Newsfeed

On 3 June 2025, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (US CFTC), through its Division of Enforcement, issued a formal public alert urging victims of the alleged Traders Domain fraud scheme to file official claims by 28 July 2025. The alert makes clear that only those who submit valid claims before the deadline will be considered for restitution in any future court-ordered judgment. Prior participation in CFTC customer surveys, correspondence, or informal submissions does not qualify as a valid claim. US CFTC filed a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against a network of companies and individuals alleged to have orchestrated a $280 million Ponzi scheme. According to the complaint, the scheme spanned from November 2019 to at least late 2023. Traders Domain FX Ltd. (TD), alongside its principals Safranko and Negus-Romvari, allegedly solicited funds for trading margined retail commodities via pooled and individual...

On 4 June 2025, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) issued a concept release inviting public comment on whether to revise the existing definition of a "foreign private issuer" under US securities law. This initiative is part of a broader evaluation of regulatory accommodations granted to non-US companies accessing US capital markets, with a focus on the evolving global issuer landscape since the last substantive update in 2003. Under current US securities regulations, foreign private issuers (FPIs) benefit from modified periodic reporting obligations, exemption from US proxy rules, and the ability to file financials under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) without reconciliation to US GAAP. The concept release raises the question of whether the regulatory threshold for FPI status continues to serve its intended function, given changes in global corporate governance, cross-border operations, and the composition of foreign-listed companies over...

On 31 May 2025, United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw issued a powerful dissent titled “Muddying the Waters: More Confusion on Crypto Asset Security Status,” sharply criticising what she described as deepening inconsistencies in how the US SEC classifies crypto assets, especially in the wake of recently approved exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL). The Commissioner expressed concern that regulatory clarity is being sacrificed in favour of expediency, warning that current actions may “thwart any meaningful attempt to apply a coherent regime to crypto assets.” Over the past few months, the US SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance has released multiple staff statements—each pronouncing that different categories of crypto assets, including meme coins, proof-of-work tokens, and stablecoins, are not securities. Yet on 30 May 2025, two new ETFs i.e. Rex-Osprey ETH + Staking ETF and Rex-Osprey SOL +...

On 28 May 2025, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Australian Federal Court against Mr. Liang (Allan) Guo, a former director of Blockchain Global Ltd (now in liquidation), alleging multiple breaches of his statutory directors’ duties under the Australian Corporations Act 2001. The allegations arise from Mr. Guo’s involvement in the operation and eventual collapse of the ACX Exchange, a cryptocurrency platform run by Blockchain Global, which ceased functioning around December 2019 when customers were unable to withdraw funds or cryptocurrencies from their accounts. According to ASIC, Mr. Guo is alleged to have failed to meet fundamental obligations as a director, including mishandling customer assets, making misleading statements about fund management, and not maintaining adequate corporate records. These failures, ASIC claims, contributed to substantial financial losses for retail users of the exchange. As per the...

On 21 May 2025, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced it is seeking special leave from the High Court of Australia, the apex court, to appeal a ruling by the Australian Full Federal Court in the ongoing regulatory dispute with Web3 Ventures Pty Ltd, trading as Block Earner. The appeal seeks judicial clarity on the interpretation of the term “financial product” under Australian law, particularly in relation to crypto-asset products offering fixed-yield returns. The contested product, Block Earner’s “Earner” product, allowed customers to earn a fixed yield by lending specified crypto-assets. The Australian Full Federal Court had ruled that the Earner product did not constitute a financial product under the Australian Corporations Act 2001, a finding that ASIC seeks to contests. ASIC contends that the definition of financial product was deliberately drafted to be broad and technology-neutral, and thus should encompass emerging crypto-asset-based interest...

On 2 June 2025, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) appointed Natalia Díez Riggin as the Senior Advisor and Director of its Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. Ms. Riggin had been serving as Acting Director since January 2025 and will now permanently lead the US SEC’s outreach and liaison efforts with Congress, federal departments, and state governments. Ms. Riggin brings legislative experience, having most recently served as a senior professional staff member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for Chairman Tim Scott of South Carolina. She has also held positions as deputy legislative director for U.S. Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana and staff director for the Senate Banking Committee’s Economic Policy Subcommittee. Earlier roles included serving as policy aide to U.S. Senators Mike Enzi of Wyoming and Mark Kirk of Illinois. A graduate of the University of Illinois Chicago, Ms. Riggin holds a Bachelor of...

