Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Business Crimes BulletinFeaturesCryptocurrencyRegulationWhite Collar Crime

Crypto Winter Leads to Explosion of Regulatory Activity

By Mark Bini, Kaela Dahan and Victoria Jaus
August 01, 2023

Legendary investor Warren Buffet famously said, "only when the tide goes out do you discover who has been swimming naked." In the past year, following the Crypto Winter, there has been an explosion of activity by United States regulators and enforcers. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in particular has made clear that it thinks everyone in the crypto pool is swimming without their trunks. Ironically, while the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have brought a great deal of enforcement actions, they also have loudly disagreed with each other over who has jurisdiction, i.e., which digital assets are securities and which are commodities. Crypto companies, for their part, have complained that it is not clear what digital assets, if any, are securities, and that they have not been given clear regulatory rules of the road.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has paved its own path forward in the crypto space. Judge Rakoff once famously wrote, "to prosecutors of white collar crime, the mail fraud statute is our Stradivarius, our Colt 45, our Louisville Slugger, our Cuisinart — and our true love." Jed S. Rakoff, The Federal Mail Fraud Statute (Part 1), 8 Duq. L. Rev. 771 (1980). Modern day white-collar prosecutors have often relied on mail fraud's cousin, wire fraud, and have used that statute to great effect in the crypto space. By principally relying on the wire fraud statute, federal prosecutors have largely sidestepped the question of whether and which digital assets constitute securities or not.

This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only

  • Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
  • Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
  • Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts

For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473

Read These Next
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It Image

Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?

Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough Image

There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.

The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later Image

The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.

A Lawyer's System for Active Reading Image

Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.

Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners Image

Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.