Robinhood Markets has confirmed that it had received an investigative subpoena from the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) over its digital asset business' crypto listings, custody and platform operations. In a 10-K filing, the brokerage said it received the investigative subpoena in December shortly after crypto exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy in November, and after "several other major cryptocurrency trading venues and lending platforms earlier in 2022," including Three Arrows Capital, Voyager Digital Holdings and Celsius Network. The investigative subpoena was in relation to its cryptocurrency listings and custody services, which they said came in response to the crypto …

The World Wide Web, as its name implies, is borderless, and so is crypto. The internet and cryptocurrency’s common ethos is wide-open communication and exchange, unimpeded by national boundaries. On the ground, however, as crypto has become a more significant player in the financial system, nations have begun to consider issues of sovereignty and regulation. While many countries have so far remained open to crypto, others have restricted its use or outright banned it. The same reason that some have advocated for crypto and blockchain technology — as a means of revolutionizing the international financial system — has alarmed plenty …

On Feb. 13, a federal judge put the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission cases against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried on hold. You’ll be forgiven if you missed this story — headlines and social media were dominated by the breaking news that the SEC was suing crypto firm Paxos for minting Binance’s stablecoin, Binance USD (BUSD). But we’re not here to debate whether stablecoins are securities. The Howey test has been discussed to death, and while it’s true that few people expect to profit from a token pegged to a fiat currency, the issue is …

A five-member panel of the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has voted 4-1 in favor of a proposal that may make it more difficult for cryptocurrency firms to serve as digital asset custodians in the future. The proposal, which is yet to be officially approved by the SEC, recommends amendments to the “2009 Custody Rule” will apply to custodians of “all assets” including cryptocurrencies, according to a Feb. 15 statement from SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. Gensler stated that currently, some crypto trading platforms that are offering custody services are not actual “qualified custodians.” According to the SEC, a qualified …

The settlement between Kraken (Payward Ventures) and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission set off alarm bells in the crypto community this month. Apparently, Kraken — one of the most compliance-minded crypto exchanges in existence — decided to buy its peace rather than fight with the SEC for years over whether it was offering unregistered “securities” through its staking program. The nature of the settlement is that Kraken neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s allegations, and the existence of the settlement, technically speaking, cannot be used as legal precedent for any argument either side of the issue might present. …

Reactions were predictable depending on where you stand on crypto in general. Crypto advocates railed against regulators who are slowly asphyxiating this burgeoning industry, while skeptics celebrated crypto’s impending demise. The advocates have it right. Antagonistic regulators will force crypto into friendlier jurisdictions, which will reap the economic benefits. The skeptics have it right, too. This event, and much of those from last year, is killing crypto. Their apparent glee is misplaced, though. This is a good thing. Emboldened by the slew of blow-ups of crypto businesses in 2022, the SEC and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission have begun to …

New Hampshire is on the verge of becoming a national leader in cryptocurrency if its legislature follows through on recommendations made by a commission appointed by Governor Chris Sununu. The recommendations would establish a legal framework for blockchain and crypto businesses in the state, providing clarity and certainty to entrepreneurs and regulators while avoiding the onerous and largely pointless special rules federal regulators and members of Congress want to impose on the industry. The proposed rules would also protect consumers, depositors and investors. Blockchain businesses presently exist in something of a legal gray area in the United States. Congress has …

On Jan. 24, the dYdX Foundation, the entity responsible for the dYdX decentralized crypto exchange, announced “changes” to its tokenomics — the way it distributes tokens to early investors, employees and contractors, and, of course, the public. So, what’s uncommon about the situation? The project’s foundation, in agreement with dYdX Trading Inc. and its early investors, decided to amend the project's tokenomics and extend the period for which such investors’ initial batch of tokens would be locked, changing the date from Feb. 1 to Dec. 1, 2023. Whether this was a good or a bad thing depended on which side …

Blockchain projects continue to experience failure rates in excess of 90%, and it seems that with every passing moment, more and more “successful” companies add their underperforming blockchain project to the graveyard. One of the most recent blockchain failure victims was Moller-Maersk, which recently announced the termination of its highly publicized TradeLens offering — a global trade platform built on IBM blockchain technology. These failures, however, were totally predictable and, in many cases, would be avoidable if companies more closely observed certain lessons in innovation diffusion. Lesson 1: Innovation is not monolithic. One of the biggest mistakes companies make is …

The case of LBRY highlights a wave of renewed regulatory pressure that could affect both blockchain token-issuing companies and their investors. In November, an over year-long court battle between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and blockchain development company LBRY and its LBRY Credits (LBC) token culminated in the ruling of the token as an unregistered security, despite the company's argument of its use as a commodity within the platform. The court’s decision in this case sets a precedent that could influence not only the regulatory perception of blockchain-based platforms, but cryptocurrencies as well. The old Howey Old …

Eight major media companies including Bloomberg, The Financial Times and Reuters have demanded public disclosure of the two individuals responsible for guaranteeing FTX former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's $250 million bond. In a Jan. 12 letter addressed to New York District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, attorneys from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP — acting on behalf of the media giants — argued that “the public’s right to know Bankman-Fried's guarantors outweighed their privacy and safety rights.” Media organizations looking to persuade the judge to unseal the identities of Bankman-Fried's guarantors include the Associated Press, Bloomberg, CNBC, Dow Jones, The Financial Times, Insider …

The United States House of Representatives finally elected a speaker last week, concluding a four-day, 15-ballot ordeal that left many wondering if political gridlock was now the new normal in the U.S., and if so, what the consequences would be. For example, were the concessions made by Republican Kevin McCarthy to secure his election as speaker ultimately going to make it difficult to achieve any sort of legislative consensus, making it impossible for the U.S. to raise its debt ceiling and fund the government later this year? Not all were optimistic. The House of Representatives will be largely “ungovernable” in …