On March 24, 2022, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced charges against two defendants and alleged an ongoing fraud involving the sale of nonfungible tokens. The federal criminal case is among the first involving NFTs and foreshadows further regulatory scrutiny of the popular digital asset class.
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Scott H. Kimpel
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Government Officials Renew Call for Crypto Regulation
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Regulatory
A series of recent statements by key financial regulators and US senators once again bring cryptocurrency regulation into the spotlight. In this post, we summarize several recent developments.
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Treasury Targets Nonfungible Tokens
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Regulatory
The red-hot market for nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, continues to draw regulatory scrutiny. A Department of the Treasury report issued on February 4, 2022, is the latest to focus on potential regulatory issues associated with this digital asset class.
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Federal Reserve Publishes Discussion Paper on CBDC
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Cryptocurrencies
On January 20, 2022, the Federal Reserve Board published a discussion paper on the potential for a US central bank digital currency, or CBDC. Entitled “Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation,” the paper provides further insight into the public policy concerns guiding the Fed as it deliberates whether to adopt a US CBDC.
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Top Posts of 2021
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in General
The Hunton Andrews Kurth Blockchain team would like to provide you with an update on legal developments in the world of blockchain technology, as posted on this blog. Here is a selection of our top 10 posts from 2021 we thought might be of interest to you.
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Senator Outlines Stablecoin Principles
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Regulatory
In connection with a December 14, 2021, hearing of the Senate Banking Committee focused on the topic of stablecoins, Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-PA) released a collection of principles that he hopes will influence the development of a future legislative framework for the asset class.
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Freddie Mac Addresses Cryptocurrency in Mortgage Lending Criteria
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Cryptocurrencies
On December 1, 2021, Freddie Mac published Bulletin 2021-36 for Freddie Mac sellers to provide updated guidance on eligibility criteria for qualifying mortgages. Freddie Mac publishes such bulletins on a regular basis for loan originators who wish to resell mortgages to Freddie Mac, and Bulletin 2021-36 covers a number of routine topics such as 2022 conforming loan limits, certain credit underwriting criteria and document custody. The bulletin is notable, however, because it specifically addresses requirements related to cryptocurrency’s use in the mortgage qualification process.
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Senate Banking Committee Probes Stablecoins
By Scott H. Kimpel on
On November 23, 2021, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs sent a series of letters to prominent stablecoin issuers and cryptocurrency exchanges. Citing the recent President’s Working Group on Financial Markets report on stablecoins, the letters seek to clarify basic operational features of various stablecoins which the Committee believes is critical to improving its understanding of digital assets.
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CFTC Charges Crypto Platforms for Registration and Trading Violations
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Cryptocurrencies, Regulatory
In 15 recent enforcement actions, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced charges against various digital asset exchanges for failure to register appropriately as futures commission merchants. This series of actions is the latest in an ongoing regulatory crackdown across federal agencies involving cryptocurrency and other digital asset trading platforms.
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New York AG Obtains Default Judgment Against Crypto Platform
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Regulatory
On September 13, 2021, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the entry of a default judgment against crypto platform Coinseed and its CEO. The default judgment includes broad injunctive relief against Coinseed’s future operations in New York state. The case is one of many that regulators have recently brought against crypto trading platforms.
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