Blockchain Technology Task Force

On Oct. 11, 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex Inc. had agreed to settle $53 million total in fines over allegations it violated sanctions and anti-money-laundering

Continue Reading Crypto Exchange Bittrex Settles $53 Million in Fines with Treasury Department for Sanctions, Anti-Money-Laundering Violations

On May 12, 2022, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed bill CS/HB 273 (the Bill), amending Florida’s money services business (MSB) laws (i.e., Chapter 560 of the Florida Statutes) to, among other
Continue Reading Florida Gov. Signs Bill that Defines ‘Virtual Currency’ and Eases Licensing Restrictions on Certain Virtual Currency Transactions in the State

On Dec. 18, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would impose on banks and money services
Continue Reading FinCEN Proposes to Extend Recordkeeping, Reporting, and Identity Verification Requirements to Certain Virtual Currency and Digital Asset Transactions

On Sept. 21, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the OCC) issued guidance pertaining to whether national banks could hold stablecoin reserves. That same day, the Securities
Continue Reading The OCC and SEC’s FinHub Issue Guidance on Fiat-Backed Stablecoin Reserves

In the summer of 2015, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) finalized its regulatory framework for virtual currency firms seeking to conduct certain virtual currency (VC) business
Continue Reading New York State Department of Financial Services Proposes Guidance on Adoption or Listing of Virtual Currencies by Exchanges

On Oct. 16, 2019, Bermuda Premier the Hon. E. David Burt JP, MP announced that Bermuda has committed to accept, for payment of government taxes, fees, and services, 1:1 U.S.-dollar-backed
Continue Reading Bermuda Launches Two Key Fintech Initiatives, Becomes First Nation to Accept Stable Coins for Government Payments

On Oct. 9, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released revenue ruling (Rev. Rul. 2019-24) and a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document, which provide additional guidance on the tax treatment and reporting obligations for transactions involving virtual currency (also known as cryptocurrency). This guidance supplements the original guidance that was issued in 2014 in the form of a notice (Notice 2014-21), which provides a baseline rule that cryptocurrency is property for federal income tax purposes.

Rev. Rul. 2019-24 addresses questions related to the tax treatment of hard forks. The revenue ruling describes a hard fork as a protocol change that results in a permanent split of a new distributive ledger from a legacy or existing distributed ledger, resulting in the creation of a new cryptocurrency on the new distributed ledger in addition to the legacy cryptocurrency on the legacy distributed ledger. 
Continue Reading IRS Issues New Cryptocurrency Guidance