At a speech to the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s Capital Markets Association on April 4, 2022, SEC Chair Gary Gensler took the opportunity to again promote his strong desire to add greater regulation and oversight to the digital asset and cryptocurrency markets. While reminding the audience of the SEC’s mission to protect investors, facilitate
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What is blockchain? What is cryptocurrency? Non-fungible tokens? This short overview seeks to answer these questions in simple and relatable terms.
The IRS has not issued any clear guidance on the taxation of staking rewards. In 2014, the IRS issued Notice 2014-21, which provides that cryptocurrency is treated as property for federal tax purposes, but Notice 2014-21 and subsequent Revenue Ruling 2019-24 and frequently asked questions do not provide any further guidance on the tax treatment
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On Jan. 20, 2022, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Fed) issued the Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation paper (Paper) to discuss how a potential U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC) could improve the U.S. domestic payments system.
The digital asset and blockchain sector in 2021 saw exponential growth and adoption fueled by stablecoins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized finance (DeFi), and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Headed into 2022, market participants await regulatory proposals amid increased calls for oversight of this burgeoning industry. This GT Alert discusses six areas that are top-of-mind.
On Nov. 23, 2021, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a joint statement summarizing a new “Crypto-Asset Policy Sprint Initiative.”
On Nov. 1, 2021, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) joined with the president’s Working Group on Financial Markets (PWG) to release the much anticipated Report on Stablecoins (the “Report”). The Report (i) discusses the background of stablecoins and their functions, (ii) identifies and assesses the
The U.S. Senate passed its infrastructure bill (the “Bill”) that includes additional cryptocurrency reporting requirements, which are expected to generate $28 billion in revenue. The Bill currently does not provide the IRS with any additional funding to increase tax enforcement, as contemplated earlier. However, the Bill includes a provision on information reporting for cryptocurrency transactions
The IRS has published guidance stating that pre-2018 swaps among Bitcoin, Ether, and Litecoin are not eligible for 1031 tax-free exchange treatment. This means that investors who made swaps among these three cryptocurrencies before 2018 are liable for income tax on the gains realized. This guidance only applies to swaps before 2018, because the Tax
Recent John Doe summonses show the IRS is expanding its use of those summonses to aggressively investigate potential tax evasion. Within the past week, the IRS has received authorization to use a John Doe summons to request information from a cryptocurrency exchange. The government has also filed petitions in federal court seeking authorization to allow