Hedged Positions:  A Blog on International Finance, Trade and Regulation

State attorney generals–and state law in general–tends to get a short shrift in crypto law, with most of the emphasis being on when a crypto asset is a security.  But state law can play an important role–especially when it comes … Continue Reading

I’m delighted to have the opportunity to participate in Consensus this year, the annual gathering of the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology world.  It should be one heck of a conference–and the agenda can be found here.

The act of regulation through informal methods such as speeches and letters — also known as jawboning — is used often in creating policy.  And though it’s often been associated with the Federal Reserve, it hasn’t been sufficiently explored as … Continue Reading

The Geneva Report on the World Economy will consider how advances in information technology are changing the landscape of financial services provision and how those advances may be changing the optimal scale of banks. The authors of the report (Kathryn Petralia, Kabbage; … Continue Reading

Whether you’re paying a friend for drinks on Venmo or logging in to your online banking, you’ve probably engaged with fintech.  And I’m delighted to get to talk about it, break down this rapidly evolving field, and explain how Congress … Continue Reading

The Biennial “DebtCon” conference was launched at Georgetown Law in January 2016, and is returning here after a turn at the Graduate Institute in Geneva in October 2017. Georgetown’s Institute of International Economic Law will host DebtCon3 in Washington, D.C. … Continue Reading

I wake up to the following news on twitter: BREAKING: WTO issues bombshell ruling, saying Russia was right to invoke Article 21 “national security” exemption to impose trade restrictions on Ukraine. Potential win for @realDonaldTrump who uses national security as … Continue Reading

Bitcoin’s meteoric rise throughout 2017 was accompanied by a growing assumption by some in the marketplace that a cryptocurrency might appreciate in perpetuity given the success of a network, as might the value of shares in a company.  But, as Dan … Continue Reading

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) issued a statement on “crypto-assets,” highlighting that new financial products related to crypto have the potential to increase the risks to banks who engage in digital or crypto assets. This is, notably, at the least, … Continue Reading

I’m delighted to join the Consultative Working Group for ESMA’s Financial Innovation Standing Committee.  Later this week I’ll be giving a presentation on the policy tradeoffs arising between innovation, regulatory clarity and market integrity.