Digital Assets Download - Atomic but not Radioactive (Find out how below!)
Similar to parts of North America this week, the digital assets world can sometimes be blanketed with haze, uncertainty and confusion. At the Digital Assets Download, we slice through the smoke in each edition to provide you with a map through the mist. For example, this edition includes a roadmap for investing in distressed crypto businesses in a variety of contexts. We also have a trio of reports from our team in Hong Kong on virtual assets regulation and the legal nature of cryptocurrencies in that jurisdiction. Finally, as foreshadowed above, our “Lingo” for this edition describes a key feature (and benefit) of using distributed ledgers to conduct complex, cross-border transactions.
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)
The Lead Block
News Node
SEC Files 13 Charges Against Binance Entities and Founder Changpeng Zhao
SEC Charges Coinbase for Operating as an Unregistered Securities Exchange, Broker, and Clearing Agency
Constellation Network Achieves Scalability, Security and Defense Approval in Executing US Air Force Phase II Blockchain Contract
Congress Introduces Game-Changing Crypto Bill Amid $350 Billion Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB and XRP Price Pump
Elon Musk Accused of Insider Trading in Dogecoin Lawsuit
JPMorgan to Use Blockchain To Settle US Dollar Forex Trades in India Hub
MUFG to Facilitate Japanese Bank-Backed Stablecoins via Progmat Coin Platform
EU Luxembourg's Antitrust Authority to Probe Blockchain, Web3 Competition
UK Parliament Group Calls for Crypto Tsar, Faster Legislation
US CFTC May Change Risk Rules to Consider Crypto
Treat Crypto as Securities by Default, European Parliament Study Says as European Union Prepares for MiCA
US CFTC Warns About Clearing Derivatives Tied to Digital Assets
Institutional Investors Have Pulled $329 Million From Crypto Funds Since April
Crypto Exchange Gemini to Soon Operate in the UAE
UAE Central Bank Issues AML/CTF Guidance for Dealing With Virtual Assets
Hong Kong Regulator to Issue Crypto Licences With Retail Investor Guardrails
Select Events
Selected events for deeper dives into different parts of the digital assets and DeFi world.
Building Blockchains: Exploring Web3 and Other Applications for Distributed Ledger Technologies
On June 7, 2023, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce held a hearing on American leadership in blockchain technology.
The Future of Digital Assets: Providing Clarity for Digital Asset Spot Markets
On June 6, 2023, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on digital asset spot markets with current and former leaders of the US CFTC and US SEC.
Learn the Lingo
Atomic Settlement
An atomic settlement is the instant and simultaneous completion of a series of transactions. Often used in the context of cross-currency payments or transfers of assets such as securities, a key feature of an atomic settlement is that no transaction in the series can be completed unless all are completed at the same time. In other words, either all transactions occur or none occurs. The purpose of making transaction settlement “atomic” is to prevent different transactions from interfering with one another.
The ability to use atomic settlements is one of the key potential benefits to using distributed ledger technology to execute transactions with costs and in time periods that are significantly lower and shorter than currently required. As one example, the New York Federal Reserve’s “Project Cedar” tested the viability of atomic settlements of cross-border payments in illiquid currency corridors. In those tests, the settlement time for these payments was reduced from two days to ten seconds. Read the New York Fed’s full Report on Project Cedar.
Writing on the Wall, Translating ‘Crypto’ Terms with Mayer Brown
From Airdrop to Wrapped Token, our illustrated glossary, “Writing on the Wall, Translating Securities with Mayer Brown,” has been updated with additional digital assets and cryptocurrency terms. Check out our “featured” list for the crypto terms and the full list of terms.
