Monthly Archives: January 2018

SEC Stands Firm Against New Bitcoin ETF Proposals

By | January 12, 2018

The New Year has seen the Securities and Exchange Commission break out its best Dikembe Mutombo finger wag impersonation for those seeking to list a Bitcoin related exchange traded fund (ETF). According to the SEC’s EDGAR database, seven different Bitcoin ETF proposals were withdrawn just this week at the request of SEC staff. The SEC’s… Read More »

Regulating Initial Coin Offerings: The SEC Gets All the Attention, But the CFTC Has the Stronger Case

By | January 10, 2018

The rise of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) to finance the development of blockchain applications has captured the public imagination.[1] This method of obtaining startup capital raised over $3 Billion in 2017.[2] Naturally, as ICOs have generated more and more money for developers, they have come under increased regulatory scrutiny in the United States and abroad.[3]… Read More »

For Bitcoin Futures, the CFTC Defends the Indefensible

By | January 4, 2018

In a previous blog post, I criticized the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s decision to allow the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) to self-certify Bitcoin futures contract. Self-certification allows designated contract markets (DCMs)[1] to list new futures contracts one day after submitting documentation to the CFTC that demonstrates the new… Read More »