A group of investors in Ripple’s cryptocurrency XRP filed an amended complaint exploiting recent guidance published by the Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC’s “Framework for ‘Investment Contract’ Analysis of Digital Assets” provides guidance for evaluating whether a particular cryptocurrency has the characteristics of an “investment contract” and therefore subject to registration under federal securities laws. The SEC’s “Framework” identifies each of the…
On August 20, 2019, the Swiss Banking Association (“SBA”) released guidelines for member banks (in German with Italian, French and English versions to follow) about opening company accounts for companies with a nexus to distributed ledger technology (“DLT”). These guidelines update the SBA’s guidelines from September 21, 2018. The guidelines outline what banks should require of DLT-nexus companies in the account opening process to address risk management related to issues such as anti-money laundering (“AML”).…
Crypto exchange startup INX Limited filed a preliminary prospectus outlining its plans to raise between $5 million and $129.5 million in an initial public offering (IPO), making it one of few cryptocurrency companies to seek a U.S. listing for its tokens through registration of a public offering. INX filed a prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August in anticipation of an offering of approximately 130 million INX security tokens. Leveraging guidance…
On September 11, 2019, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has issued guidance on the regulatory treatment of stable coins. As a supplement to the previously issued ICO Guidelines, FINMA outlines how it treats stable coins under the Swiss regulatory framework. In this connection, FINMA also gives initial indications on the request for a regulatory assessment filed by the Geneva-based Libra Association, a high-profile cryptocurrency project orchestrated by Facebook Inc. There is no special…
The Bank of The Republic of Burundi issued a statement in which it banned the use of cryptocurrencies in the country. The Statement said, “Since virtual currencies or cryptocurrencies are not regulated and are not issued or guaranteed by any Government or Central Bank, these currencies do not have legal tender in the territory of Burundi.” The measure was justified as a consumer protection measure: “virtual currencies are traded on unregulated online platforms around the…
In 2018, the Marshall Islands passed a Sovereign Currency Act, declaring its intention to release a new, national digital currency. In an essay published by Coindesk on September 4, The Honorable David Paul, Minister In-Assistance to the President and Environment of the Marshall Islands, stated that the official launch of the cryptocurrency – to be known as the sovereign (SOV) coin — will be announce at Invest:Asia 2019, upcoming in Singapore on September 12. Currently,…