Earlier this week, the SEC's FinHub, a branch that helps facilitate the SEC's engagement with new and evolving forms of securities, released a much-anticipated framework for analyzing whether a digital asset is a security. FinHub's stated purpose for releasing the framework is to help individuals and corporations in the digital currencies realm that are looking to comply with federal securities laws. The framework came too late to help the executives of cryptocurrency startup ATBCoin LLC, who were recently ordered by a New York federal judge to face a proposed shareholder class action accusing them of selling unregistered securities at the company's initial coin offering, or ICO. Judge Vernon Broderick of the Southern District of New York rejected the company's attempt to dodge the suit, finding that the putative class adequately demonstrated that ATBCoin and its two executives plausibly violated federal securities laws. The evolution of the cryptocurrency world from the Wild West to a highly regulated industry has affected crypto companies in other ways, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that only about $118 million has been raised through ICOs in the first quarter of 2019, more than 58 times less than the $6.9 billion that was raised over the same period in 2018. And with Congress having already proposed 12 virtual currency bills in 2019, the increasing regulation of the cryptocurrency industry looks set to continue.
Regulation also continues to evolve overseas. The Malta Financial Services Authority announced earlier this week that it had issued in-principle approvals for 14 virtual financial assets (VFA) agents that applied for registration in November 2018. The VFA agents will work to protect the integrity of Malta's markets pursuant to the country's Virtual Financial Assets Act. According to a new framework from the State Bank of Pakistan, Electronic Money Institutions will have to meet certain requirements to be licensed by the government. The new requirements will reportedly apply to cryptocurrencies. Pakistan decided to introduce these rules to encourage innovations in payments to promote "financial inclusion" the State Bank of Pakistan said in a statement.
For more information, please refer to the following links:
- Statement on "Framework for 'Investment Contract' Analysis of Digital Assets"
- Crypto Co. Can't Escape Securities Class Action Over ICO
- Report: ICOs Raised $118 Million in Q1 2019, Over 58 Times Less Than in Q1 2018
- Crypto and Congress: A Guide to Virtual Currency Bills
- MFSA issues in-principle approvals for 14 VFA Agents
- Pakistan Introducing Regulations, Licensing Scheme for Crypto Firms
- Pakistan Plans New Digital Currency Regulations Following FAFTA's Urging
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