The GMAC recommendation should help the US catch up with regulatory sandboxes and other projects that are underway in other countries. Many major financial institutions and industry groups have been focused for years on the benefits of DLT and related technologies (not necessarily public permissionless blockchains) for delivering market efficiency, safety and transparency. Having some regulatory clarity and certainty in the US would go a long way toward achieving the promise of these…

The agencies' inconsistent stance—acknowledged by certain commissioners—has led to significant frustration among industry participants. Given the likelihood that a new SEC will prioritize rulemaking to bring clarity to the crypto sector rather than relying on regulation by enforcement, and with the incoming administration's focus, it is likely that there will be a serious effort for rulemaking to bring about consistency and clarity. This raises the question: will this issue (possibly…

The SEC has taken various approaches to advance its agenda on greenwashing and other types of ESG disclosures and compliance, including, for example, the fund names rule, the proposed rules for ESG funds and strategies, the currently stayed rules for public company reporting and enforcement actions such as this.

This enforcement is interesting because the fund manager tried to use relevant ESG screens from a third party provider, but the screens did not match the funds' prospectus and…

The SEC's agreement to settle on these particular terms strongly implies that Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ether are not securities. Of course, this reiterates the SEC's position that everything else on the company's platform is a security. This settlement does not provide a clear or useful pathway for brokers, dealers and clearing agencies to register with the SEC to provide services in the crypto space, despite there being clear market demand for such services. Merely keeping participants out…