On February 9, 2023, the SEC announced that it had settled charges against the world’s third largest centralized crypto exchange by volume for offering a crypto staking program that the SEC deemed to be the offering and selling of unregistered securities.
Following a host of notable bankruptcy filings in the digital asset industry, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) recently issued guidance (the DFS Guidance) to emphasize sound custody and disclosure practices for firms providing digital asset custody services to better protect customers in the event of an insolvency or similar proceeding.
Covering six key priorities related to digital assets. While this does not constitute a change in policy, it does highlight the administration’s desire to encourage both regulation and innovation in this space.
On June 7, 2022, Senators Cynthia M. Lummis (R-WY) and Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced a bill to regulate digital assets and promote financial innovation. The proposed legislation is the first significant, bipartisan effort to apply comprehensive regulation to digital assets.