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ARTICLE · 31 JANUARY 2022

Recent SEC Proposed Rulemaking Could Impact Blockchain Trading Platforms

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On January 26, 2022, the SEC released a rulemaking proposal intended to enhance investor protections and cybersecurity for alternative trading systems that trade treasuries and other government securities.

United StatesCorporate/Commercial Law
William Kane
William Kane
William De Sierra-Pambley
William De Sierra-Pambley
Zachary Golda
Zachary Golda
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On January 26, 2022, the SEC released a rulemaking proposal intended to enhance investor protections and cybersecurity for alternative trading systems that trade treasuries and other government securities.1 The 650 page proposal contains over 220 separate requests for comments (with many requests containing multiple sub-parts). The comment requests address wide-ranging issues which affect trading venues of all types. Most relevant for the blockchain industry is that the SEC proposal seeks to regulate "communication protocol systems."2

While the regulation never mentions the terms "blockchain," "cryptocurrency," or even "token," there is industry concern that broadly used term "communications protocol systems" may apply to blockchain and cryptocurrency trading platforms. This could include wallets, block explorers that allow users to call smart contracts, and other market participants-if not virtually every blockchain-based application. SEC Chair Gary Gensler

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