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NLJ this week: cyber law & cryptoassets

16 April 2021
Issue: 7928 / Categories: Legal News , Cyber , Technology , Financial services litigation
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2021 ‘big year’ for cryptocurrency regulation

As the importance of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the financial markets continues to rise, so too do calls for increased regulation.

Writing in NLJ this week, Celso de Azevedo and Marc Samuels, both of 36 Group, explore the most recent regulatory developments both in the UK and US. They note that Mastercard is integrating Bitcoin into its payment systems, BNY Mellon has announced plans to hold Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies for its clients and Tesla recently bought $1.5bn of Bitcoin for its corporate treasury.

‘These events reflect a surge of institutional interest in the emerging Bitcoin and cryptoasset class,’ they write. And ‘just as we have seen growth in value, so too have we seen a flurry of regulatory and political activity in connection with cryptocurrency in the first quarter of 2021.’

Their article looks at recent developments on regulation and explains why 2021 could be ‘a big year for cryptocurrency regulation’.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
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