The New York Department of Financial Services formally implemented its Virtual Currency Assessments Rule as 23 NYCRR 102 on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, by publishing a notice of adoption in the State Register. Under the new assessments rule, entities that hold a virtual currency business activity license, the “bitlicense,” will be charged an assessment for their supervision and examination by NYDFS.

The recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank have roiled the banking sector and stock markets. They also have also caused many companies to consider their cash positioning.

A reference chart comparing certain key characteristics of demand deposits with government securities, money market funds, and other short-term cash management instruments. Please note that the chart is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal or investment advice. 

On February 15, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published sweeping and controversial proposed amendments to Rule 206(4)-2 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The Proposed Rule reflects the SEC's growing concern about the safekeeping of digital assets by advisers and the uncertainty in the marketplace about the application of the Custody Rule.

The emergence of blockchain technology has heralded significant advances across an array of industries, from financial services to consumer goods. But there are two sides to every Bitcoin. This Update analyzes both the potential antitrust pitfalls and competitive opportunities associated with blockchain.

The emergence of blockchain technology has heralded significant advances across an array of industries, from financial services to consumer goods. But there are two sides to every bitcoin.

The Digital Asset SEC Timeline serves as an interactive compilation of select SEC guidance, enforcement actions, and speeches relating to the application of the federal securities laws to digital assets.

Perkins Coie’s survey of 150 industry stakeholders involved in XR and next-gen technology, which encompasses technological advancements such as Web3 and the metaverse, shows that immersive technology has reached a critical point.

The Digital Asset SEC Timeline serves as an interactive compilation of select SEC guidance, enforcement actions, and speeches relating to the application of the federal securities laws to digital assets.

Michael Glenn and Colin Fowler talk with Erik Kulstad, cofounder of Attune Medical, about inventing and marketing new medical equipment. Attune Medical develops devices that give healthcare providers easy access to a patient’s core and allow precise temperature control, whether warming or cooling, through the esophagus when clinically indicated.

The Federal Reserve Board issued final guidelines for regional Reserve Banks to use when considering applications for Federal Reserve “master accounts”—deposit accounts that enable direct access to the Federal Reserve’s payment systems and provide critical infrastructure to financial institutions operating in the United States.

Michael Glenn and Colin Fowler discuss the future of enterprise computing, Web3, interoperable blockchain networks, and the end of siloed information with Steve Cerveny, founder and CEO of Kaleido. The conversation focuses on elements and tools of Web3 that go beyond the initial financial services use cases.

Non-fungible tokens have been widely adopted across a variety of industries. The fast-developing NFT ecosystem of technical and commercial innovation is aimed at the promise of bridging physical world concepts of uniqueness and scarcity with the digital world.

Perkins Coie and Flourish announce the release of a white paper that highlights key regulatory and compliance considerations for RIAs looking to engage with cryptocurrencies.

By restricting and changing the shape of human interaction for over a year, the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly accelerated the digitalization of many services and, in doing so, reinvigorated efforts to establish a cross-contextual digital identity infrastructure.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler outlined a vigorous enforcement approach in his keynote remarks at the annual Securities Enforcement Forum.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco announced that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is stepping further into the cryptocurrency fray by creating the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team.

The concept of the blockchain burst into the public consciousness in the latter part of the last decade, as prices of bitcoin soared in a speculative market in which everyone became suddenly familiar with terms like “wallets” and “keys.”

In what could be a harbinger of the future regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the United States, the European Commission published its recent proposal for regulation of AI systems.

On New Year’s Day 2021, Congress overrode a presidential veto to pass the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA 2020), which amends and modernizes the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).

A discussion on the ISDA’s new LIBOR fallback protocol and guidance for FCMs holding virtual currencies and single security futures.

In this episode, Dean Harvey to discusses how AI is being used in asset management and by regulated financial services intermediaries.

In this white paper the authors discuss the importance and benefits of financial privacy for individuals and businesses, as well as how privacy coins address identified deficiencies. They survey several different privacy coins and the mechanisms that each uses for privacy, encryption, and security, while looking at the approaches taken in the United States (at the federal and state level), Japan, and the United Kingdom with respect to AML regulation of privacy coins in addition to the recommendations set forth by the Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental body. 

The SEC and FINRA announced several regulatory developments this summer relating to cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and digital assets.

