USA LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Margo H.K. Tank, Michael Fluhr, Era Anagnosti, Kristin Boggiano, David Stier, Liz S. M. Caires, Adam Dubin, Emily Honsa Hicks, Kathleen Birrane and Chezelle McDade, DLA Piper LLP
centralised, permissioned platforms – not decentral - ised platforms. Traditional players are also exploring blockchain to streamline financial processes, including payments, settlements, real estate recording, vehicle titling, and other record-keeping, including for loan transactions, insurance claims, and trade settlements. Additionally, several financial institutions are using blockchain to enable the purchase and sale of digital carbon credits and deploying digital asset control systems that enjoy the benefits of the legal framework of UCC Article 8 until such time as nearly all US states adopt the UCC Article 12 legal framework for controllable electronic records, controllable payment intangibles, and con - trollable accounts. 10.2 Local Regulators’ Approach to Blockchain Blockchain activities may be regulated by multi - ple, independent regulators, state and federal, with overlapping jurisdiction. Regulators have diverged in enthusiasm for blockchain and have asserted posi - tions inconsistent with each other and, at times, inter - nally. Influenced by the new administration, SEC dismissed several large enforcement actions and closed ongoing investigations. Non-binding statements and guidance provided by SEC staff and individual commissioners suggest SEC may have shifted its views. In August 2025, at a blockchain symposium, SEC Chair Paul Atkins publicly stated he believes “very few” tokens constitute securities. In 2025, several states amended existing statutes regulating money transmitters or establishing new regulations for digital assets. As of December 2025, at least 33 states have adopted the 2022 amendments to the UCC, including Article 12 related to Control - lable Electronic Records. In August 2025, DOJ and the National Economic Council announced an effort to identify state laws that significantly and adversely affect the national economy or interstate economic activity. In response, a crypto trading platform called for federal regulation that would pre-empt state law seeking to regulate crypto, including Blue Sky laws and state licensing and regulatory requirements. The
regulatory developments in this space remain to be seen. CFTC and financial regulators have proven more will - ing to work with certain players, such as spot and futures exchanges, to allow activities subject to regu - lation. See 6. Marketplaces, Exchanges and Trading Plat- forms . State regulators vary in support for blockchain. Mul - tiple state legislatures have adopted amendments to the UETA to include blockchain and other DLTs within scope. Other states have restricted blockchain activi - ties in the state, imposed strict registration require - ments. State banking regulators require licensing of money transmission, payments, and trading activities. State securities and commodities regulators have been less active. Greater regulatory clarity and co-ordination may come in the future, including through unifying federal legisla - tion. See 1.1 Evolution of the Fintech Market . 10.3 Classification of Blockchain Assets As described above, regulators have yet to agree on a scheme to assess the open questions of (i) when cryptocurrency constitutes a security, a commodity, a currency, or something else and (ii) when certain activities, such as borrowing, lending, or trading, par - ticularly when executed via a decentralised protocol, fall within regulatory jurisdiction. See 2.6 Jurisdiction of Regulators . 10.4 Regulation of “Issuers” of Blockchain Assets Regulation of tokenised asset sales is generally based on the type of the assets tokenised. Sale of tokenised real estate would implicate state real estate laws. Sale of tokenised assets otherwise not subject to compre - hensive regulation (eg, art) may correspondingly not trigger any comprehensive regulation. In the USA, the sale or distribution of cryptocurrency is a regulated activity and is generally considered money transmission, requiring registration with federal and
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