proceedings” against Crypto Asset Management, LP (CAM) and Timothy Enneking (Enneking), the owner and manager of CAM. The ruling is notable as the Commission’s first order against a crypto-dominated investment fund, but also […]

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology are currently hot topics  in the financial business world. Headlines regularly note trends and updates on virtual currency, its value, its regulation, and its future potential. As the digital currency market continues to mature, opportunities for related technologies emerge, the complexity of financial software increases, and new legal issues and applications […]

Regulation of cryptocurrencies and other financial technology innovations varies greatly across jurisdictions. While some countries take a hands-off approach to encourage growth of new industries, others seek to control markets to protect investors or for political reasons. Predictably, as countries compete to land FinTech companies, many new businesses gravitate toward the less onerous compliance regimes, […]