When a mysterious individual, or group, under the moniker of Satoshi Nakamoto published a white paper describing an “electronic peer-to-peer cash system” called Bitcoin to an obscure cryptography mailing list in 2008, the last thing on his, her, or their mind was likely the U.S. federal securities laws, much less a rule under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act), known as the “Custody Rule.”

This is the third and final part of our update series on the CFTC’s recent Guidance related to the “actual delivery” of a digital asset for purposes of the retail commodity transaction provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act. We conclude this series with an overview of the Guidance.

In Part 2 of our update series, we explore the history and background of the regulation of retail commodity transactions (RCTs) and virtual currencies, with the goal of providing an analytical context for the Guidance.

On March 24, 2020, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the CFTC) finalized long-awaited interpretive guidance regarding what constitutes the “actual delivery” of a digital asset in the context of a retail commodity transaction (RCT) under Section 2(c)(2)(D) of the Commodity Exchange Act. 

With the current coronavirus outbreak causing unprecedented social and economic upheaval and suffering, we take a look at the leading disruptive IT-related technologies to see what impact— positive, negative, or none at all—these technologies are having in our efforts to combat the effects of the coronavirus and what role these technologies could play in identifying and mitigating future pandemics.

Over the past month, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has sent letters to over ten thousand taxpayers that it believes may have failed to report virtual currency transactions (primarily Bitcoin-related) or may have omitted income derived from virtual currency transactions.

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA), which goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, has signaled a new push in the United States to strengthen and broaden privacy regulations, similar to the trends seen in the European Union through the passage and implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The staffs of the Division of Trading and Markets of the SEC and FINRA published a joint statement on July 8, 2019, articulating primary regulatory concerns regarding broker-dealers’ ability to comply with financial responsibility rules in the context of digital asset securities.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), an agency of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, administers and enforces U.S. economic sanctions programs against targeted foreign governments, individuals, groups and entities in accordance with national security and foreign policy.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub) published a framework on April 3, 2019, for analyzing whether a digital asset is offered and sold as a security under the federal securities laws.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub) published a framework on April 3, 2019, for analyzing whether a digital asset is offered and sold as a security under the federal securities laws.

Cryptocurrency owners must face death—be it their own, or that of anyone else with custody of the owner’s cryptocurrency or other digital assets. We received a stark reminder of this when the Canadian exchange QuadrigaCX recently filed court papers indicating it may have lost access to nearly $200 million USD of its customers’ Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptocurrencies.

The Ethereum Classic blockchain was the victim of a 51% attack (often called a majority or Sybil attack) on January 5, 2019 that reorganized portions of the blockchain and allowed the attackers to double-spend 219,500 ETC ($1.1 million).

The end of the year has been a very busy time for the SEC in the digital asset space. From speeches to the issuance of joint statements to enforcement actions, there are many things to highlight, discuss and consider.

On September 24, 2018, the French data protection authority, Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), became the first data protection authority to issue written guidance on the intersection of the use of blockchain technology and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

In a flurry of enforcement activity in the digital asset space, the SEC and FINRA, a self-regulatory organization for broker-dealers, announced three new enforcement actions addressing digital asset practices last month.

What is ‘custody’ and how does it relate to fiduciaries? ‘Custody’ is defined in different ways, depending on its purpose. At its core, custody relates to an arrangement under which an asset is recognised as being owned, or otherwise possessed by a person, on the person’s own behalf or on behalf of another.

In this first-of-its-kind white paper, the authors describe the development of DLT as a means for creating a decentralized, portable, secure, privacy-respecting, and entirely user-controlled online identity system, often referred to as self-sovereign identity (SSI), and outlines the high-level legal issues and technological challenges that must be addressed ahead of mass adoption.

In this white paper , the authors analyze the treatment of bitcoin under applicable U.S. property law. The authors conclude that property interests should exist in bitcoin under such law, and that multiple sources of persuasive authority provide additional support for that conclusion. 

The last 24 months has seen incredible development in the blockchain industry. We saw two of the world’s largest exchanges introduce bitcoin futures contracts, market capitalization for digital tokens grew over 3000 percent, and over a dozen central banks and many major financial institutions around the world announced their interest in blockchain-based technologies.

During a speech in San Francisco last week at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit, William Hinman, Director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), provided some welcome clarity regarding the applicability of the federal securities laws to digital assets and tokens projects.

