Category: News

The White House Crypto Summit: A Turning Point for Financial Advisors

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By John Deaton. DACFP. March 15, 2025.

On March 7, 2025, the White House hosted its inaugural Crypto Summit, a watershed moment signaling a dramatic shift in the U.S. government’s approach to digital assets. Spearheaded by President Trump and Crypto Czar David Sacks, the event brought together Crypto heavyweights like Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong, Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, and Gemini’s Winklevoss brothers, along with former regulators, like former CFTC Chairman, Chris Giancarlo, endearingly nicknamed Crypto Dad, to help chart a pro-crypto future. For financial advisors, this summit isn’t just headlining fodder, it’s a roadmap for navigating a landscape where cryptocurrencies are no longer outliers but instead, cornerstones of a financial future. Here’s what advisors should glean as they steer clients into this bold new era.

Read full article here.

Ripple Settlement Offers Hope For Better Regulatory Future

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By J.W. Verret. Law360. April 16, 2025.

Editor’s note: Law360 welcomes opinionated commentary and debate in our Expert Analysis section. To submit op-eds or rebuttals, or to speak to an editor about submissions, please email [email protected].

Four years ago, I wrote that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s approach to cryptocurrency regulation was “haphazard and inconsistent.” I argued that the agency’s decision to wait eight years before filing a complaint against Ripple Labs in December 2020 was irresponsible, and that the SEC needed to provide more clarity about when and how cryptocurrencies would be regulated.

In the waning days of Chair Jay Clayton’s tenure, the commission, in SEC v. Ripple in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, brought its first major action against developers of a blockchain token alleging the unregistered sales of a security. This started a chain reaction of dozens of such cases during Chair Gary Gensler’s tenure alleging the unregistered sales of securities against crypto developers in actions where no fraud occurred and where no pathway to registration was even available.

Read full article here.

The Crypto Ball Is In Congress’ Court

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By Dan Ikenson. Forbes. April 15, 2025.

In May 2024, prospects for the United States becoming a global innovation center for digital assets and other promising blockchain technologies were gloomy. Regulatory uncertainty and general hostility from Washington presented high hurdles to industry growth. But the perseverance of determined entrepreneurs, changes in U.S. political leadership, and a growing appreciation for the economic importance and broader application of these cost-saving technologies have changed perceptions and raised expectations that the United States will become “the crypto capital of the world.” The ball is now in Congress’ court.

Read more here: Forbes

Pro-Crypto Policies Surge As Banks Lag—Here’s How They Can Catch Up

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By Tonya M. Evans. (Forbes). January 27, 2025.

The landscape of digital assets is undergoing a significant shift as pro crypto regulatory clarity begins to take shape. Policymakers are moving faster than the price of Bitcoin. In recent weeks, significant developments, such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) withdrawal of the contentious Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 (SAB 121) via SAB 122 and President Trump’s January 23, 2025 Digital Assets Executive Order, signal a bullish trajectory for crypto policies. Meanwhile, traditional banks, burdened by outdated frameworks and resistance to the emerging digital asset industry, risk establishing their foothold in this rapidly evolving sector.

Read more here: Forbes

Trump’s new SEC leadership poised to kick start crypto overhaul, sources say

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By Hannah Lang and Chris Prentice. (Reuters). January 15, 2025.

WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) – Top Republican officials at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are poised to begin overhauling the agency’s cryptocurrency policies potentially as early as next week when President-elect Donald Trump takes power, said three people briefed on the matter.

Among the measures commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda are weighing are initiating the process that would ultimately lead to guidance or rules clarifying when the agency considers a cryptocurrency to be a security, and reviewing some crypto enforcement cases pending in the courts, two of the people said.

Read more here: Reuters.

FDIC At A Crossroads: Debanking, Crypto, And The Fight For Reform

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By Tonya Evans. (Forbes). January 13, 2025.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), once a trusted pillar of financial stability, now finds itself navigating the turbulent waters of innovation and regulatory reform. Recent remarks by FDIC Vice Chairman Travis Hill have ignited fresh debates over the agency’s approach to financial inclusion, cryptocurrency, and what critics have dubbed “Operation Chokepoint 2.0.” This latest iteration of debanking practices—seemingly targeting the crypto industry—has resurfaced as a flashpoint in the broader struggle between traditional financial institutions and the burgeoning world of digital assets.

Read more here: Forbes.

Fairshake: Crypto Titans Use Old-School Dollars to Turn Tide in Congress

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By Jesse Hamilton. (CoinDesk). December 10, 2024.

Here’s the new political calculus for a U.S. congressional candidate: You nod to crypto and say you’re on the pro-innovation side, and chances are, a million dollars (or more) could drop from the sky to pay for TV spots that highlight your strengths or pillory your opponent.

In any of hundreds of lesser known districts of the House of Representatives, a few hundred thousand dollars tends to make or break a candidate. When the leading crypto-driven political action committee notices you, a massive influx of cash can pave your way straight to Congress. The Fairshake super PAC isn’t subtle. It’s nuclear. For a relatively small industry, Fairshake is the biggest corporate money player in U.S. politics. And it’s not close to hanging up its hat as the Nov. 5 elections recede into the past.

Read the full piece here: CoinDesk.

Patrick McHenry: The Lawmaker Who Built a Foundation for U.S. Crypto Legislation

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By Jesse Hamilton. (CoinDesk). December 10, 2024.

Patrick McHenry has spent much of his last two years in Congress on a long-shot quest to get a complex oversight regime for the crypto sector passed into law, and he failed. But failing in Congress isn’t always permanent.

McHenry, the outgoing Republican chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, embarked on an uphill battle in 2022 when he took on the cause of an industry that had just suffered widespread ruin and reputational devastation. He decided that digital assets regulation was a goal worth spending much of his political capital on, fighting a pitched battle across committees, parties and chambers of Congress to finally get his Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) onto the floor of the House of Representatives in May of 2024. 

Read the full piece here: Coindesk.

Ripple CEO criticizes 60 Minutes for not including info on XRP ruling

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By Turner Wright. (Cointelegraph). December 9, 2024.

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of blockchain payments firm Ripple Labs, took to social media to say certain information was “shockingly left out” of a 60 Minutes’ segment covering crypto’s role in the 2024 United States elections.

In a Dec. 8 X post, Garlinghouse said the news program had omitted information related to the US Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit against Ripple.

The 60 Minutes report with journalist Margaret Brennan covered Ripple’s role in funding the political action committee Fairshake, which poured millions of dollars into supporting pro-crypto candidates in the US election, and the SEC’s enforcement action against Ripple over the XRP token.

Read more here: Cointelegraph.

Bitnomial Suit Highlights Crypto Turf War Between SEC, CFTC

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By Professor Tonya Evans. (Law360). October 31. 2024.

Bitnomial Exchange LLC’s lawsuit[1] against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, filed on Oct. 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, signals a major shift as digital asset exchanges push back against regulatory overreach. Bitnomial is seeking a declaratory judgment to challenge the SEC’s expansive jurisdiction over digital assets, fighting for clear and legally sound rules that foster innovation rather than stifle it.

The commission’s enforcement strategy under SEC Chair Gary Gensler has created regulatory uncertainty. Gensler’s “regulation by enforcement” approach diverges from established securities law and risks weakening U.S. leadership in financial technology.

By filing suit, Bitnomial aims to expose the pitfalls in the SEC’s regulatory tactics, joining other exchanges in a broader legal effort to reshape the rules governing digital assets.

Read the full article here: Law360.