April 18, 2018 @ 11:08 am By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has fired off another enforcement action against a questionable cryptocurrency operation. The CFTC has charged multiple individuals, and several companies, with fraud involving ATM Coin (asset trading market coin) and binary options. The CFTC filed the Complaint in the… Read More

April 16, 2018 @ 1:09 pm By JD Alois  |  

Speaking at Vanderbilt University Law School this past week, Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo made some interesting comments. Giancarlo, a Commodore Alum, spoke about the digitization of finance (Fintech) and the subject of virtual currencies. Giancarlo reflected on time spent with… Read More

April 5, 2018 @ 1:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

My Big Coin (MBC) was hit with an enforcement action by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) back in January of this year. The CFTC alleged, among other things, that MBC’s initial coin offering represented to investors as being actively traded on cryptocurrency exchanges when in fact… Read More

March 16, 2018 @ 11:16 am By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has a Whistleblower program in place regarding pump and dump schemes for virtual currencies and digital tokens. Virtual currencies would line up with Bitcoin, Ethereum etc. while digital tokens are from the thousands of initial coin offerings that blur… Read More

March 12, 2018 @ 12:40 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

Following the SEC’s recent initial subpoena offerings (pun intended) targeting initial coin offering (ICO) issuers, many believe the SEC might now turn its sights toward some of the gatekeepers involved in the subject ICOs, including the attorneys. Some attorneys practicing in the ICO space have… Read More

March 7, 2018 @ 7:39 am By JD Alois  |  

CFTC States Until Congress Clarifies  Crypto, the Commission will Consider it Not Legal Tender & Continue to Treat as a Commodity. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has received a preliminary injunction order agains CabbageTech, DBA Coin Drop Markets, and Patrick McDonnell. The CFTC complaint… Read More

March 4, 2018 @ 12:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last month, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) posted a memo to all staff providing guidance regarding holding and transactions using cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. In brief, the memo from Daniel Davis, General Counsel of the CFTC, said it was ok to invest in crypto –… Read More

February 23, 2018 @ 10:55 am By Joshua Ashley Klayman, Julian Hammar, Shiukay Hung, and Anna Pinedo  |  

The recent and rapid proliferation of cryptocurrency¹ transactions involving retail or “Main Street” customers has left some — including many cryptocurrency platforms serving retail customers — grappling conceptually with the answer to a fundamental question: what constitutes “actual delivery” of cryptocurrency in the eyes of the… Read More

February 19, 2018 @ 7:38 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have signed a formal agreement that commits the two regulatory agencies to work together to support Fintech. This is the first such agreement for the CFTC and just one of many… Read More

February 18, 2018 @ 3:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week on Valentines Day, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) held a meeting of the Technology Advisory Committee (TAC). There were several interesting presentations and good discussions regarding the emerging cryptocurrency market. One of the discussions was by Richard Gorelick, Head of Market Structure… Read More

February 15, 2018 @ 2:09 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued a warning to consumers to beware of pump and dump scams that have become somewhat prevalent in initial coin offerings and digital currencies in general. The CFTC says it has received complaints from customers who have lost… Read More

February 14, 2018 @ 7:50 am By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will hold a meeting of the Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) today at the CFTC’s headquarters in Washington, DC. The meeting is open to the public but you have the option to dial in or live-stream the meeting on the CFTC… Read More

February 7, 2018 @ 9:58 pm By David Felsenthal and Jesse Overall  |  

Truly, it was a tale of two cities. On February 6, 2018, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on the oversight role of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in respect of virtual currencies like Bitcoin… Read More

February 4, 2018 @ 6:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will be holding a hearing on cryptocurrencies this Tuesday. Entitled, Virtual Currencies: The Oversight Role of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, this will be a Hearing to watch as both… Read More

January 26, 2018 @ 9:44 am By JD Alois  |  

  This past week both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission came out with strong statements warning the exuberant initial coin offering industry (ICO) that regulators will no longer tolerate the flouting of existing securities law. ICOs have increased rapidly… Read More

January 25, 2018 @ 3:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

In another obvious sign that the federal government is ramping up enforcement actions against initial coin offerings that do not file for an appropriate securities exemption or commit other illegal acts such as fraud, CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo and SEC Chairman Jay Clayton jointly published… Read More

January 25, 2018 @ 11:58 am By JD Alois  |  

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has scheduled a meeting of the Market Risk Advisory Committee (MRAC) for January 31st. The meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at the CFTC HQ in Washington, DC. If you are interested you can… Read More

January 24, 2018 @ 9:40 am By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has shut down another initial coin offering with allegations of fraud. The ICO unfortunately named My Big Coin (MBC) ends up becoming My Big Con as the enforcement action has charged defendants Randall Crater of East Hampton, New York, Mark Gillespie of Hartland,… Read More

January 19, 2018 @ 9:09 am By JD Alois  |  

Following the announcement by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that it had undertaken two enforcement actions against Bitcoin / virtual currency related fraud, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and CFTC issued a joint statement from SEC co-enforcement Directors Stephanie Avakian and Steven Peikin… Read More

January 19, 2018 @ 8:50 am By JD Alois  |  

The CFTC Division of Enforcement Virtual Currency Task Force has been rather busy. Today, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has shared two enforcement actions filed against Bitcoin / Cryptocurrency related fraud cases. The first was against the Entrepreneurs Headquarters Limited, the second was filed against Defendants Patrick… Read More