Crypto Compliance
11 articles
What Happens When a Stablecoin Payment Goes Wrong? The Consumer-Protection Gap in America's New Payment Rails
Stablecoin payments settle in seconds, around the clock, with no chargeback and no error-resolution regime. A crypto payments attorney walks through what actually happens behind a stablecoin payment, where the law protects you, where it doesn't yet, and what businesses should put in place before moving real volume onto the new rails.
Can You Sue a Prediction Market? Trader Remedies When Event Contracts Settle Wrong
Kalshi paid out on whether Brad Pitt attended the World Cup Final. Polymarket paid out on whether Strategy sold bitcoin. Traders cried foul both times, but only one dispute produced a lawsuit. Here is what traders can actually do when a prediction market settles wrong, and why the answer is less than most assume.
State-by-State Crypto Licensing Map: 2026 Requirements Guide
A 2026 state-by-state crypto money-transmitter licensing reference covering all fifty states and DC, New York's BitLicense, California's DFAL, the MTMA standardization trend, and how the GENIUS Act changes the picture for payment-stablecoin issuers. Includes a strategic state-selection framework. Verify current figures with each regulator.
When Does the GENIUS Act Actually Take Effect? The 120-Day Trigger and the January 18, 2027 Backstop
Federal regulators arrive at the GENIUS Act's July 18, 2026 rulemaking deadline with eleven proposed rules and zero final ones. That does not delay compliance — it fixes the effective date at January 18, 2027 while compressing the build window issuers have left.
Know Your Agent (KYA): The Legal Compliance Standard for AI Agents That Move Money
AI agents can now initiate real payments, and every technical standard — Visa, Mastercard, Google, NIST — builds cryptographic identity without answering the only question the law cares about: which legal person answers for the transaction. Know Your Agent (KYA) is the compliance standard that answers it.
Who Is Liable When an AI Agent Loses Your Money?
AI agents now trade, pay, and move money on their own, and some of them have already lost it. No AI-liability statute governs the loss. Existing law does, and it keeps asking one question the industry cannot dodge: who controlled the agent?
Who Is the BSA Customer When an AI Agent Sends Stablecoins?
The GENIUS Act made stablecoin issuers Bank Secrecy Act institutions, and AI agents are now sending stablecoins on their own. The customer-identification rules assume a person. Corporate law has answered the non-human-person question for two hundred years.
CFTC Crypto Enforcement Tracker (2021-2026): Actions, Penalties, and the End of "Regulation by Enforcement"
A data-driven tracker of CFTC digital-asset enforcement. The Commission posted a record $17.1 billion in monetary relief in fiscal 2024—driven by the $12.7 billion FTX recovery, the largest in its history—then consolidated its enforcement task forces into two in 2025 to "stop regulation by enforcement." Includes the fiscal-year-by-year record, the marquee actions (Binance, FTX, Ooki DAO, BitMEX, Tether), and a framework for reading CFTC risk. Confirm figures against the primary release.
Crypto Enforcement Tracker (2024-2026): SEC and CFTC Actions, Penalties, and the Atkins Reversal
A data-driven tracker of notable U.S. crypto enforcement actions across the 2024-2026 inflection. SEC crypto enforcement fell from 33 actions in 2024 to 13 in 2025—a 60% drop—and monetary penalties fell to $142 million, less than 3% of the 2024 penalty total, as the Commission dismissed its registration-theory cases while continuing to prosecute fraud. Includes the action-by-action table, the CFTC picture, and a framework for reading enforcement risk today. Confirm figures against the primary release.
What Multi-State Crypto Money Transmitter Licensing Actually Costs (2026)
A candid 2026 cost guide to multi-state crypto money transmitter licensing—real application fee, surety bond, and net-worth ranges, the drivers that move them, and how to build a defensible per-state budget instead of trusting a single number.
Do Crypto Companies Need a Money Transmitter License? (2026)
The honest answer is: it depends on your business model — and on two separate layers of law. A custodial exchange almost certainly needs one; a non-custodial wallet or a miner usually does not. This guide sorts the common crypto models into who registers federally, who needs a state license, and who is outside both.
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