Regulatory Compliance & Growth in the U.S.A & Abroad
DARA
Digital Asset Regulatory Authority
A Self Regulated Organization
Presented By:
DARA U.S & DARA International
Blockchain Legal Institute Foundation
Digital Asset & Tech News From Around The USA
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- Federal & State Updates
- Special Speaker: Adam Minehardt, Chainlink Labs
- Position Papers
- Next Steps
Global News
Crypto regulatory affairs: HKMA’s tokenization pilot program begins
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has officially entered into the pilot phase of an ambitious tokenization project that aims to reinforce Hong Kong’s growing role as a leading hub for digital asset-related innovation.
On November 13, the HKMA, Hong Kong’s central bank and banking sector supervisor, announced the commencement of the pilot phase of Project Ensemble, an initiative that the HKMA launched in August 2024 to enable financial institutions to innovate with tokenized assets.
The initial phase of Project Ensemble involved a regulatory sandbox that enabled financial institutions in Hong Kong to test use cases involving tokenized deposits, which are the digital representation of bank deposits on a blockchain.
Participants in the pilot program include banks such as Standard Chartered, HSBC and Bank of China (Hong Kong), as well as asset managers and investment firms such as BlackRock and Franklin Templeton. The program, which will run across the whole of 2026, will utilize the HKD Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system — a local clearing system supervised by the HKMA — to settle interbank tokenized deposit transactions.
Office of Comptroller of Currency
The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has published a notice confirming “permissible bank activities related to paying crypto-asset network fees.” As part of Interpretive Letter 1186, the OCC confirmed that “a national bank may pay network fees, sometimes referred to as ‘gas fees,’ on blockchain networks to facilitate otherwise permissible activities and hold, as principal, amounts of crypto-assets on balance sheet necessary to pay network fees for which the bank anticipates a reasonably foreseeable need.”
The OCC also confirmed that “a national bank may hold amounts of crypto-assets as principal necessary for testing otherwise permissible crypto-asset-related platforms, whether internally developed or acquired from a third party.” This expands upon guidance released by the OCC in May 2025 which allowed banks to handle digital assets on behalf of their customers and outsource some crypto activities to third parties. The notice from the OCC concluded by stating that “[a]s with any activity, a national bank must conduct these activities in a safe and sound manner and in compliance with applicable law.”
Ohio Crypto Payment for State Fees
Ohio to Let You Pay State Fees with Crypto
Ohio Approves Crypto Payment Processor for State Fees
Ohio Moves to Accept Crypto Payments for State Fees
Ohio State Board of Deposit Approval Announcement
Ohio Approves Cryptocurrency Payments for State Fees
Stablecoins
Wyoming State Stablecoin Working Group
FBI Scams
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FBI is alerting the public to a surge in cybercriminals posing as financial institutions in order to seize control of bank, payroll and health-related accounts, part of what investigators described as a sharp rise in account takeover fraud. Since January 2025, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has received more than 5,100 reports, representing losses that now exceed $262 million.
FBI officials said criminals carry out the schemes by pretending to be bank employees or by creating websites that closely resemble legitimate financial institutions, tricking people into handing over sensitive login information. The goal of these criminals is to gain full access to a person’s online account and drain funds before the activity is detected, according to investigators.
Singapore Mandates Anti-Scam Features for iMessage and Google Messages
Singapore has mandated Apple and Google to implement anti-scam measures on iMessage and Google Messages to block government impersonation frauds, following a nearly threefold surge in such cases in early 2025. This directive under the Online Criminal Harms Act requires blocking spoofed IDs and prioritizing phone numbers by December. It sets a precedent for global tech accountability in cybersecurity.
Singapore’s Digital Shield: Mandating Tech Titans to Thwart Government Impersonation Frauds
In a bold move underscoring the escalating battle against cyber fraud, Singapore has compelled tech behemoths Apple and Google to implement stringent measures against scams impersonating government entities on their messaging platforms. This directive, issued under the nation’s Online Criminal Harms Act, targets the rising tide of spoofed messages on iMessage and Google Messages, where fraudsters masquerade as official agencies to dupe unsuspecting users. The order comes amid a nearly threefold increase in government impersonation scams in the first half of 2025, as reported by local authorities, highlighting Singapore’s proactive stance in safeguarding its digital ecosystem.
Federal Updates
Market Structure Legislation: Senate Agriculture Committee Releases Draft
Coming off a lengthy government shutdown, the Senate is showing bipartisan progress on digital asset market structure legislation, with both the Senate Agriculture and Banking Committees working to advance their respective drafts toward a comprehensive legislative framework.
On Nov. 10, the Agriculture Committee released a bipartisan discussion draft that builds off the House’s CLARITY Act but contains key differences.
Market Structure
On Nov. 10, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-AK) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) released a bipartisan discussion draft of market structure legislation governing the CFTC’s authority to regulate digital assets. The Senate Agriculture Committee has jurisdiction over the CFTC. The Boozman-Booker draft builds off of the CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633) by defining digital commodities, establishing consumer protections and regulating spot trading. Portions of the Senate Agriculture bill are still being drafted, including sections concerning blockchain developers, decentralized finance and anti-money laundering laws. The Senate Agriculture Committee has not set a date to markup the legislation and is soliciting feedback from interested parties.
