The LEad Block
News Node
A curated selection of headlines and news from around this multiverse—including deals, developments and other disruptions in DeFi.
Fidelity Investments Will Offer Bitcoin Inclusion in Its 401(k) Accounts
US Government Warns of North Korean Crypto Attacks After Tying Nation to $625M Hack.
Crypto Exchange KuCoin Launches $100M Fund for NFT Creators.
US State of Tennessee Prepares to Hold Crypto as It Seeks a Vendor for Digital Assets.
HFSC Task Force on Financial Technology Hearing: What’s in Your Digital Wallet? A Review of Recent Trends in Mobile Banking and Payments.
Fort Worth to Become First US City to Mine Bitcoin.
Acting OCC Comptroller Calls for Standards on Stablecoins.
Central African Republic Becomes Second Country to Adopt Bitcoin as an Official Currency.
Select Events
Selected upcoming events for deeper dives into different parts of the digital assets and DeFi world.
March-June 2022
Surge Protection: Preparing for the Coming Wave of Enforcement Webinar Series. With the change in administration, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in 2021 that a significant increase in corporate enforcement is coming. This policy shift is expected to add substantially to the burdens companies and executives under investigation may face, especially when coupled with additional announcements that the DOJ will surge resources dedicated to corporate enforcement. Mayer Brown has prepared a series of webinars which will include leading practitioners, in-house counsel and former government officials across practices to provide practical guidance and insight into how companies can prepare for these changes. The series will cover a wide range of topics including cryptocurrency; the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; securities; anti-money laundering; sanctions and export control; cybersecurity; and antitrust issues.
March 30: Investigating Misuse of Cryptocurrency: DOJ and FTC Enforcement Panel
April 13: SEC and CFTC Enforcement Update: Increasing SPAC Enforcement and Litigation Risk and Increased Authority to Seek Disgorgement
Fintech and Antitrust: What You Need to Know. April 26 (Register Here). The past year has seen significant developments in antitrust regulation, enforcement and litigation in both the US and the UK. Please join Mayer Brown Antitrust partners Tom Panoff and Gail Levine as they discuss how the fintech sector could be impacted by the increased US regulatory focus on and litigation related to data privacy and the use of consumer data, open access and exclusivity issues, restrictive labor agreements, nascent competition and bank merger approval. Airlie Goodman will contribute a UK perspective—particularly, on developments in the UK’s burgeoning collective proceedings regime and, more broadly, on private antitrust litigation.
Learn the Lingo
Bitcoin ETFs:
The price at which the spot bitcoin ETF trades is based on the price of bitcoin at any given time.
On the other hand, a bitcoin futures ETF invests in, and trades based on, the price of bitcoin futures. Bitcoin futures are separate derivative instruments that allow investors to purchase bitcoin in the future at predetermined prices (effectively allowing investors to wager on the future price of bitcoin).
The first bitcoin futures ETF was approved by the US SEC in October 2021, and several others have been approved and begun trading since. However, to date, the SEC has not approved a spot bitcoin ETF (though several have applied).
Outside of the United States, several countries (such as Canada, Germany and Switzerland) have approved spot bitcoin ETFs.
