Digital Assets Download

Unless you’ve been living with your head in the sand at “Bitcoin Beach,” the Ethereum Merge was executed on September 15 and early feedback has been positive from many (though miners may have a different view). To see what else you may have missed since Ethereum’s historic move, check out the latest edition of Digital Assets Download, Powered by Mayer Brown.

For the Uninitiated: Digital Assets Download is a curated mix of insights and headlines that provide a Layer 3 Legal Perspective™ on the digital assets multiverse – created by Mayer Brown’s global Digital Assets, Blockchain & Cryptocurrency group. Check out all of our previous editions of the Digital Assets Download here.

The Lead Block

Original Mayer Brown content, perspectives and insights from across our global platform that touch on digital assets, decentralized finance, cryptocurrencies and related fields.

News Node

A curated selection of headlines and news from around this multiverse—including deals, developments and other disruptions in DeFi.

US CFTC Imposes $250,000 Penalty Against bZeroX, LLC and Its Founders and Charges Successor Ooki DAO for Offering Illegal, Off-Exchange Digital-Asset Trading, Registration Violations, and Failing to Comply with Bank Secrecy Act.

US SEC Imposes $35 Million in Penalties on Sparkster for Unregistered Crypto Asset Offering and Related Charges for Crypto Asset Promoter.

Schwab, Citadel Securities, Fidelity, Other Wall Street Firms Start Crypto Exchange EDX Markets.

Australia’s Financial Watchdog Expands Team to Better Regulate Crypto.

United Kingdom Introduces Bill to Make Crypto Seizures ‘Easier and Quicker.’

Eight US State Regulators Charge Nexo for Failure to Register Interest Account.

Nexo Buys Stake in Federally Chartered US Bank Summit National.

US Fed’s Powell Says There’s ‘Real Need’ for Better Crypto Regulation.

Crypto Regulation Laggards Spur Arbitrage Risk - French Central Banker.

Sweden, Norway and Israel Central Banks Test Cross-Border CBDC Payments.

Bank of England Deputy Governor Says Existing Financial Regulations Should Extend to Crypto.

US IRS Targets Crypto Tax Evaders With M.Y. Safra Bank Summons Over SFOX Data.

EU Securities Regulator Clears Next Step for Tokenized Trading Pilot Program.

Nasdaq Bets Big on Digital Assets Despite Crypto Turmoil.

FTX Wins Auction for Bankrupt Crypto Broker Voyager Digital’s Assets.

California’s DFPI Launches Crackdown on Crypto Asset-Fueled Ponzi and Pyramid Schemes.

Select Events

Selected events for deeper dives into different parts of the digital assets and DeFi world.

14th Annual Technology & IP Transactions Conference

Our 14th Annual Technology & IP Transactions Conference will take place on October 6, 2022, in Chicago. This interactive forum will focus on legal challenges and growth opportunities in today’s changing information technology (IT) services and software marketplace and include a keynote by Stanton Jones, Distinguished Analyst and Leader of ISG’s Index research. Program topics will cover: Top 5 Things You Need to Know About the IT Services Sector; Structuring IT Agreements for Cost Savings and Resilience; Turning Around Troubled Outsourcing Deals; Optimizing Contract Terms for Multi-Layer Tech Solutions; Navigating Open Source Pitfalls in Transactions; Monetizing Data; Avoiding Common Contracting Mistakes for New SaaS Providers; and Demystifying NFTs and the Metaverse.

Learn the Lingo

For those new to the digital assets and DeFi world, each edition of the Digital Assets Download highlights a different term to help you be a part of the conversation.

The “Merge”

The Merge was the joining of the original version of the Ethereum blockchain (which was initially launched in 2015 and used a proof-of-work consensus mechanism) with its new proof-of-stake consensus layer. The Merge was executed on September 15, 2022.

The Merge represented the official switch to using proof-of-stake as the mechanism for block production on the Ethereum network. Despite the change in the consensus mechanism, the entire transactional history of Ethereum remained unchanged.