Steptoe & Johnson LLP

In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.

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Latest from Steptoe & Johnson LLP

On January 10, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) approved the listing and trading of eleven spot bitcoin exchange traded products (“ETPs”). [1]  The Commission declared effective the registration statements for ten of the ETPs on the same date.  This long-awaited approval stands in contrast to the SEC’s sixteen prior denials…

On November 7, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would establish CFPB supervisory authority over certain nonbank companies “participating in a market for ‘general-use digital consumer payment applications.'”

Overview

The CFPB seeks to subject nonbank companies that provide digital payment wallets and applications to the CFPB’s…

On October 30, 2023, HM Treasury released a policy update announcing its intention to bring forward secondary legislation to introduce regulatory measures for specific cryptoassets known as stablecoins by early 2024.  The policy update outlines the proposed framework for regulating the issuance, custody, and utilization of fiat-backed stablecoins by amending existing financial services legislation.  In…

On October 8, 2023, highly anticipated regulatory changes came into effect bringing qualifying cryptoassets within the scope of the UK’s existing financial promotions regime and the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”).  The regulatory changes effectively ban unauthorized firms globally from marketing qualifying cryptoassets to UK consumers, which are now deemed as “controlled investments.” …

On October 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s (“Treasury”) Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would implement new recordkeeping and reporting requirements on domestic financial institutions and domestic financial agencies, related to transactions that they know, suspect, or have reason to suspect involve convertible virtual currency…

On September 1, 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) set out its expectations for cryptoasset businesses in the UK’s compliance with the “Travel Rule”, introduced by The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2022 (the “Amended MLRs”).  The Travel Rule requires cryptoasset businesses to gather, authenticate, and share information concerning cryptoasset transfers. …

After months of anticipation, a federal judge has finally ruled in the closely watched case of Joseph Van Loon, et al. v. Department of Treasury, et al.  This important case addressed challenges to the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) decision to impose sanctions on Tornado Cash as a Specially…

Cash method taxpayers that stake cryptocurrency native to a proof-of-stake blockchain and receive additional units of cryptocurrency as rewards when validation occurs must include the fair market value of the rewards in income in the year in which the taxpayer gains dominion and control of the rewards, according to the IRS.  Revenue Ruling 2023-14 (the…