On November 1, 2021, the President’s Working Group released a long-awaited report on stablecoins. The Report outlines a number of significant legislative recommendations for Congress to consider as well as a number of interim measures that agencies should adopt under their existing authorities to protect against prudential risks in the near-term.
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Digital Assets
Timely Trademarks Are Important to Crypto: Dogecoin Disputes Illustrate Potential Naming Issues
By James E. Rosini & Christopher Gresalfi on
Posted in Cryptocurrencies
A recent dispute over trademark ownership to the name of meme-fueled Dogecoin highlights the importance of trademark rights in the ever-growing world of cryptocurrencies.…
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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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House Financial Services Committee Forms Digital Asset Working Group
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Regulatory
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, recently announced the organization of the Committee’s Digital Assets Working Group. …
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Federal Bank Regulators Move to Provide Further Guidance on Digital Asset Activities
By Patrick J. Boot on
Posted in Regulatory
In the past month, the Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC have each detailed their upcoming focus on digital asset activities in the banking industry. So far, state banking regulators have often outpaced their federal counterparts in terms of issuing formal regulations and guidance around digital assets. Many banks are waiting to explore potential digital asset products and services until the functional federal bank regulators provide concrete guidance to complete the picture. …
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SEC Chairman Testifies About Digital Assets
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Cryptocurrencies, Regulatory
In a wide-ranging hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on May 6, 2021, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler answered a series of questions on cryptocurrency and digital asset regulation. His statements begin to shed some light on Chairman Gensler’s official approach to regulating digital asset securities. …
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Texas Legislature Proposes Significant Virtual Currency Bill
By Daryl B. Robertson & Patrick J. Boot on
Posted in Cryptocurrencies, Regulatory
Texas is seeing considerable momentum with respect to a proposed digital asset law that is being considered in the 2021 legislative session in the form of House Bill 4474. In short, the Texas Virtual Currency Bill provides a basic legal framework for companies dealing with virtual currencies.…
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Treasury Secretary Skeptical of Bitcoin
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Cryptocurrencies, Regulatory
In some of her first remarks on the subject of digital assets since Senate confirmation, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sounded an alarm on Bitcoin. In an interview with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, Secretary Yellen described Bitcoin as frequently used “for illicit finance” and “an extremely inefficient way of conducting transactions.”…
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SEC and Wyoming Division of Banking Address Custody of Digital Assets
By Patrick J. Boot on
Posted in Cryptocurrencies, Regulatory
The Wyoming Division of Banking issued a No-Action Letter in October 2020 in response to a request from a Wyoming-chartered public trust company seeking the Division of Banking’s position on the ability of the company to custody digital assets as well as hold itself out as a “qualified custodian.” The NAL prompted the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue a public statement seeking public comment on matters concerning the definition of “qualified custodian” under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rule 206(4)-2 thereunder.…
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OCC Releases Guidance on the Authority of National Banks to Provide Cryptocurrency Custody Services
By Patrick J. Boot on
Posted in Cryptocurrencies, Regulatory
On July 22, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published an interpretive letter clarifying the authority of national banks to provide cryptocurrency custody services for customers. This latest guidance is just one of many recent developments coming out of the OCC focused on modernizing the regulatory framework at the national level. …
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