General Developments/Background

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Weekly Focus:

  • Jay Clayton to step down as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission
  • Brian Brooks nominated to five-year term as Comptroller of Currency
  • Origin Protocol attacked, resulting in estimated loss of $7 million
  • SEC issues no-action letter for IMVU
  • Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group plans launch of blockchain payments network in 2021
  • Texas State Securities Board files emergency cease-and-desist orders against ten digital asset investment platforms

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Continue Reading Blockchain Week in Review: Week of November 20, 2020

Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that it has obtained no-action relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission Staff that clears the way for its client IMVU Inc., to sell VCOIN, a blockchain-based digital asset, as a transferable non-security to its users worldwide.

IMVU is the world’s largest avatar-based social platform with a global network…

Weekly Focus:

  • DOJ Seizes More Than $1 Billion in Cryptocurrency from Silk Road Hacker
  • CFTC Announces Charges Against Digital Asset Ponzi Scheme
  • SEC’s Enforcement Division Collected $4.68 Billion in 2020
  • Vortex Blockchain Technologies Settles with the SEC
  • Blockchain Industry Speculates on Regulation in a Biden Administration
  • LabCFTC Announces Agenda for Empower Innovation 2020
  • Cred Inc. Files for Chapter 11 in Delaware
  • Deutsche Bank Publishes Report on CBDC
  • Reserve Bank of Australia Partners with Blockchain Company on CBDC Project
  • Lebanon’s Central Bank Progresses on Plans for CBDC
  • Russian Central Bank Issues CBDC Consultation Paper
  • Bank of Canada Is Working with G7 on Global Approach to Digital Currencies
  • The U.K. Treasury Announces Plans to Regulate Stablecoins
  • Germany Drafts Bill for Blockchain-Based Securities

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Continue Reading Blockchain Week in Review: Week of November 13, 2020

Weekly Focus:

  • Kik & SEC Agree to $5M Judgment
  • CFTC Releases Advisory on Futures Commission Merchants
  • New York “Techsprint” Focuses on Virtual Currency Companies
  • Powell Considers U.S. Digital Dollar at IMF Virtual Panel
  • Ripple Considers Leaving U.S. over Lack of Regulatory Clarity
  • New Jersey “Digital Asset and Blockchain Technology Act” Moves Forward in State Legislature
  • IMF Issues New Report on CBDCs and GSCs
  • The Bahamas Rolls Out First CBDC, the “Sand Dollar”
  • Bank of Spain Releases CBDC Research Plan

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Continue Reading Blockchain Week in Review: Week of October 23, 2020

Blockchain Unconference – by the WTIA Cascadia Blockchain Council

Free to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/blockchain-unconference-tickets-114448921806

October 14, 2020 9:00 am – 1:30 pm

Valerie Dahiya and Lowell Ness present “Tokenized Securities” – which can be viewed below:

 

Counsel Sarah Shtylman will be a part of the The Block Presents: DeFi and The Law – A round table discussion with crypto’s leading lawyers

Link to register: https://app.livestorm.co/the-block/the-block-presents-defi-and-the-law-a-round-table-discussion-with-cryptos-leading-lawyers

10/13 – 9:00 am Pacific/12:00 pm Eastern

Live stream panel titled Can Privacy-Preserving Cryptocurrencies and Regulation Co-exist?

Join Electric Coin Co and a panel of experts to learn more about the compatibility of privacy, cryptocurrencies and existing regulation.

Panelists:

Yusuf Hussain, Head of Risk, Gemini

Dana Syracuse, Partner, Perkins Coie

Jack Gavigan, Regulatory Relations, …

Weekly Focus

  • CFTC and DOJ Actions Involving BitMEX
  • SEC Settlement with Salt Lending
  • CFTC Action Against PaxForex
  • Summary Judgment Granted in SEC Action Against Kik
  • FinCEN and OFAC Issue Advisories on Ransomware
  • FinCEN Director Blanco Speech at ACAMS AML Conference
  • French Authorities Investigate Use of Virtual Currency to Fund Terrorism

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Continue Reading Blockchain Week in Review: Week of October 2, 2020

Part of Future Industry Association’s (FIA) L&C Division Webinar Series

Join the FIA Law & Compliance Division on 22 October for a webinar regarding virtual currency transactions. The CFTC recently finalized its interpretive guidance on what qualifies as “actual delivery” of virtual currency for purposes of the Commodity Exchange Act’s retail commodity transaction definition. In…

The staff (“Staff”) of the Division of Trading and Markets of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a no-action letter (NAL) at the request of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on September 25, 2020, which built upon a joint statement (“Joint Statement”) issued by the staffs of the SEC and FINRA in 2019 (please see our prior client update for additional discussion of this 2019 guidance). As part of its guidance, the Joint Statement provided an example of a noncustodial business model for broker-dealers that involved the operation of an alternative trading system (ATS). Upon a request by FINRA on behalf of its broker-dealer members, the NAL provides modified relief for ATSs that meet certain conditions, enabling them to settle digital asset security trades under a slightly modified structure designed to reduce operational and settlement risks.…
Continue Reading SEC Staff Provides Relief on the Role of ATSs in the Settlement of Digital Asset Security Trades