In this Goodwin Insight, Karen Ubell, Mitzi Chang, and Adam Fovent discuss how reliance on enforcement as the principal tool for regulation is beset by fundamental limitations as a means of policymaking and setting regulatory expectations for a nascent and rapidly evolving technology and industry. To read more, click here.
What’s the SEC’s reach on emerging blockchain technologies and what does that mean for crypto in the United States? In the newest SpeakBold Fireside Chat, Stronghold’s Sarah Lane sits down with Digital Currency & Blockchain Technology partner Karen Ubell to discuss.
In a first of its kind enforcement action, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) is attempting to hold participating members of a decentralized autonomous organization (“DAO”) liable for alleged violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) and CFTC regulations. The CFTC argued (1) that the DAO is an unincorporated association;…
On July 21, 2022, the SEC charged three individuals with insider trading of digital assets via a scheme to trade ahead of multiple announcements regarding crypto assets being made available on a United States-based digital asset exchange at which one individual was a former product manager. In the complaint, the SEC identifies…
In a speech before the Aspen Security Forum on August 3, 2021, SEC Chair Gary Gensler followed the lead of his predecessor and repeated the SEC’s view that current securities regulations are clear and almost all tokens are securities. In the same speech however, he cited “facts and circumstances” that…
The past few weeks have ushered in signs of what’s likely to come from the SEC’s Division of Enforcement under the Biden Administration, including a greater number of investigations and a tougher path to “bad boy” waivers for issuers. The SEC’s enforcement program plays a critical role in the agency’s…
The blockchain and digital asset landscape continued to evolve in 2020. DeFi grew exponentially, venture funds are highly active, state and international jurisdictions are vying for crypto business, a crypto lawyer is head of the OCC, and Bitcoin has almost become mainstream. With the SEC, CFTC, FinCEN, DOJ, and the…
The SEC, in one of the Commission’s final acts under the leadership of Chair Jay Clayton, approved enforcement action aimed at Ripple Labs, Inc. (“Ripple”) and two of its executives, Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen. The SEC filed its complaint on December 22, 2020 in the Southern District of New…
Never one to hold back, especially when it comes to crypto and blockchain matters, SEC Commissioner Peirce recently explained her views on the SEC’s settlement with Telegram and the agency’s approach to regulating the crypto and blockchain ecosphere generally. Simply put, Peirce disagreed with the Telegram settlement. In her words:…