The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) has withdrawn supervisory guidance for Board-supervised banks concerning crypto-asset and dollar token activities and Board expectations for these activities. The Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) also withdrew joint supervisory statements on crypto-asset activities and exposures.
In late April, at the government’s request, an Indiana federal judge put a final end to the prosecution of an Indiana man for allegations that he engaged in unlicensed money transmission (and related tax offenses) in connection with his operation of a virtual currency exchange from 2009 to 2013.
Continue Reading Charges Dropped Against Early Cryptocurrency Exchange Operator
On March 20, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission took a step towards clarifying its position on crypto mining activities. In a recent statement, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance provided non-binding guidance on the application of federal securities laws to proof-of-work (PoW) mining activities, stating that such activities are beyond the SEC’s purview.
Continue Reading SEC Staff Clarifies Stance on Crypto Mining
The SEC rescinded its cryptocurrency accounting guidance, Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121, on Jan. 23, 2025. Issued in March 2022, SAB 121 required crypto custodians to record digital assets held for customers as liabilities on their balance sheets. Some industry participants and lawmakers expressed concerns that the guidance could impact regulated entities’ willingness to offer
On Jan. 25, 2024, the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Division of Financial Institutions (DFI) and the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation (collectively, the “Agencies”) jointly issued a press release summarizing their findings on the proper regulatory framework for companies specializing in digital currency activity (Crypto Companies)—concluding that the DFI will not apply the
On Oct. 13, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed CA AB39, the Digital Financial Assets Law (DFAL), which is the first comprehensive framework to regulate the digital asset market in the state of California. As such, California joins New York and Louisiana as the third state to have a virtual currency specific regulatory licensing
On Oct. 23, 2023, FinCEN published an NPRM that identifies international CVC mixing as “a class of transactions of primary money laundering concern,” and finds that imposing additional recordkeeping and reporting requirements on “covered financial institutions” would help mitigate the risks such transactions pose. The NPRM’s proposed reporting requirements would be in addition to any
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On Sept. 18, 2023, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) issued a press release announcing updates to its ongoing oversight of the digital asset space, including (1) industry guidance regarding a “General Framework for Greenlisted Coins” (Greenlist Guidance); (2) industry guidance regarding new “Proposed Updates to Guidance Regarding Listing
On July 13, 2023, in a highly anticipated decision for the cryptocurrency industry, a Southern District of New York court granted in part and denied in part the parties’ cross motions for summary judgment in SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc., et al. Despite mixed rulings, the decision has been viewed by several in the
National Futures Association (NFA) is the self-regulatory organization for the U.S. futures and derivatives industry and derives its authority as a registered futures association by designation from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). On March 29, 2023, NFA adopted Compliance Rule 2-51 (Rule 2-51), which took effect May 31, 2023. Rule 2-51 expands the scope