This update was published in ABA Business Law Today  "Ether Is Not A Security: Summary of SEC Division of Corporation Finance Director Hinman’s Remarks," on 06.2018.

It is no secret that the value of many virtual currencies (in particular, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin) rose over the past year. The associated legal and tax challenges are less well-known but vitally important (at least for those looking to avoid potential criminal and civil penalties). As the April 15 tax deadline fast approaches, one of the most notable issues affecting holders of virtual currency is their tax reporting obligations.

Smart contracts have received significant attention from legal academics and attorneys for the impact they may have on contract law and the role of lawyers. Some have also identified and described a series of use cases for smart contracts. However, the literature currently lacks a comprehensive discussion of the legal implications of use cases that are unrelated to contract law. 

At this year’s PLI “SEC Speaks” conference held February 22-23, 2018, in Washington, D.C., the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s senior leadership showcased its 2017 accomplishments, and previewed priorities for 2018 and beyond.

Highlighted in  Law360's: "In Case you Missed It:  Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360," on 03.02.2018.

In its most significant action since issuing the DAO Report in July 2017, the SEC again took aim at initial coin offerings on December 11, 2017, when, through its new Enforcement Cyber Unit, the SEC entered into an administrative settlement with Munchee, Inc., for conducting unregistered offers and sales of securities.

Perkins Coie's Digital Currencies: International Actions and Regulations was featured in “Here’s How the U.S. and the World Are Regulating Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency.”

In this white paper, the authors cover topics such as: Digital Asset Sales and Capital Markets, Supply Chain Management, Land Registries, Government Records and Smart Cities, and Self-Sovereign Identity

Less than two decades ago, fund groups wrestled with whether it was worthwhile to create websites.

Click here to read full article.

In another installment of the continuing saga surrounding the shuttering of the Silk Road online marketplace and arrest of its alleged creator and operator, Ross William Ulbricht (Ulbricht), a Southern District of New York judge denied Ulbricht’s motion to dismiss the four-count indictment against him.

New York State DFS Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky today issued proposed rules applicable to virtual currency businesses.

On April 29, 2014, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a series of administrative rulings determining whether five different companies constitute money services businesses under FinCEN regulations.

In this Law360 article, Perkins Coie attorneys discuss the recent notice issued by the IRS on how it will apply U.S. tax principles to transactions involving virtual currency. The U.S. Government Accountability Office had previously issued a report on virtual economies and currencies, calling for additional IRS guidance on the basic tax reporting requirements applicable to virtual currencies.

On January 30, 2014, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued two administrative letter rulings that clarify the application of FinCEN’s regulations to certain participants in the virtual currency ecosystem.

The virtual currency industry is in the news once again following the October 1, 2013, Federal Bureau of Investigation’s shutdown of the “Silk Road” website.

A political action committee has sought an advisory opinion from the Federal Election Commission as to whether bitcoins can be accepted as political contributions and, if so, how bitcoins should be characterized and valued by recipients.

Riding the coattails of an August 6, 2013 federal court ruling that alleged Ponzi-schemer Trendon Shavers’ Bitcoin-based investment scheme constituted an investment contract, and therefore is a “security” under the federal securities laws, various federal and state lawmakers have aligned their attention to issues affecting the virtual currency market.

In response to the SEC’s first civil complaint arising from online virtual currency trading, alleged Bitcoin Ponzi schemer Trendon Shavers recently challenged the district court’s authority to hear the case.

On July 23, 2013, the SEC ventured into the electronic currency world by filing a civil complaint against virtual currency “trader” Trendon Shavers and his company, Bitcoin Savings and Trust, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Federal authorities have initiated several recent enforcement actions that are indicative of continuing regulatory changes in the virtual currency industry.

To address a perceived gap in regulatory treatment of increasingly popular virtual currencies, including Bitcoin, the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released new guidance on March 18, 2013.

The webinar examined recent events, beginning with the Terraform Labs cryptocurrency collapse and continuing to the downfall of various entities, including FTX Trading Ltd. and Silicon Valley Bank. Our panel of experts addressed key legal and regulatory issues relating to these events.

Blockchain technology has heralded significant advancements across an array of industries, but it can also present competitive concerns.