IRS
The IRS issued guidance allowing investment funds organized as grantor trusts to stake digital assets without violating current investment tax rules, as well as draft instructions for digital asset broker information reporting in 2026, while their proposed rule implementing cross-border digital asset information reporting is under final review.
IRS Grantor Trust Staking Guidance
Revenue Procedure 2025-31 (issued November 10, 2025) provides a safe harbor allowing investment trusts and grantor trusts to stake digital assets without losing their favorable tax status under IRC § 301.7701-4(c) and §§ 671-679. Key conditions include using unrelated custodians/staking providers, indemnification against slashing risks, and quarterly distribution of rewards. Existing trusts have nine months from November 10, 2025, to amend agreements.accountingtoday+3
Primary Source Coverage: Accounting Today accounting today
Detailed Analysis: Cohen & Company cohen co
Digital Asset Broker Reporting (Form 1099-DA)
The proposed rule implementing the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) for foreign digital asset accounts is under final review by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (received November 2025). It would require U.S. taxpayers to report offshore crypto holdings, similar to FATCA/CRS.kahntaxlaw
Final Regulations (June 2024, TD 10000) and draft Form 1099-DA instructions require brokers to report gross proceeds from digital asset sales starting in 2026 (for 2025 transactions), with basis reporting phased in for 2027 (2026 transactions). Updated FAQs added November 7, 2025.treasury+2
IRS Fact Sheet (FS-2024-23): [IRS.gov]
Treasury Press Release: Treasury.govtreasury
Cross-Border Digital Asset Reporting
Federal AI
The House passed the Generative AI Terrorism Risk Assessment Act sponsored by Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), which requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct annual assessments of threats to the U.S. posed by terrorist organizations, such as ISIS and al Qaeda, utilizing generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) applications for terrorist activity.
Sens. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Todd Young (R-IN) the Advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) Security Readiness Act to direct the National Security Agency (NSA) to develop and disseminate security guidance to protect America’s advanced technology from foreign adversaries.
Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) introduced the Strategic Task Force on Scam Prevention Act to create a federal interagency task force to address scams by developing a comprehensive national strategy that includes leveraging existing consumer reporting systems, public education campaigns, coordination with industry sectors like AI, cryptocurrency, and social media, and enforcement actions related to fraud and money laundering.
AI Updates
So far in 2025, lawmakers in 46 states introduced more than 250 bills addressing AI’s role in health care. Including the three measures signed in California this week, 17 states have enacted 30 of those measures.
The largest number of bills – more than 90 – require that doctors and patients are told when they are interacting with AI systems. Some bills also require AI developers to obtain licenses from the state. More than 50 of the proposed bills include requirements to prohibit or address discrimination by AI tools. Five states – Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, Nebraska, and Texas – passed legislation effectively limiting insurers’ use of AI to deny coverage for medical care.
New Jersey SB 4867, which establishes the New Jersey Responsible AI Advancement and Workforce Protection Act, was introduced and referred to committee. This bill establishes worker protections, environmental responsibility, privacy protection, responsible investment, and workforce development within the AI industry. Additionally, AB 6036 was introduced, which requires the Department of Environmental Protection to work with institutions of higher education and private sector technology companies to develop and implement an AI tool for predicting and mapping flood risk in New Jersey.
Pennsylvania SB 1090 passed committee. The bill requires an operator to disclose that the AI companion is artificially generated and non-human if a reasonable person would be misled to believe they are interacting with a human, and to maintain and implement a protocol to prevent an AI companion from producing self-harm ideation.
President Trump has publicly called for a single federal stand on AI rather than “a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes.” An executive order that could soon be signed by the President would launch legal challenges and withhold federal funding in order to thwart states’ AI laws. If signed, the draft order would give Attorney General Pam Bondi 30 days to establish an “AI Litigation Task Force” to challenge state AI laws.
In Florida, HB 281, which would prohibit the use of AI in the practice of psychological, clinical, counseling, and therapy services, was prefiled.
In Pennsylvania, SB 293, an act providing for a report on AI in the workforce, was heard and passed committee with a vote of 10 to 1. Additionally, HB 1993, which prohibits a mental health professional from using AI to assist in providing supplementary support in therapy or psychotherapy services when the client’s therapeutic session is recorded or transcribed unless the patient is informed in writing that AI will be used, was formally introduced and referred to committee
Two bills were prefiled in Florida: SB 146, which requires the Florida Digital Service to conduct a study that addresses the impact of state agencies procuring, implementing, or operating AI-powered technology, and SB 202, which requires that an insurer’s decision to deny a claim must be made by a qualified human professional.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) signed SB 7882, which bans collusion using algorithm-enabled rent price fixing. Two bills were introduced in the Assembly: AB 9152 which prohibits certain dynamic pricing practices, and AB 9185 which includes AI under existing laws regarding making false reports of incidents to law enforcement.
Two bills were introduced in Ohio: HB 525, which concerns the use of AI in therapy services, and HB 524, which imposes penalties for AI models which suggest harming self or someone else. On October 28, the House Technology and Innovation Committee will meet to discuss HB 392, which requires risk management policies for AI-controlled critical infrastructure.
Federal Policy Update
Adam Minehardt - Guest Speaker
Additional Resources
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