On November 30, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen requesting that she coordinate with other financial regulators to further work on the recommendations from the Financial Stability Oversight Council Report on Digital Asset Financial Stability Risks and Regulation (FSOC report), which we previously discussed here.
On November 28, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $362,158.70 settlement with Payward, Inc. d/b/a Kraken. The Delaware-incorporated virtual currency exchange allegedly processed 826 transactions amounting to approximately $1.7 million on behalf of individuals located in Iran. In addition to the fine, Kraken also has agreed to
On November 10, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a new complaint bulletin, highlighting consumer complaints it has received related to crypto-assets. The bulletin suggests that fraud, theft, hacks, and scams pose a significant problem in crypto-asset markets. Also, according to the bulletin, consumers reported issues with executing transactions and transferring assets between
Missouri recently modernized its money laundering statute to define cryptocurrency and to include cryptocurrency within its definition of “monetary instruments.” This is a significant step for Missouri as it eliminates what was once a safe harbor, by clarifying any underlying confusion and permitting state prosecutors to pursue previously elusive criminal activity.
Missouri amended its money
On October 3, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) released its “Report on Digital Asset Financial Stability Risks and Regulation” (Report), concluding, among other things, that unregulated cryptocurrencies could pose a risk to the stability of the U.S. financial system. FSOC further recommended legislation empowering financial regulators to more vigorously oversee the industry
On August 19, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued cease and desist letters to five cryptocurrency companies, demanding they refrain from making allegedly false and misleading statements about deposit insurance.
“Based upon evidence collected by the FDIC, each of these companies made false representations — including on their websites and social media accounts —
On August 15, the Federal Reserve Board (Fed) issued final guidelines, outlining the tiered approach it will use when evaluating the growing requests from fintech firms and cryptocurrency companies for access to master accounts. The guidelines make clear that while requests from institutions with federal deposit insurance will be subject to a streamlined review, institutions
On June 20, the Louisiana Office for Financial Institutions (OFI) proposed a Rule on licensure, registration, and regulation of persons engaging, or planning to engage, in virtual currency business activity in Louisiana. The Rule follows the mandate set by Louisiana’s Virtual Currency Business Act (VCBA), effective August 1, 2020, requiring virtual currency businesses to hold
On June 6, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), member of the Senate Banking Committee, introduced a draft bipartisan bill, the Responsible Innovation Act (Act), which is Congress’s first attempt to construct an all-encompassing digital asset regulatory framework. The breadth of the Act is sweeping, and
On April 28, bipartisan lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation, allowing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to oversee cryptocurrency spot markets. The legislation intends to create a framework to fill the regulatory gaps between the CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) digital asset marketplace and related regimes.