SEC regulations, enforcement actions, and securities law analysis for cryptocurrency
OFAC has extended its Iran sanctions program to the country’s digital asset sector, designating a UAE-based broker accused of moving over $100 million in crypto linked to Iranian oil sales. US exchanges and VASPs face immediate blocking and reporting obligations.
The SEC has sent a proposed overhaul of crypto custody rules for registered investment advisers and funds to the White House’s OIRA for interagency review — the last procedural step before publication. The rule is expected to address qualified custodian status under Advisers Act Rule 206(4)-2.
Uniswap v4’s hook architecture moves regulatory risk from the AMM to the developer who writes the callback — and the analysis turns on custody, discretion, and revenue. This deep dive maps hook archetypes against FinCEN money transmission rules, CFTC leverage enforcement, Howey, and OFAC obligations, drawing on Risley v. Universal Navigation, the Opyn/ZeroEx/Deridex settlements, Van Loon v. Treasury, and the 2025 Storm verdict. Includes a hook-by-hook risk matrix and nine practical rules for builders.
Most crypto tax content arrives in March, when your gains are already locked in. This mid-year guide covers five strategies US taxpayers can still execute in 2026 — loss harvesting outside the §1091 wash sale rule, holding-period management, 0%-bracket gain harvesting, appreciated-crypto donations, and income-side planning for miners and stakers — with worked numerical examples and a dated action checklist through January 2027.
US AI-crypto projects with no European presence can still be captured by both the EU AI Act and MiCA — the AI Act reaches non-EU providers whose model output is used in the Union, and MiCA’s grandfathering window has closed. This guide maps the specific articles that overlap, identifies which crypto AI use cases are actually high-risk, and gives US counsel a seven-step remediation sequence.
AI token securities analysis under the Howey test: why AI utility rarely defeats investment contract status, and what US issuers must do in 2026.
Executive Order 14233 establishes a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve funded by forfeited bitcoin and a separate U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, directing that Reserve bitcoin not be sold.
Executive Order 14178 established the federal government’s digital asset policy, prohibiting a US CBDC, promoting dollar-backed stablecoins, and creating a President’s Working Group to recommend a federal regulatory framework.
The SEC has sent a proposed rule change on digital asset custody by registered investment advisers to the White House OIRA for review, a procedural step preceding formal publication and public comment. The move signals imminent federal rulemaking on qualified custodian eligibility for crypto.
The December 2024 IRS DeFi broker regulations were nullified under the Congressional Review Act and never took effect. The separate custodial broker rules requiring Form 1099-DA reporting remain fully in force.
The SEC has granted accelerated approval for Nasdaq PHLX to list and trade Bitcoin Index Options, adding a cash-settled, SEC-regulated derivatives product tied directly to bitcoin’s price. The order was published in the Federal Register on May 28, 2026.
The SEC set aside a delegated-authority action and, at the full Commission level, approved NYSE Arca’s rule change to list and trade the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index ETF as modified by Amendment No. 1 — a procedurally unusual step that gives multi-asset crypto index ETPs a stronger precedent.
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