J. Dax Hansen

Blogs: The Fintech Report, Virtual Currency Report

Latest Articles

Dear Enterprise, Have You Developed a Sound and Methodical Blockchain Consortia Engagement Strategy?

By J. Dax Hansen, Fred Fedynyshyn, Marcelo Malpern, Youssef Sneifer & Lorri Anne Dunsmore on April 22, 2019

We can help. Perkins Coie has identified 34 factors in 5 overarching categories that shape the outcomes of successful enterprise consortia engagement efforts through its analysis of 71 consortia across 12 industries. Recently, Forbes published an article detailing the ways that large companies, including some of the best-known companies in tech, finance, manufacturing and retail, are forming or joining blockchain consortia or other proprietary blockchain projects. The Forbes article reflects an uptick in enterprise engagement…

Virtual Currency Report

SEC’s FinHub Publishes Framework for Digital Assets and SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance Grants First No-Action Relief to Token Sponsor

By Val Dahiya, Michael S. Didiuk, Jens Fischer, Lowell D. Ness, J. Dax Hansen, Keith Miller, Conor O'Hanlon & Taylor Lindman on April 12, 2019

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub) published a framework on April 3, 2019, for analyzing whether a digital asset is offered and sold as a security under the federal securities laws. The framework includes “common sense guidance” that provides greater detail and clarity regarding the application of the federal securities laws to digital assets and is intended to be “an analytical tool to help market participants…

Virtual Currency Report

SEC Launches FinHub for Engaging with Fintech and Blockchain Companies

By J. Dax Hansen, Lowell D. Ness, Michael S. Didiuk, Val Dahiya, Taylor Lindman & Valeria R. Bystrowicz-Liendo on October 19, 2018

On October 18, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced the launch of the agency’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub).[1] FinHub is a resource for industry engagement between financial technology companies (fintechs), market participants, the public, and the SEC. This client update provides a high-level overview of the FinHub initiative and how the SEC envisions industry participation. FinHub is designed to serve as a focal point for the…

Virtual Currency Report

FinCEN Advisory Emphasizes Importance of U.S.-Iran Sanctions and AML/CFT Compliance for Virtual Currency Businesses

By J. Dax Hansen, Richard Oehler & Michael Selig on October 18, 2018

On October 11, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released an advisory (the Advisory) intended to help money services businesses (MSBs) and foreign financial institutions better understand how U.S. sanctions on Iran affect their compliance obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) rules and under the U.S.-Iran sanctions enforced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Controls (OFAC).[1] While Iran has historically…

Virtual Currency Report

Senior SEC Officials Provide Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets

By Michael S. Didiuk, J. Dax Hansen, Jesse P. Kanach, Keith Miller, Lowell D. Ness, Thomas Ahmadifar, Conor O'Hanlon & Michael Selig on June 21, 2018

From Uncertainty toward Regulatory Clarity: Senior SEC Officials Provide Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets Summary is below, please click here for the full alert narrative. On June 14, 2018, the Director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission delivered a speech outlining the framework used by the SEC Staff in evaluating whether a given token sale qualifies as a securities offering. The Director clarified that a token sale may qualify…

Virtual Currency Report

Senior SEC Officials Provide Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets

By Michael S. Didiuk, J. Dax Hansen, Jesse P. Kanach, Keith Miller, Lowell D. Ness, Thomas Ahmadifar, Conor O'Hanlon & Michael Selig on June 21, 2018

Virtual Currency Report

White Paper – Smart Contracts: Revisiting Use Cases and Key Legal Issues

By J. Dax Hansen, Carla L. Reyes & Laurie Rosini on March 8, 2018

We are pleased to release an updated edition of our smart contracts white paper, originally published in May 2017. The updated white paper surveys the current academic and industry landscape related to smart contracts, and discusses the key legal issues surrounding smart contract applications. Authors of the white paper are Dax Hansen, Partner and Chair of the Blockchain and Digital Currency and Fintech industry groups, Carla Reyes, Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at the Stetson University College…

Virtual Currency Report

CFTC Flexes Its Regulatory Muscle in a Case Involving a Virtual Currency

By Keith Miller, Andrew P. Cross & J. Dax Hansen on January 29, 2018

Just like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is actively policing the virtual currency market. On January 24, 2018, the CFTC announced an enforcement action against two individuals and a company, My Big Coin Pay, Inc., for fraudulently offering the sale of a “fully functioning” virtual currency. Press Release, CFTC Charges Randall Crater, Mark Gillespie, and My Big Coin Pay, Inc. with Fraud and Misappropriation in Ongoing Virtual Currency Scam (Jan. 24,…

The Fintech Report

SEC Takes Aim at Initial Coin Offerings Again

By J. Dax Hansen on January 11, 2018

The SEC is targeting ICOs once again, but it is now adding more focus through its new Enforcement Division Cyber Unit. In its enforcement settlement with Munchee, Inc., the SEC looked past the utility of a “utility token” in its “securities” analysis and instead focused on aspects such as marketing and the existence of a secondary market for the tokens. SEC Chairman Jay Clayton issued a statement reinforcing that facts matter for each token sale,…

Virtual Currency Report

SEC Takes Aim at Initial Coin Offerings Again

By J. Dax Hansen, Lowell D. Ness, Keith Miller, Joseph P. Cutler, Simon Keen, Josh Boehm, Thomas Ahmadifar & Michael S. Didiuk on January 11, 2018

J. Dax Hansen

Dear Enterprise, Have You Developed a Sound and Methodical Blockchain Consortia Engagement Strategy?

SEC’s FinHub Publishes Framework for Digital Assets and SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance Grants First No-Action Relief to Token Sponsor

SEC Launches FinHub for Engaging with Fintech and Blockchain Companies

FinCEN Advisory Emphasizes Importance of U.S.-Iran Sanctions and AML/CFT Compliance for Virtual Currency Businesses

Senior SEC Officials Provide Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets

Senior SEC Officials Provide Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets

White Paper – Smart Contracts: Revisiting Use Cases and Key Legal Issues

CFTC Flexes Its Regulatory Muscle in a Case Involving a Virtual Currency

SEC Takes Aim at Initial Coin Offerings Again

SEC Takes Aim at Initial Coin Offerings Again

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