Search Results: Digital Currency

Department of Justice Announces “Cryptocurrency: An Enforcement Framework"

On October 8, 2020, the Attorney General’s Cyber Digital Task Force announced the release of a publication entitled Cryptocurrency: An Enforcement Framework (the “Enforcement Framework”).  The Enforcement Framework describes the DOJ’s three areas of focus for illicit activity involving cryptocurrency:  (1) financial transactions associated with the commission of crimes; (2)…

Read More

New York Department of Financial Services Announces New Virtual Currency Initiatives

On June 24, 2020, New York’s Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) announced a series of steps it is taking to promote development and opportunities in the virtual currency space.  These actions would build upon New York’s “BitLicense,” a virtual currency licensing regime implemented in 2015 that establishes minimum standards for…

Read More

OCC Confirms National Banks and Federal Savings Associations May Provide Cryptocurrency Custody

On July 22, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued an interpretive letter confirming that national banks and federal savings associations (banks) may provide cryptocurrency custody services to customers. The conclusion that banks may provide such services is not surprising, because banks have long provided safekeeping…

Read More

FINRA (Again) Encourages Members to Report Digital Asset Activities

U.S. broker-dealer activity involving digital assets could implicate various FINRA rules in addition to federal and state securities laws and SEC rules.  As most readers likely know by now, whether this activity is of interest to or subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. securities regulators (both federal and state) largely…

Read More

SEC Wins Injunctive Relief to Prevent Telegram's Distribution of $1.7B Worth of Cryptocurrency

In a recent decision in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Telegram Group Inc. and TON Issuer Inc., the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a motion for a preliminary injunction by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), thereby preventing the distribution to purchasers of…

Read More

Goodwin Releases Publication Covering Recent U.S. Regulatory and Legal Developments in Digital Currency + Blockchain

2019 was a year of significant regulatory and legal developments in digital currency + blockchain. The SEC issued its most comprehensive guidance to date with its Framework for “Investment Contract” Analysis of Digital Assets, followed that up with three “no action” letters for projects that in its view complied with…

Read More

SEC Deems Digital-Currency Investment Vehicle a Reporting Company

On January 21, 2020, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (the “Trust”) became the first digital currency investment vehicle to attain the status of an SEC reporting company. The Trust’s sponsor, Grayscale Investments, LLC (“Grayscale”), is a digital currency asset manager that offers cryptocurrency investment products that provide exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum, among…

Read More