Recent events in the cryptocurrency markets, including the wild swings in the trading prices of bitcoin, the growing incidence of initial coin offerings (ICOs) entailing the offer and sale of unregistered securities, and the launch of bitcoin futures trading, have encouraged the federal government to ratchet up its interest in virtual currencies.

The rise of cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs) undoubtedly shows that we live in interesting times that regularly present us with new and innovative products, markets, and opportunities. When the words “new” and “innovative” come to mind, the federal government is usually not part of the conversation.

On July 25, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a Report of Investigation (Report), along with a companion investor bulletin, telling the world that if you use distributed ledger (blockchain) to raise capital, you must comply with federal securities laws.

Determined to push forward with its Dodd-Frank Act reform legislation agenda, on April 11 the US House Financial Services Committee (Committee) released a summary of changes that it intends to make to the Financial CHOICE Act (CHOICE Act)—Dodd-Frank Act reform legislation that was introduced in the House of Representatives last fall but was not enacted before the end of the 114th Congress.

On December 12, the staff of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued the latest in a series of letters to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).

Starting August 1, violations of financial regulations will come with higher civil money penalties (CMPs).

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the bureau of the US Department of the Treasury responsible for oversight and enforcement of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), has issued an interim final rule (Rule) that significantly increases the statutory penalties for various violations of the BSA and its applicable regulations.

Last Friday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a notice stating that, effective in less than 70 days (July 31), broker-dealers will no longer be able to engage in leveraged foreign exchange (forex or FX) business with persons other than “eligible contract participants” as defined in Section 1a(18) of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), including those that are dually registered with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs).