Editor’s note: Our Regulatory Updates series highlights the latest regulatory, legal, and policy happenings relevant to the crypto industry, curated by the a16z crypto regulatory team.
Regulatory Update: September 30 – October 27, 2025
tl;dr
- The DOJ charged the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group, a multinational business conglomerate based in Cambodia, with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy for directing the group’s operation of forced-labor scam compounds across Cambodia, where individuals held against their will were forced to engage in cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. The DOJ also filed a parallel civil forfeiture complaint against approximately 127,271 bitcoins (approximately $15 billion) that are proceeds of the schemes—the largest forfeiture action in the history of the DOJ.
- Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher J. Waller said that he “wanted to send a message that this is a new era for the Federal Reserve in payments—the defi industry is not viewed with suspicion or scorn. Rather, today, you are welcomed to the conversation on the future of payments in the United States and on our home field—something that would have been unimaginable a few years ago.”
- DC FinTech week included speeches and panels featuring numerous regulators and policymakers, such as SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins, SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce, Acting Chairman of the FDIC Travis Hill, Federal Reserve Board Governor Michael S. Barr, Director Alan Lim of the Financial Infrastructure & AI Office for the Monetary Authority of Singapore, ESMA Chair Verena Ross, and others.
Federal
🌽 Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- CFTC Acting Chair Caroline D. Pham discussed measures for implementing the White House’s recommendations for enabling digital asset trading and innovation at an annual meeting of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.
🦅 Congress
- Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent providing feedback on the Treasury Department’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking on its plans to implement the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act).
- The U.S. Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on “Examining the Taxation of Digital Assets.”
⚖️ Department of Justice
- As mentioned in “tl;dr,” the DOJ charged the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group, a multinational business conglomerate based in Cambodia, with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy for directing the group’s operation of forced-labor scam compounds across Cambodia, where individuals held against their will were forced to engage in cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. The DOJ also filed a parallel civil forfeiture complaint against approximately 127,271 bitcoins (approximately $15 billion) that are proceeds of the schemes—the largest forfeiture action in the history of the DOJ.
- Roger Ver, also known as “Bitcoin Jesus,” entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ to resolve federal tax charges brought against him. The agreement required that he pay the IRS nearly $50 million in back taxes, penalties, and interest stemming from his willful failure to properly report his bitcoin holdings on tax returns when he expatriated from the United States in 2014.
- A resident of Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud in a scheme to defraud investors in a limited partnership that was represented as an investment in cryptocurrency.
💰 Federal Reserve
- As mentioned in “tl;dr,” Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher J. Waller said that he “wanted to send a message that this is a new era for the Federal Reserve in payments—the defi industry is not viewed with suspicion or scorn. Rather, today, you are welcomed to the conversation on the future of payments in the United States and on our home field—something that would have been unimaginable a few years ago.”
🏦 Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
- The OCC granted preliminary conditional approval of the de novo national bank charter application for Erebor Bank. Erebor is the first de novo bank to receive a preliminary conditional approval under the current Comptroller. OCC Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould said that the “decision is also proof that the OCC…does not impose blanket barriers to banks that want to engage in digital asset activities.”
📈 Securities and Exchange Commission
- Commissioner Hester M. Peirce discussed the importance of financial privacy and freedom at the DC Privacy Summit.
- SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins joined MFA Policy Outlook 2025 for a fireside chat.
🏛️ White House
- President Donald J. Trump nominated SEC Crypto Task Force Chief Counsel Michael Selig to serve as chairman of the CFTC.
- President Donald J. Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
State
🐻 California
- Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill, which amends the state’s Unclaimed Property Law to include “digital financial assets,” as defined in the California Code.
🗽 New York
- New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed an executive order establishing the New York City Office of Digital Assets and Blockchain.
International
🇨🇦 Canada
- The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada imposed an administrative monetary penalty of C$176,960,190—the largest penalty in the agency’s history—on Xeltox Enterprises (operating as Cryptomus) for non-compliance with Part 1 of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and associated regulations.
🇪🇺 European Union
- The European Supervisory Authorities issued a warning to consumers on cryptoassets, stating that “crypto-assets can be risky” and that legal protection, if any, may be limited depending on which cryptoassets they invest in. The ESAs also released a factsheet explaining what the new EU regulation on Markets in Crypto-Assets means for consumers.
- The European Systemic Risk Board published a report on stablecoins, crypto investment products, and multi-function groups.
- The ECB presented findings from the digital euro innovation platform and announced a second round of experimentation.
- Revolut obtained a Markets in Crypto-Assets license from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.
🏦 Financial Stability Board
- The Financial Stability Board published a report reviewing the implementation progress of recommendations that the FSB previously published relating to the regulation, supervision, and oversight of cryptoasset markets and activities and global stablecoin arrangements.
🇫🇷 France
- Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau said that he is advocating for ESMA to be given the mandate to supervise pan-European cryptoasset service providers. He also said that the growth of stablecoins could weaken monetary sovereignty in the EU.
📈 International Organization of Securities Commissions
- The International Organization of Securities Commissions published a report assessing how twenty jurisdictions have implemented a set of IOSCO’s 2023 Policy Recommendations for Crypto and Digital Asset Markets.
🇭🇰 Hong Kong
- Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission authorized the jurisdiction’s first spot Solana exchange-traded fund.
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) announced that it had imposed financial penalties on 19 firms for carrying out “unlicensed Virtual Asset activities and for breaches of VARA’s Marketing Regulations.”
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- The Financial Conduct Authority sued entities that form part of crypto exchange HTX for unlawfully promoting cryptocurrencies to users in violation of the UK’s financial promotions regime.
- The UK Metropolitan Police announced that it had seized more than £5.5 billion in cryptocurrency in connection with an international money laundering scheme.
- HM Revenue & Customs issued a paper on the tax treatment of cryptoasset Exchange Traded Notes policy.
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