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SEC Commissioner Peirce has revived and refreshed her proposed three-year safe harbor for qualifying token projects, but some unresolved ambiguities remain.

By Miles P. Jennings, Stephen P. Wink, Naim Culhaci, and Deric Behar

US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce, a longtime and vocal advocate for innovation in financial services, has not shied away from engaging with and supporting the fledgling digital asset ecosystem. One of the milestones along this path has been the unveiling of her Token Safe Harbor Proposal on February 6, 2020, in a speech at the International Blockchain Congress. (See Taking the Scarlet Out of the Letters I-C-O.) Now, following up on a promise to refresh the proposal in light of feedback received in the past year from “the crypto community, securities lawyers, and members of the public,” Commissioner Peirce has published Token Safe Harbor Proposal 2.0 (Proposal 2.0).

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission introduces new licensing regime to regulate previously unregulated markets and restates expectations regarding security token offerings.

By Simon Hawkins, Kieran Donovan, and Kenneth Y.F. Hui

The second day of Hong Kong Fintech Week again brought together regulators and market participants from across the fintech industry for a range of insightful discussions.

Ashley Alder, Chief Executive Officer of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), delivered the day’s biggest headline in his keynote speech, announcing that the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau (FSTB) would be issuing a consultation paper proposing a new licensing regime for virtual asset service providers (VASPs), effectively creating a legal framework that brings previously unregulated activities within the SFC’s regulatory perimeter. (Further analysis is available in Latham’s Client Alert on the proposed framework.)

US Department of Justice’s sprawling report reveals regulatory enforcement priorities for cryptocurrencies and highlights multi-agency cooperation.

By Susan Engel, Miles Jennings, Benjamin Naftalis, Yvette Valdez, Eric Volkman, Stephen Wink, Douglas K. Yatter, and Deric Behar

On October 8, 2020, the US Attorney General’s Cyber-Digital Task Force of the Department of Justice (DOJ) published an extensive white paper, titled Cryptocurrency: An Enforcement Framework (the Report). The Report gives a detailed overview of legitimate uses of cryptocurrencies, the risks of illicit cryptocurrency activity, and related federal enforcement challenges and response strategies.

The long-awaited guidance clarifies the application of the “actual delivery” exception to leveraged virtual currency transactions with retail purchasers.

By Yvette D. Valdez, J. Ashley Weeks, and Deric Behar

Earlier this year, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved final interpretive guidance (Guidance) concerning retail commodity transactions involving certain digital assets. The Guidance clarifies the CFTC’s views regarding the “actual delivery” exception to Section 2(c)(2)(D) of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) in the context of virtual currencies, and is intended for exchanges, trading platforms, custodians, and other market participants transacting in virtual currencies that are considered commodities (such as Bitcoin and Ether) and traded via leverage, margin, or other financing provided by the seller, trading platform, or other third party.

HM Treasury is planning significant changes to the financial promotion regime, including expanding its scope to certain cryptoassets, and amending the approval process for promotions of unauthorised firms.

By Stuart Davis, Sam Maxson, and Anna Lewis-Martinez

On 20 July 2020, HM Treasury published two consultation papers on a regulatory framework for approval of financial promotions and cryptoasset promotions. The consultations propose to establish a regulatory “gateway” that a firm must pass through before it is able to approve the financial promotions of unauthorised firms, and to bring certain types of cryptoassets into the scope of financial promotions regulations.

Latham & Watkins lawyers provide an in-depth look at the regulation of cryptoasset trading platforms in key jurisdictions.

By Todd Beauchamp, Nozomi Oda, Yvette D. Valdez, Stephen P. Wink, and Simon Hawkins

Cryptoasset trading is a fast-growing part of the financial sector. Some countries have wholeheartedly embraced cryptoassets; others have been more reticent to permit widespread adoption. Generally, countries either interpreted existing laws and regulations to apply to cryptoassets, adopted new laws or regulations to specifically…