For years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have actively policed digital asset markets, bringing enforcement actions based on alleged failure to register products and services, and, in some instances, engaging in fraudulent activities aimed at retail consumers.
These actions have led many in the industry — and from within the agencies themselves — to criticize the SEC and CFTC for engaging in “regulation by enforcement.” The Trump administration has signaled its support of the digital asset industry broadly, announcing key policy shifts in favor of fostering development of digital asset technology, revoking Biden-era regulatory policies, establishing a working group focused on digital assets and signaling that the SEC and CFTC will likely take a lighter touch to regulating the industry. (See our February 7, 2025, client alert “White House Announces First Steps Toward New Policies Supporting Cryptocurrencies and Digital Financial Technology.”)
The president has nominated chairs who are widely viewed as crypto-friendly (Paul Atkins to the SEC and Brian Quintenz to the CFTC). This has led many to believe the SEC and CFTC will throttle back their enforcement efforts in the space over the coming years.
Nevertheless, the vast majority of crypto stakeholders agree with the need to protect consumers from fraud, even as those stakeholders vigorously oppose onerous and illogical regulatory requirements that do not fit with...
The Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago filed a lawsuit last month alleging that a group of conspirators engaged in a racketeering scheme to defraud the archdiocese by falsely claiming priest sexual a...