Effective August 1, 2020, Louisiana adopted the Virtual Currency Business Act. In doing so it becomes the second state after New York to require certain operators of virtual currency businesses to obtain a virtual currency license in order to conduct business in the state. The Act is perhaps notable not so much for the conduct it covers, but rather the very broad classes of persons and businesses granted exemptions from regulation.
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Scott H. Kimpel
FINRA Issues Regulatory Notice on Digital Assets
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Regulatory
As part of its ongoing effort to supervise broker-dealers conducting transactions in digital assets, FINRA recently issued Notice 20-23. The Notice encourages FINRA members to continue to keep FINRA updated on a firm’s activities relating to digital assets that have not been previously disclosed.…
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Appellate Court Greenlights NYAG’s Bitfinex Investigation
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Crypto Exchanges, Regulatory
As we previously reported, for over a year the New York Attorney General has been seeking to enforce an investigative subpoena under New York’s expansive Martin Act against cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and its affiliated companies that issue the Tether stablecoin.…
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Senate Banking Committee Considers Digitization of Money
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Cryptocurrencies, Regulatory
On June 30, 2020, the full Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a virtual hearing entitled “The Digitization of Money and Payments.” The hearing focused on stablecoins and the prospects for a US central bank digital currency.…
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New York Announces Five BitLicense Initiatives
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Cryptocurrencies, Regulatory
On June 24, 2020, the New York Department of Financial Services announced a series of five initiatives involving virtual currency. The announcement was timed to coincide with the five-year anniversary of the launch of New York’s BitLicense for operators of certain virtual currency businesses.…
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Digital Dollar Project Releases White Paper on US CBDC
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Cryptocurrencies
On May 29, 2020, the Digital Dollar Project, an organization seeking to advance the development of a United States central bank digital currency, published a detailed white paper entitled “Exploring a US CBDC.” …
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Senate Subcommittee Weighs Use of Blockchain for Remote Voting
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Regulatory
Recently, staff of the US Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations prepared a memorandum for subcommittee members in advance of its April 30 “Roundtable on Continuity of Senate Operations and Remote Voting in Times of Crisis.”…
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FSB Issues Global Stablecoin White Paper
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Cryptocurrencies, Regulatory
On April 14, 2020, the Financial Stability Board issued a consultative paper entitled “Addressing the Regulatory, Supervisory and Oversight Challenges Raised by ‘Global Stablecoin’ Arrangements.”…
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SEC Wins Injunction in Telegram ICO Case
By Scott H. Kimpel on
On March 24, 2020, federal Judge P. Kevin Castel issued a long-anticipated opinion in the SEC’s ongoing efforts to block Telegram’s $1.7 billion initial coin offering. Judge Castel found that Telegram’s planned distribution of Gram tokens constitutes a securities offering under federal law for which no exemption from registration is available. He therefore granted the SEC a preliminary injunction blocking Telegram from distributing its Gram tokens to investors.…
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The Crypto-Currency Act of 2020
By Scott H. Kimpel on
On March 9, 2020, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) introduced H.R. 6154, the Crypto-Currency Act of 2020. The bill is the latest effort to provide federal oversight to the burgeoning market for crypto-assets.…
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