Posts tagged Crypto Assets.
Time 2 Minute Read

On May 29, 2025, staff in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued a statement on “Certain Protocol Staking Activities.” For certain “staking” activities on blockchain networks that use proof-of-stake (“PoS”) as a consensus mechanism (“PoS Networks”), the SEC staff is of the view that such activities do not involve the offer and sale of securities under the SEC’s Howey test.

Time 2 Minute Read

On May 15, 2025, the staff of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets issued new FAQs relating to crypto asset activities and distributed ledger technology. Additionally, the staffs of the Division of Trading and Markets and the Office of General Counsel of FINRA also withdrew their 2019 joint statement regarding broker-dealer custody of digital asset securities.

Time 2 Minute Read

In prepared remarks at the SEC’s roundtable on tokenization held May 12, 2025, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins provided a roadmap for the SEC’s future efforts involving crypto and digital assets. A “key priority,” Atkins declared, “will be to develop a rational regulatory framework for crypto asset markets that establishes clear rules of the road . . . while continuing to discourage bad actors from violating the law.”

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In his first public statement since being sworn in on April 21, new SEC Chairman Paul Atkins delivered remarks on April 25 at the third roundtable of the SEC’s Crypto Task Force.

Time 2 Minute Read

Following President Trump’s Executive Order on Digital Assets, which instructed agencies to streamline and rationalize regulation of the digital asset space in a way that is technology-neutral, federal agencies have been responding. Below we summarize recent activities by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Time 3 Minute Read

On February 27, 2025, staff in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued a public statement on so-called meme coins. According to the statement, meme coins meeting certain specified conditions will not be deemed securities for purposes of the federal securities laws.

Time 3 Minute Read

FINRA, the self-regulatory organization overseeing the US broker-dealer industry, recently announced two items of interest for broker-dealers offering crypto asset securities. On January 9, 2024, FINRA published its 2024 Annual Regulatory Oversight Report, which includes a detailed section for broker-dealers conducting a crypto asset business. Then, on January 23, 2024, FINRA published a report detailing the results of a targeted sweep examination on customer communications involving crypto assets, finding potential substantive violations of FINRA Rule 2210 in approximately 70 percent of surveyed communications.

Time 5 Minute Read

On February 15, 2023, by a 4-1 vote, the SEC proposed new rules regarding an investment adviser’s obligation to custody assets. Unlike the existing rules, if adopted, the new rules would apply to all crypto assets.

Time 2 Minute Read

On November 10, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced the publication of a “complaint bulletin” analyzing consumer complaints relating to crypto assets. The CFPB periodically releases a “complaint bulletin” to summarize key trends among the financial products and services complaints it receives. By devoting an entire bulletin to crypto assets, the CFPB may be foreshadowing greater scrutiny of the asset class and increased enforcement activity in the space.

The Hunton Blockchain Blog features opinions and legal analysis as we follow the development and use of distributed ledger technology known as the blockchain.

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