Tag: securities and exchange commisssion

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More Enforcement Actions To Come For NFTs Says Upstream’s Elenowitz

NFTs and Securities

Mark Elenowitz, an entrepreneur and self-described Wall Street veteran with a resume to back it up, produced one of the few regulatory-related presentations at NFT.NYC last Thursday.

Titled “Innovation And Regulatory Challenges in Digital Securities and NFTs,” not only did Elenowitz provide guidance, but pointed out that certain holders and purveyors of NFTs today may be headed for a meeting with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or an enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the future.

The success of Elenowitz’s own business(es) appears to be partially banking on the fact that compliance is no easy task in the current, wider NFT marketplace. He just launched Upstream, a Seychelles-based MERJ exchange powered by another one of his company’s, a FINRA compliance vendor called Horizon.

Upstream seeks to offer access to “IPOs, NFTs, celebrity ventures” according to its website. For example, given the challenges around securities regulations like those in the United States and certain NFT models, his exchange recently provided the ability to “geo-fence” an offering. This solution speaks to increasing wariness of regulators in the U.S. by market participants as well as the need for an easier and less costly way to be a security token.

(Upstream Exchange blog: “Music and film using NFTs to drive the future of fan engagement”)

Notably, there was no talk about whether NFTs should be under SEC or CFTC jurisdiction. In fact, Elenowitz believes many of today’s NFT projects fall under the securities designation unless they are a collectible only or non-fungible utility.

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SEC and CFTC Commissioners Reach Out To The Industry at DC Blockchain Summit

DC Blockchain Summit

A collegial chat between regulators from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) highlighted an impressive day-long agenda attracting 850 attendees to the DC Blockchain Summit from the Chamber of Digital Commerce in Washington, D.C. yesterday.

The Chamber’s Annemarie Tierney didn’t hesitate in her moderation role in the morning session with the blockchain industry’s two most important regulatory bodies and immediately brought to the fore the key differences in jurisdiction between the two agencies – securities vs. commodities – and under which agency do the various tokens and cryptocurrencies land. Commissioner Hester Peirce of the SEC went first and repeated the gyst of her well-known views that do not necessarily sync with the rest of the SEC commissioners and its Chairman:

“A token [that] is sold as part of securities offering does not in my mind necessarily mean that the token continues on in its entire life to have to be treated as a security. That’s one of the areas where I’d like to see us provide more clarity. It has not been our standard practice over the years to identify what are security offerings and what aren’t. It’s pretty broad rules. And we expect that when people are out there raising capital, they comply with our initial offering rules, regardless of what it is. But that’s led to the treatment of certain things – securities offerings that you might not think the underlying object to be sold is [part of the securities offering]. So that’s the distinction – I would like us to deal with it better (…)”

CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero weighed in next saying that she agreed with her counterpart in the SEC on the overall need for greater clarity – particularly around that which is decentralized. Beyond the jurisdictional question, in order to help her create a regulatory framework, Goldsmith Romero appealed to the audience on educating her and the CFTC on how the blockchain community innovates and also protects consumers: Continue reading “SEC and CFTC Commissioners Reach Out To The Industry at DC Blockchain Summit”

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Preview: SEC Budget for 2023 and House Appropriations Committee Meeting

House Appropriations

On Capitol Hill this Wednesday, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler will appear before the House Appropriations Committee to review the SEC’s 2023 budget proposal as it looks to continue to fulfill its mission to “protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.”

In late March, the SEC submitted its budget “justification” to Congress (PDF) as a precursor to the meeting and revealed several areas in which it expects to continue to engage crypto markets in 2023.

Side note: there are no members of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus on the House Appropriations Committee.

Enforcement

Following up on the SEC’s recent announcement of doubling positions related to crypto enforcement this year, the 2023 budget justification outlines a request for 125 additional positions in the Department of Enforcement (ENF) to help enforce regulations across financial assets – including crypto:

“ENF requests 125 additional positions to enhance the division’s ability to timely pursue the wide variety of misconduct within the SEC’s remit. They will also strengthen ENF’s capabilities to investigate new and emerging issues, including crypto-asset markets, cyber-related risks, and the environmental, social, and governance space. Finally, it is expected that the number of litigated cases will continue to rise as ENF increasingly holds wrongdoers accountable for their misconduct with more meaningful and, in some instances, escalating sanctions. ENF requires additional resources to ensure that it has an adequate number of attorneys to staff the increasing number of litigated cases.”

The ENF only accounts for an increase of 63 full-time employees in the justification’s line item – from 1302 in 2022 to 1365 in 2023 .

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