The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently announced settlements with two virtual currency service providers, Bit Pay, Inc. (Bit Pay) and BitGo, Inc. (BitGo), for alleged sanctions violations. Separately, Coinbase Global Inc., (Coinbase) the largest virtual currency exchange in the U.S., has disclosed that its services may have been
NYDFS and OCC Announce Major Overhauls Important for Virtual Currency Businesses
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) each recently took significant steps to address the key impediments for virtual currency (VC) companies in the U.S. First, on June 24, NYDFS announced significant updates to its approach on Bitlicenses, New York’s business license for VC
SEC Warns Against Insider Trading Risks from Pandemic Fallout
On March 23, 2020, the co-directors of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, Stephanie Avakian and Steve Peikin, issued an unambiguous warning against insider trading and other illegal practices stemming from the COVID-19 fallout. In their joint statement, the co-directors explained that “[i]n these dynamic circumstances, corporate insiders are regularly learning new material nonpublic information