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Steve Gannon, James Goldfarb, and Matthew Comstock of our FinTech & Blockchain Practice authored an article about digital asset regulation in the United States for the US-Israel Legal Review 2021. Read the full article here.
About this Site:
This site is a resource for those interested in legal and regulatory developments in the application of blockchain technology, provided by McGonigle. We regularly work with financial services companies that have a stake in legal and regulatory developments impacting blockchain technology. We created this site to provide periodic updates on important developments in the law surrounding blockchain technology.
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Wyoming Crypto Bank Sues Federal Reserve Over Delay in Application For a Master Account
by: Gaurav K. Talwar | Blockchain Law Center | (06/09/2022)
In a complaint filed on June 7, 2022, Wyoming-based Custodia Bank accused the Federal Reserve of illegally delaying a decision on Custodia’s October 2020 application for access to critical payment systems offered to other banks.
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Bipartisan Senators Propose Regulatory Overhaul of Crypto Markets
by: Gaurav K. Talwar | Blockchain Law Center | (06/09/2022)
On June 7, 2022, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) unveiled their long-awaited bipartisan framework to overhaul the regulation of cryptocurrencies, including by defining most digital assets as commodities and granting the CFTC significant authority to regulate digital assets that do not qualify as securities under the Howey test.
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SEC Announces Charges in Cryptomining and Trading Scheme
by: Rebecca D. Kerley | Blockchain Law Center | (05/06/2022)
The SEC has announced fraud charges stemming from unregistered offerings and sales of investment plans called mining packages, which promised investors signficant returns.
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Terra/Luna - Valuable Lessons About What Stablecoins Are and Aren’t
by: Stephen T. Gannon, Lisa Weingarten Richards, Maggie Sklar
In the week following the meltdown of the UST token, subsequent to its inability to protect its $1.00 peg, much commentary has been offered in connection with the meaning of that fiasco. Prominent within that commentary are loud and strident calls for more regulation, not only of stablecoins in general but across the entire digital asset industry. But the factual basis for extensive and compulsory industry-wide regulation is not supported by the events leading up to and underpinning the UST failure, and the most effective and fast-acting remedies will be voluntary adoption of new risk tools and disclosure standards by the industry.
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President Biden Issues Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets
by: Thomas P. DeFranco
President Biden issued the Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets (the "Order").
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Client Alert: "Jury Diverges from SEC in Finding That Digital Assets are Not Securities"
by: Katherine Cooper, Thomas P. DeFranco, Daniel M. Payne
The verdict is remarkable for its break with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s position that Hashlets are investment contracts in the action it brought against Mr. Garza in 2015. This difference is demonstrative of the uncertainty which currently characterizes much of the regulatory landscape facing individuals and entities operating in the cryptocurrency space.

Blockchain Litigation Database
The Blockchain Litigation Database tracks blockchain and cryptocurrency-related litigation using a data-based, analytical approach to enable subscribers to follow the development of the case law, analyze legal risks, perform due diligence on counterparties, and more.