As the market cap of cryptocurrencies has grown to the point where mainstream financial industry players are jumping aboard the blockchain bandwagon with greater fervor than ever, and NFTs make headlines (and paydays) for famous and obscure celebrities alike, regulators in Beijing and Washington are ramping up their efforts in the space, each in its
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Disney Patents Blockchain-Based Anti-piracy Movie Distribution System
How do motion picture studios protect their valuable content from piracy during distribution and exhibition in theaters? A recently awarded Disney patent aims to tackle such issues using blockchain, the distributed ledger technology underpinning popular cryptocurrencies.
The patent, “Blockchain Configuration For Secure Content Delivery” outlines the workings of a blockchain-based content distribution system for delivering,
You Asked, We Answered: NFTs and Virtual Currency in Games: Compliance Issues and Legal Risks
This post was previously published on Venable’s All About Advertising Law blog.
Game developers and platform providers are increasingly integrating non-fungible tokens (NFTs), virtual currencies, and digital marketplaces into their games and platforms, creating seamless, novel, and interactive experiences. While the industry has moved ahead quickly, federal and state regulators are taking a much closer
Join Us on July 22 for a Discussion on NFTs and Virtual Currency in Games: Compliance Issues and Legal Risks
Game developers and platform providers are increasingly integrating NFTs (non-fungible tokens), virtual currencies, and digital marketplaces into their games and platforms, creating seamless, novel, and interactive experiences. While the industry has moved ahead quickly, federal and state regulators are taking a much closer look at how these technologies fit within existing legal frameworks.
This webinar
Federal Reserve Dives Deep into Central Bank Digital Currencies
Federal Reserve Board (FRB) Chair Jerome H. Powell announced on Thursday May 20, 2021, the Federal Reserve plans to publish a discussion paper this summer that will explore the possibility of issuing a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC).
According to Powell in a video message, the Federal Reserve has been carefully monitoring recent technological
Who Is Investing in Cryptocurrencies?
Women, that’s who. Why? Because women “get it,” according to the media. Over the past year, there have been a plethora of articles encouraging women to invest in virtual currencies, and, according to the Wall Street Journal, this effort is beginning to yield results.
The WSJ quotes Christine Brown, COO of Robinhood Crypto, as
Purchased Bitcoin in 2020? IRS Might (or Might Not) Require Reporting on Your Tax Return
As tax season heads into full swing, cryptocurrency traders may be in for a surprise when they sit down to complete their 2020 taxes. This year, for the first time, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is including a question about cryptocurrency transactions on the first page of Individual Income Tax Returns, Form 1040.
The
Mastercard to Directly Support Cryptocurrencies on Its Payment Network – But Not Bitcoin
Mastercard has announced that it will begin supporting select cryptocurrencies directly on its payment network this year. Mastercard made the announcement in February, touting that the change would create “more possibilities for shoppers and merchants,” enabling them to move digital value – traditional or crypto – in a new form of payment.
Unlike Mastercard’s previous
NFTs Promise Digital Scarcity Through the Blockchain for Artists, Athletes, and Celebrities – and an Abundance of New Legal Issues
On March 11, 2021, a piece of digital art sold for $69,000,000.00 (yes, sixty-nine million United States dollars) at Christie’s Auction House (online, of course). That happened roughly five months after its original sale, meaning that the piece created by the artist known as Beeple sold for over 100,000% of its original price ($66,666.66), pushing Beeple
PYMNTS Quotes Ed Wilson on the Creation—and Risks—of Sovereign Digital Currencies
On March 15, 2021, Ed Wilson was quoted in PYMNTS on the creation of sovereign digital currencies. According to the article, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last month that central banks should explore creating and issuing sovereign digital currencies. The hypothesis is that such currencies—digital dollars among them—could create “faster, safer and cheaper payments,”
A JPG File sells for $69 Million and Historic tweets Up for Auction as Blockchain and NFTs Explode
On Thursday, March 11, a piece of digital art – a JPG file – sold for $69 million. Why would a purely digital work of art ever sell for that much? Scarcity and proof of ownership. That’s right, the underpinning of popular cryptocurrencies – blockchain – is being used to create NFTs (nonfungible tokens) to
Venable Brings Trademark Law Intelligence to Its New Naming Service
Venable’s elite Trademark Prosecution and Counseling Group recently announced the launch of its Wellbrand service, an innovative naming solution that leverages the firm’s trademark-law intelligence to accelerate the process of finding effective brand names. Currently available only to established clients of the Trademark practice, the Wellbrand service bridges the gap between marketing needs and legal
BSA Alchemy: While Lowering the Recordkeeping and Travel Threshold, FinCEN and the Fed Turn Virtual Currency into Real Money
Technology facilitates legal and illicit transactions alike. Advances in payments technologies and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Monero, and Zcash allow criminal enterprises to dissect, route, and reaggregate small transactions to evade detection by regulatory and enforcement agencies. This is particularly true with international transactions where, for example, the exchange from cryptocurrency to fiat currency takes
Crypto Custody: OCC Confirms That National Banks Can Provide Custody Services for Cryptocurrency
On July 23, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released Interpretive Letter #1170 (Letter) confirming that safekeeping and custody of cryptocurrency and crypto-assets (collectively, cryptocurrency) are traditional banking services and, therefore, are permissible activities for national banks and federal savings associations. The Letter also provides the usual admonition that banks may
Improving upon the SEC’s Blockchain “Framework”: Toward a Reasonable Regulation of Digital Tokens
Introduction
Are digital tokens issued by blockchain companies securities under U.S. law? Much of the industry, including several prominent law firms, has taken the position that they are not. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has consistently stated that many or even most are securities. It recently issued a “Framework” that laid out a host
SEC Clarifies Application of Securities Regulation to Blockchain Tokens, ICOs
Last week the SEC offered its clearest guidance yet on when blockchain tokens and other digital assets would be classified as “securities” under U.S. securities law and subject to SEC regulation.
Specifically, the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub) issued its first-ever “Framework for ‘Investment Contract’ Analysis of Digital Assets.”