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On 20 March 2025, United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw issued a dissenting statement titled "The Flame in Plato’s Cave" sharply criticising the agency’s latest non-binding guidance on cryptocurrency mining activities. The statement, referencing Plato’s allegory of illusory perceptions, argues that the US SEC’s approach creates misleading interpretations of regulatory obligations in the digital asset space. In a sharply analytical statement as a pointed critique of a recent staff interpretation concerning the securities law implications of Proof-of-Work (PoW) crypto mining. The statement responds to what Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw characterises as an increasingly frequent issuance of non-binding staff guidance on crypto matters, ten in the past nine weeks alone, according to her tally. The statement under scrutiny, issued by staff at the US SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, concludes that PoW mining generally does not...

On 20 March 2025, the Division of Corporation Finance of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) released a detailed statement on Certain Proof-of-Work Mining Activities, offering its views on the application of federal securities laws to crypto asset mining operations, particularly those associated with proof-of-work (PoW) networks. The statement defines the scope of covered activities as those involving the mining of “Covered Crypto Assets” i.e. digital assets that are intrinsically linked to the technological functioning of a public, permissionless PoW network. The term “Protocol Mining” is used to describe the activity by which network participants (miners) validate transactions and earn rewards in the form of newly minted crypto assets in accordance with pre-determined protocol rules. It specifically addresses whether mining activities constitute securities offerings under Section 2(a)(1) of the United States Securities Act of 1933 and Section 3(a)(10) of...

On 25 March 2025, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) announced in Release No. 2025-57 that its Crypto Task Force will convene four additional public roundtables as part of its ongoing initiative to address regulatory challenges in the crypto asset space. These sessions follow the inaugural roundtable held on 21 March 2025, and aim to deepen dialogue on key aspects of the crypto regulatory landscape. According to the announcement, the scheduled roundtables and their respective themes are as follows: 11 April 2025: Between a Block and a Hard Place: Tailoring Regulation for Crypto Trading 25 April 2025: Know Your Custodian: Key Considerations for Crypto Custody 12 May 2025: Tokenization - Moving Assets Onchain: Where TradFi and DeFi Meet 6 June 2025: DeFi and the American Spirit Each roundtable will take place at the US SEC’s headquarters at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C., and will also be livestreamed on SEC.gov. No registration is required for virtual...

On 21 March 2025, at the opening session of the United States Crypto Task Force’s inaugural roundtable in Washington D.C., United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw delivered the inaugural speech raising awareness and stressing on the importance of upholding the foundational principles of US securities law as the Commission explores the classification of crypto assets. The roundtable, themed “Defining Security Status” in respect of crypto assets and its classification in US, forms part of the US SEC’s Spring Sprint Toward Crypto Clarity initiative. Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw framed the discussion around two critical questions: whether crypto assets fall within the definition of securities under existing US law, and whether they should. She welcomed the opportunity for reasoned policy debate and emphasised the importance of regulatory clarity being rooted in the US SEC’s scope of jurisdiction and to create an umbrella for...

On 21 March 2025, at the inaugural Crypto Task force roundtable of the Spring Sprint Toward Crypto Clarity series, Commissioner Hester M. Peirce of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) delivered remarks welcoming participants and encouraging a renewed regulatory approach to the crypto asset space. The roundtable is part of the initiative by the US SEC’s Crypto Task Force and reflects the agency’s commitment to fostering collaboration and clarity around the classification and regulation of digital assets. Commissioner Hester M. Peirce began by acknowledging the symbolic timing of the event, which takes place two months after Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda announced the formation of the Crypto Task Force and coincides with the onset of spring in Washington D.C., she referred to the roundtable as a “restart of the Commission’s approach to crypto regulation,” commending US SEC staff for their enthusiasm and readiness to develop a workable framework. Commissioner...

On 21 March 2025, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) convened the inaugural roundtable of its newly formed Crypto Task Force, with Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda delivering opening remarks focused on the legal questions surrounding the classification of crypto assets under federal securities laws. The roundtable, held at the US SEC’s headquarters in Washington D.C., is a step in the agency’s effort to address persistent legal uncertainty in the digital asset sector. In his remarks, Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda traced the roots of the crypto asset class to the 2008 release of the Bitcoin white paper by Satoshi Nakamoto, which laid the foundation for a new form of peer-to-peer, digitally native value exchange. Seventeen years later, he noted, the financial industry continues to wrestle with how these assets fit into the existing securities regulatory framework—particularly when applying the Howey test, the legal standard for determining whether a transaction...

On 11 March 2025, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) published a notice designating a longer period for US SEC action on a proposed rule change submitted by NYSE Arca, Inc. (NYSE Arca), US SEC has extended the deadline to 21 May 2025. The proposal seeks to list and trade shares of the Grayscale XRP Trust under NYSE Arca Rule 8.201-E, which governs Commodity-Based Trust Shares. The proposed rule change, originally filed on 30 January 2025, was later amended by Amendment No. 1, filed on 10 February 2025, and subsequently published for public comment on 20 February 2025. The proposed rule change would allow NYSE Arca to list and trade shares of the Grayscale XRP Trust, providing investors with indirect exposure to XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger. The Grayscale XRP Trust is structured as a commodity-based trust, and if approved, would be among a growing class of exchange-traded products offering digital asset exposure in a regulated market framework....

On 11 March 2025, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) published a notice regarding a proposed rule change submitted by The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq), seeking approval to list and trade shares of the Grayscale Hedera Trust (HBAR) under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d), which governs the listing of Commodity-Based Trust Shares. The notice, published as Release No. 34-102569; File No. SR-NASDAQ-2024-101, invites public comments and initiates the US SEC’s formal review process of the proposed exchange-traded product (ETP) linked to the digital asset Hedera (HBAR). The proposal aims to allow Nasdaq to list and trade shares of the Grayscale Hedera Trust, which will offer investors indirect exposure to the value of Hedera's native digital asset, HBAR. The Trust is designed to reflect the value of HBAR held by the Trust, less the Trust’s expenses and liabilities. It will not engage in active trading or use derivatives and does not plan to register under the United States...

On 11 March 2025, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) published a notice detailing the proposed rule change submitted by NYSE Arca, Inc. (NYSE Arca) regarding the listing and trading of shares of the Bitwise Dogecoin ETF under NYSE Arca Rule 8.201-E, which governs Commodity-Based Trust Shares. The proposal, filed on 3 March 2025, is seeking permission and aims to establish a framework for trading an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that provides exposure to Dogecoin. The notice invites public comments on the proposed rule change before the US SEC considers its approval. The NYSE Arca’s proposed rule change is to list and trade shares of the Bitwise Dogecoin ETF (the Trust), structured as a Delaware statutory trust. Bitwise Investment Advisers, LLC (Bitwise) will serve as the sponsor of the Trust, with Delaware Trust Company acting as the trustee. Custodial responsibilities for Dogecoin assets will be handled by Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC, while Bank of New York...

On 12 March 2025, the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (UK FCA) published a statement titled “Update on the FCA’s enforcement transparency proposals,” outlining s improvements in the pace of investigations and the regulator’s next steps regarding transparency in enforcement matters. The UK FCA confirmed that, following extensive consultation, it will not proceed with its proposal to shift from an exceptional circumstances test to a public interest test for announcing investigations into regulated firms due to a lack of consensus. The regulator elaborated on areas of broad industry support, including reactively confirming investigations already in the public domain, issuing public notifications on potentially unlawful activities of unregulated firms and regulated firms operating outside the regulatory perimeter, and publishing anonymised details of issues under investigation. The UK FCA has committed to implementing these supported measures and will publish its final policy...