The staff of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets issued a statement explaining how non-custodial crypto wallet providers may offer services and receive fees without broker-dealer registration.
Virtual Currencies, Digital Assets & the Law
William B. Mack is a co-chair of the Financial Regulatory & Compliance Practice. He is experienced in advising companies on regulatory and compliance matters relating to the Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, the Exchange Act, Anti-Money Laundering laws and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules.
William’s practice involves all aspects of broker-dealer regulation, including Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) membership, supervision, employment, research, soft dollar arrangements, chaperoning of foreign broker-dealers, social media, use of foreign finders, anti-money laundering rules, alternative trading systems (ATS), exchanges, and market making issues. He also provides regulatory guidance to investment banking clients in connection with securities offerings and related trading issues.
William advises firms in the FINRA new membership (NMA) and the continuing membership (CMA) processes. William assists firms to develop or amend their written supervisory procedures and compliance manuals.
William routinely represents clients who are negotiating placement agent agreements, foreign finders agreements, clearing agreements, agreements with registered representatives and expense-sharing agreements.
William assists broker-dealers and their associated persons to respond to regulatory examinations and inquiries and provides effective representation in a range of enforcement proceedings with the SEC, FINRA, NYSE, state and foreign regulatory authorities. He regularly prepares and defends witnesses in FINRA on-the-record interviews and SEC testimony. Enforcement matters have involved issues including market manipulation, supervision, customer defalcations, insider trading, anti-money laundering, distribution of unregistered securities, direct market access, market making, soft dollar arrangements, cross border trading, electronic intrusion and customer impersonation, sales practices, supervision, private placements, ETFs, indexes, and other securities products.
William regularly addresses questions with respect to what activities require or are exempt from broker-dealer registration. William assists firms in obtaining guidance, interpretive letters, and no-action relief from FINRA and the SEC with respect to novel securities issues and the creation of new products and services. William also advises clients on cryptocurrency, tokenization, NFTs, DeFi structures, and digital asset exchanges and trading.
Prior to joining the firm, William was a Principal Counsel for Enforcement at FINRA. Before FINRA, he was the Director of the Executive Secretariat in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. William also served as a Deputy Associate Counsel at the White House, advising primarily on appointments and investigations. Before the White House, he practiced at large firms in New York. William clerked for Judge Robert L. Carter in the Southern District of New York.
The staff of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets issued a statement explaining how non-custodial crypto wallet providers may offer services and receive fees without broker-dealer registration.
On March 17, 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued an interpretive release addressing the application of the federal securities laws to crypto assets and related transactions. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission joined the interpretation and indicated it will administer the Commodity Exchange Act consistent with the SEC’s approach, reflecting a coordinated regulatory position across the two agencies.
Continue Reading SEC Clarifies Status of Crypto Assets Under Federal Securities Laws, Signals Potential Exemptive and Safe Harbor Framework
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Acting Chairman Caroline Pham, currently the only CFTC Commissioner of the five-member commission, announced on Dec. 4, 2025, that spot trading in cryptocurrency products will…
Continue Reading CFTC Opens Door to Spot Crypto Trading on Regulated Exchanges
On Sept. 8, 2025, the Nasdaq Stock Market filed a proposed rule change with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to enable the trading of tokenized equity securities and exchange-traded products on its platform. The proposal, published for public comment, represents a significant step toward integrating blockchain-based assets into the existing U.S. equities market infrastructure.…
Continue Reading Nasdaq Proposes Rule Changes to Enable Trading of Tokenized Securities
On April 7, 2025, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum titled “Ending Regulation by Prosecution” (Blanche Memo), outlining a new Department of Justice approach to digital asset enforcement.…
Continue Reading Justice Department Issues Memorandum Realigning DOJ’s Crypto Enforcement Efforts
On Nov. 26, 2024, in what has been deemed a win for open-source technology, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the district court’s ruling in Van…
Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Rejects OFAC Sanction of Tornado Cash Crypto Code
May 23, 2024, the SEC approved the first investment products linked to the price of Ether for listing and trading on three exchanges, following approval of the first Bitcoin ETFs…
Continue Reading SEC Approves Ethereum ETFs For Trading
U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Reps. Wiley Nickel (D-NC) and Mike Flood (R-NE) are working to overturn a controversial Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff accounting bulletin, SAB 121…
Continue Reading Lawmakers Introduce Resolution to Nullify SEC’s Crypto Accounting Bulletin
On Sept. 18, 2023, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) issued a press release announcing updates to its ongoing oversight of the digital asset space, including (1)…
Continue Reading NYDFS Updates Guidance on Virtual Coin-Listing/Delisting Frameworks and the Greenlist