Regulatory and Legal Matters on Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies and Digital Assets

This course provides a primer on the regulatory and legal matters on financial services industry in general and blockchain-based applications and digital assets in particular. Given the increasing complexity of such issues, we will use a combination of lectures, concrete case studies, and class discussions to address cryptocurrencies and digital tokens and assets, including stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Coins (CBDCs) from legal, regulatory, policy, business, economic, and privacy perspectives. The course will introduce students to the primary legal framework in the United States, in particular CFTC, SEC, FINCEN, FINRA, IRS, and state regulators. Having an understanding of the functions and roles of each of these regulatory bodies is important for product offerings as well as for how blockchain entrepreneurs and lawyers have to navigate the complexity of the domain. Students will gain a perspective of how the regulatory uncertainty creates risks, opportunities, and exposure, in particular in the context of jurisdictional and geographic regulatory differences and the effort of certain states (i.e., New York State, Wyoming) from both legal and business viewpoints.