Tuesday, February 16, 2021
In recent days, several major companies have moved toward implementing cryptocurrency transactions in their business. Tesla stated in its recent Annual Report that it had “invested an aggregate $1.50 billion in bitcoin” and expected to “begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for [its] products in the near future.”
[i] Mastercard announced that it would “start supporting select cryptocurrencies directly on [its] network” in 2021.
[ii] And BNY Mellon issued a press release regarding the opening of a new “enterprise Digital Assets unit” to assist customers in their custody and administration of cryptocurrency holdings.
[iii]
Despite these strides toward mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrency for use in everyday transactions, there is legal risk under the securities laws, including SEC enforcement risk, surrounding the release and implementation of new cryptocurrencies. The former Chairmen of the SEC and CFTC publ