Politics, Legal & Regulation

May 22, 2018 @ 8:07 am By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued an Advisory pertaining to “virtual currencies” and “derivative product listings.” The CFTC staff states: “Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or “Commission”) staff believes it is important to encourage innovation and growth in these products, but within an… Read More

May 21, 2018 @ 10:12 pm By Jim Borzilleri  |  

Earlier this month Hester Peirce, a commissioner of the SEC, delivered a powerful speech in LA that bodes well for the future of cryptocurrency regulation. She addressed the challenges she faces as a regulator of the financial sector, and shared her own philosophy regarding initial… Read More

May 21, 2018 @ 10:24 am By Cali Haan  |  

Last Friday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission argued in a Boston courtroom that cryptocurrencies are tradable commodities that can be regulated under CFTC purview. The argument comes after lawyers for Randall Crater and Mark Gillespie of My Big Coin Inc. attempted to have fraud charges… Read More

May 20, 2018 @ 2:52 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has spoken publicly about how draft laws winding their way now through the Russian parliament will define cryptocurrencies and tokens. Bitcoin.com reports that Medvedev recently told an audience at a plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum: “We need… Read More

May 18, 2018 @ 4:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) released its annual report this past week. As part of the release, Chairman of the AMF Robert Ophèle delivered a speech highlighting important issues and challenges within the financial markets. During his speech, Ophèle commented on “toxic investments.” While first addressing binary… Read More

May 17, 2018 @ 7:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

The European Parliament, Committee on Research, Industry and Energy, passed a blockchain resolution yesterday (May 16th) capturing solid support with 56 in favor and 3 opposed.. The resolution included a section on initial coin offerings. European Parliament resolution on Distributed ledger technologies and blockchains: building… Read More

May 16, 2018 @ 1:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has created a bogus website to highlight the scam riddled initial coin offering (ICO) industry. The mock site, HoweyCoins.com, touts a “too good to be true” investment opportunity seeking to mimic a fraudulent… Read More

May 16, 2018 @ 12:00 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Representatives from the three bodies policing securities in the US and the Chief Strategy Officer from the Bittrex cryptocurrency exchange spoke on an “Enforcement” panel May 15 at the Consensus conference in New York. Citing an “open door” policy, the regulators- James McDonald, Director of… Read More

May 13, 2018 @ 8:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

Towards the end of April, SEC Commissioner Robert J. Jackson Jr. delivered a heartfelt speech in Cleveland about the decline of initial public offerings (IPOs) in the US. While there has been much debate regarding the cause of this decline (with some questioning whether it even… Read More

May 13, 2018 @ 4:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

CoinList, an offshoot of AngelList, is positioning its platform to list a few, promising initial coin offerings (ICO) on an ongoing basis. The very first ICO listed became a blockbuster offering raising over $200 million in a blink of the eye. Filecoin listed the token… Read More

May 12, 2018 @ 4:50 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A Brooklyn judge sitting a case of accused cryptocurrency fraud has expressed frustration over regulatory lag affecting his ability to judge the case. The accused, Maksim Zaslavskiy, was charged with fraud last November after SEC and FBI investigators alleged that he and REcoin Group Foundation,… Read More

May 12, 2018 @ 10:08 am By JD Alois  |  

Last week, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce delivered a powerful speech that shared her views on the mission of regulators broadly, and cryptocurrency innovation specifically. The speech has been widely lauded in the crypto space as it has been viewed as supportive of the potential for… Read More

May 11, 2018 @ 11:00 am By Cali Haan  |  

A bill (HB 1426) that would have made Colorado a haven for ICO’s (Initial Coin Offerings) failed to pass a third reading Wednesday in the Colorado Legislature by a narrow margin of 18-17, the Denver Post reports. ICO’s are a type of tradable “digital asset”… Read More

May 11, 2018 @ 8:52 am By JD Alois  |  

In a report today, it was announced that Lewis Cohen, formerly of white shoe law firm Hogen Lovells, and Angela Angelovska-Wilson, recently the GC of Digital Asset, have formed their own law firm targeting the blockchain industry. The new firm, DLx Law, is designed to “align… Read More

May 10, 2018 @ 6:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

On May 4th, the government of Anguilla announced the “world’s first” blockchain token offering registration process for “utility tokens.” The Anguilla Utility Token Act or “AUTO Act,” is designed to facilitate clearly defined utility tokens that do not have a feature of a security. Anguilla… Read More

May 10, 2018 @ 9:01 am By JD Alois  |  

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) held a public policy roundtable this week in Washington, DC. One of the big topics of the gathering was “What the Rise of Cryptocurrency Means for Investor Protection.”  NASAA is the group that represents state and provincial regulators. These… Read More

May 8, 2018 @ 11:13 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A proposed lawsuit by (standard) Bitcoin users against the Bitcoin Cash-controlled website Bitcoin.com and it’s CEO Roger Ver has been dropped. Ver, one of the most dedicated and high profile early adopters of Bitcoin, and several partners (including Jihan Wu, owner of the world’s largest… Read More

May 8, 2018 @ 12:34 pm By JD Alois  |  

“The regulator should be careful not to try to control the development of new technologies.” – Hester Peirce, SEC Commissioner SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce delivered a fascinating speech in LA today, addressing the challenges of innovation in the financial services sector while providing insight into… Read More

May 7, 2018 @ 11:05 am By JD Alois  |  

The State of New York is may create a new regulatory hurdle, and associated cost, for online lenders. A bill (Senate Bill S8340) sitting in the New York State Senate now, will create a limited state charter for internet lending. Sponsored by New York State… Read More

May 7, 2018 @ 10:01 am By JD Alois  |  

Speaking in Berlin this week, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair J. Christoper Giancarlo addressed the Association of German Banks. His theme was the pressing need for regulatory harmonization. Today, across developed markets, varying financial regulations adds a significant cost to the financial services industry. Same… Read More