On 2 June 2025, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) published an Order instituting proceedings to determine whether to approve or disapprove a proposed rule change filed by Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. The proposed rule change seeks to amend the terms governing the listing and trading of the WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund under BZX Rule 14.11(e)(4), to allow the fund to conduct in-kind creations and redemptions of bitcoin. The proposed rule change was originally submitted by Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. on 20 February 2025, pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and United States SEC Rule 19b-4. The US SEC published the proposal for public comment in the Federal Register on 5 March 2025. On 14 April 2025, the US SEC extended the deadline to decide on the proposal until 3 June 2025. As of 02 June 2025, the US SEC on 2 June 2025, instituted proceedings under Section 19(b)(2)(B) of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to...

On 2 June 2025, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) published an Order instituting proceedings to determine whether to approve or disapprove a proposed rule change submitted by Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. The proposal seeks to amend the listing terms of the VanEck Bitcoin Trust and the VanEck Ethereum Trust to allow in-kind creations and redemptions under BZX Rule 14.11(e)(4), which governs commodity-based trust shares. The proposed rule change was filed by the exchange on 19 February 2025 under Section 19(b)(1) of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and United States SEC Rule 19b-4. It was published in the Federal Register on 5 March 2025. The US SEC initially extended the decision timeline to 3 June 2025, and has now opened formal proceedings under Section 19(b)(2)(B) of the same Act to allow for further analysis. According to the proposal, the exchange intends to amend the operational mechanics of the VanEck Bitcoin Trust and VanEck Ethereum...

On 29 May 2025, Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) issued a dissenting statement titled “Stake it Till You Make It?” criticising the contemporaneous statement issued by the US SEC Division of Corporation Finance titled “Statement on Certain Protocol Staking Activities” stating that certain protocol staking arrangements fall outside the scope of US federal securities laws. Crenshaw rebukes this staff position as legally flawed, inconsistent with SEC v. W.J. Howey Co. jurisprudence, and out of step with recent federal court decisions that upheld staking-as-a-service models as investment contracts. There is continuing legal uncertainty surrounding crypto staking models and Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw has called for substantive rulemaking over informal carve-outs. Crypto entities must treat this dissent as a judicially reinforced counterweight to staff guidance statement provided earlier. Business models that involve...

On 29 May 2025, Commissioner Hester M. Peirce of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) issued a public statement titled “Providing Security is not a ‘Security’” in support of the earlier statement released by the US SEC Division of Corporation Finance titled “Statement on Certain Protocol Staking Activities” regarding the application of US federal securities laws to protocol staking. Commissioner Peirce welcomed the US SEC Division of Corporation Finance’s clarification that staking certain crypto assets on proof-of-stake (PoS) or delegated PoS networks, whether by individuals or through non-custodial or custodial third-party providers, does not constitute a securities transaction when conducted within the factual framework outlined in the staff statement. Commissioner Peirce stated that prior regulatory uncertainty had discouraged American participation in staking, which in turn affected the decentralisation and operational integrity of PoS blockchain...

On 28 May 2025, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) published Notice of Designation of a Longer Period for US SEC Action on a Proposed Rule Change to List and Trade Shares of Grayscale Avalanche Trust (AVAX) under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d) (Commodity-Based Trust Shares) and thereby announced an extension of its deadline of 15 July 2025 to decide on a proposed rule change submitted by The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC. The rule change seeks approval to list and trade shares of the Grayscale Avalanche Trust (AVAX) under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d), a provision governing the listing of commodity-based trust shares. The US SEC has designated 15 July 2025 as the new date by which it must either approve, disapprove, or initiate proceedings to disapprove the proposal. The Grayscale Avalanche Trust (AVAX) is a commodity-based trust intended to offer investors regulated exposure to Avalanche (AVAX), a Layer 1 proof-of-stake digital asset. While the US SEC’s release does not describe the...

On 29 May 2025, the Division of Corporation Finance of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) issued an interpretive statement titled “Statement on Certain Protocol Staking Activities.” This statement provides the US SEC Division of Corporation Finance’s views on whether specific staking arrangements on public, permissionless networks that use proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanisms involve the offer or sale of securities under the United States Securities Act of 1933 and the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The analysis applies the legal test established in SEC v. W.J. Howey Co. (1946) to self-staking, third-party delegated staking, and custodial staking models involving crypto assets that are integral to the operation of PoS networks—referred to as “Covered Crypto Assets.” The US SEC Division of Corporation Finance concluded that when staking activities are merely administrative or ministerial and do not depend on the entrepreneurial or...