It is always a good thing for the regulators to avoid imposing two sets of regulations on the same activity. However, the limitation under the proposed exemption of selling only to a single Qualified Provider seems to create a needless conflict between the interests of the issuer and the municipal advisor. For example, what happens if the advisor can obtain better terms by selling to two clients, rather than to a single client? As a practical matter, the advisor will have to sell only to the…

For those hoping that cryptocurrencies may come into wider use, the IRS's affirmation of its existing guidance is bad news, even if expected. It means that the purchase of a cryptocurrency and the subsequent use of that cryptocurrency to purchase an asset constitutes a taxable event; i.e., that a positive change in the value of the cryptocurrency between the time of its purchase and the time of its use would be taxable. This tax treatment would not be problematic for a "stablecoin" linked to…

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This is an early shot in what is likely to be an extended battle over potential revisions to the National Market System and, most importantly, how fees relating to trading through the system are charged.