This diverse panel discussed the ups and downs of these advancements, considering potential innovations like mobile wallet solutions that could be applied seamlessly across jurisdictions if regulatory alignment and approval were achieved, the increased availability of cryptocurrency and looked at the potential concerns and hurdles that must be overcome prior to widespread adoption.

Valeska Pederson Hintz, Arthur Greenspan, and Carolyn White, presented "Fraud: Selling Ahead of Availability and Insider Trading" during the Consensus 2022 Roundtable Sessions in the Austin office.

Joe Cutler presented "Identifying and Resolving Legal Issues for Layer 1 Protocols" during the Consensus 2022 Roundtable Sessions in the Austin office.

Jim Walker and Sarah Shtylman presented "Legal Frameworks for NFTs" during the Consensus 2022 Roundtable Sessions in the Austin office.

Drawing from a panel of industry experts, explored whether all the hype around the promise of “self-sovereign” data and identity solutions with Web3.0 is real or a mirage.

Lowell D. Ness and Valeska Pederson Hintz presented "Raising Capital for Blockchain Projects" during the Consensus 2022 Roundtable Sessions in the Austin office.

Dax Hansen presented "Regenerative Agriculture Crypto Acceleration Luncheon Roundtable" during the Consensus 2022 Roundtable Sessions in the Austin office.

Dax Hansen presented "Sports Digital & Blockchain Roundup: Mobile Sports Betting, Tradeable Digital Products, and Cryptocurrency" during the Sports Lawyers Association Annual Conference.

The panel will discuss the wide variety of regulatory regimes and agencies with potential jurisdiction over cryptocurrency and digital asset products, including FinCEN, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and banking regulators.

Dax Hansen spoke about leveraging his blockchain expertise to bring transparency to the food supply chain on The Modern Acre podcast.

Join us for a webinar as we provide the primer on NFTs.

Perkins Coie held a panel at Consensus 2019 to discuss the factors that can help shape the outcome of successful blockchain consortia engagements.

Watch the panel.

Watch the roundtable session.

The panel will be discussing data privacy, GDPR Compliance and how they can be applied to blockchain technology.

Is technological advancement in governance and strategy making funds more efficient and easier to manage, or are corporate governance risks and challenges reaching a point that should concern investors?

Washington Chamber of Commerce and Perkins Coie are delighted to host an extraordinary event on June 21, 2018 featuring the Washington state DFI.

Partner Dax Hansen gives a keynote on the legal aspects of blockchain at Polycon 2018. View video of the presentation. 

Moderated by Carla Reyes
What are the legal and regulatory implications of blockchain technologies? How do we close the governance gap? Must current regulatory and governance frameworks adapt to these new technologies, or should the technology adapt to the regulatory frameworks?

What are the relevant laws and regulations for blockchain technologies? What opportunities and challenges might regulators face when building new regulatory frameworks for crypto-currencies and other blockchain-based applications?

Blockchain technologies offer new opportunities for secure and non-counterfeitable identity platforms and systems. Yet, the decentralized nature of these technologies raises important concerns when it comes to establishing the identities of users.

Three RANE experts in digital currencies and the technologies underpinning them will spend an hour laying out the latest evolution in the digital currency markets and the newest applications of blockchain technologies.

Panelists will discuss how to navigate and balance compliance and consumer protection with regulatory uncertainty. There will also be a focus on evolving consumer expectations driven by powerful online, mobile and emerging technologies such as blockchains.

International Money Transfer Conference

Perkins Coie Counsel Joseph Cutler will be speaking at the upcoming Law Seminars International conference titled, Cybersecurity Law and Strategies, on the topic "Challenges & Solutions: Advanced Persistent Threats."

This discussion will address application of the Prepaid Access Final Rule, its intent and purpose, and the regulatory expectations.

This discussion will address lessons learned from the Sony data breach and other recent cases. We will also address how to work with law enforcement and what steps your company should be taking to enhance security and strengthen the network infrastructure.

As a follow-up to our previous roundtable "Virtual Currencies: Real Legal Issues for Interactive Entertainment Companies" we will examine more closely the unclaimed property issues associated with virtual currency systems and customer loyalty programs and also dive into the revenue and liability recognition issues associated with virtual currency systems and customer loyalty programs.

In the last decade, the business world has been transformed by the availability of an overwhelming amount of information. The collection of personal information and dependence on systems creates an obligation of companies to protect the personal information of their customers, employees, and partners.