Blockchain has made enormous promises to transform finance, but regulatory challenges keep legacy frictions alive. When the SEC and FINRA first attempted to apply old custody and customer protection rules to digital assets, they were left wrestling with questions never envisioned by 20th-century lawmakers. Now
Stablecoins have evolved from simple trading tools into a major pillar of the digital asset economy – and regulators are taking notice. Defined as digital assets pegged to a reference value (like the U.S. dollar), stablecoins can be collateralized or algorithmic, each carrying different risks.
Digital asset custody is one of the thorniest regulatory challenges in U.S. financial law. Investment advisers and broker-dealers must follow strict custody and client-asset protection rules – but these rules were built around physical certificates, banks, and transfer agents, not cryptographic keys and distributed ledgers.
Blockchain may be new, but the financial system problems it aims to solve aren’t. The 1960s “Paperwork Crisis” pushed regulators to modernize markets through electronic trading and coordinated clearing systems. Today, blockchain is positioned as the next major upgrade – offering a shared, tamper-resistant ledger