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CFTC Withdraws Specialized Guidance On Cryptocurrency Derivatives
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March 31, 2025
CFTC Withdraws Specialized Guidance On Cryptocurrency Derivatives
By: Jake Gray
In step with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) transformation from cryptocurrency adversary to ally, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) is now following its sister agency’s lead. By withdrawing its specialized guidance on digital currency derivatives, the CFTC signals a more accommodating regulatory approach that recognizes the growing maturity and mainstream acceptance of digital asset markets. As of March 28, 2025, both CFTC Staff Advisory No. 18-14 and the subsequent 2023 guidance, CFTC Staff Advisory No. 23-07 have been officially withdrawn, marking a clear departure from the agency’s previous cautionary stance.[1][2] What’s In the Advisories The CFTC’s first digital asset advisory, Letter No. 18-14, came in 2018 when digital asset derivatives products and their underlying spot markets were new,…
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Sweepstakes Issues Draw Focus at Next.io Summit
March 27, 2025
Sweepstakes Issues Draw Focus at Next.io Summit
By: Jordan Briggs
Social casinos were one of the many hot topics at the Next.io summit in New York March 12-13, so much so that they got their own well-attended summit on March 11. Generally, there are three types of online social casinos: social casinos with no option to purchase any plays; social casinos with the option to purchase plays and the only thing a user can win…
YouTube Fills Federal Policing Void on Gambling
March 17, 2025
YouTube Fills Federal Policing Void on Gambling
By: Sara Dalsheim
The ultimate inhibitor of the regulated gambling industry is the illegal ever-present offshore market. The regulated industry has been consistently asking for assistance from law enforcement to assist them in stamping out the illegal market – that, unlike the regulated industry, is not required to abide by any of the mechanisms that protect consumers. The federal government has failed to answer the call, so the…
Coming to a Theater (Device) Near You: Legalized Sports Betting and Enhanced Player Data Team Up to Save Professional Sports
May 10, 2019
Coming to a Theater (Device) Near You: Legalized Sports Betting and Enhanced Player Data Team Up to Save Professional Sports
By: Nicole Kardell
Professional sports as an industry has a money problem. Game attendance across sports has been on the decline in recent years. Viewership has been on a downward trajectory as has traditional advertising. But two superheroes have appeared on the horizon to help turn things around. And if they team up, Avengers-style, they could benefit all stakeholders in the sports industry: from leagues to teams to…
DOJ High-Wire Act
April 29, 2019
DOJ High-Wire Act
By: James Trusty
Heavyweight parties are slugging it out in a lawsuit in the Granite State, and Ifrah Law is taking a lead role in protecting the interests of America’s rapidly growing online gaming industry. The New Hampshire civil case comes on the heels of the Department of Justice (DOJ) releasing an interpretation of the federal Wire Act that threatens to bring within its scope all gambling activity,…
Update on 1/14/19 OLC Wire Act Opinion – All Eyes on New Hampshire
April 9, 2019
Update on 1/14/19 OLC Wire Act Opinion – All Eyes on New Hampshire
By: Jeff Ifrah
(This post was originally published on 1/15/2019 and updated on 4/8/2019) On Jan. 14, 2019, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion reversing its 2011 position on the Wire Act and sports betting, contradicting not just itself but decisions by at least two District Courts and dicta by the U.S. Supreme Court by maintaining that the Wire Act prohibits all interstate…
How to Ensure Your Media Affiliate Follows Pennsylvania Gaming Law
March 28, 2019
How to Ensure Your Media Affiliate Follows Pennsylvania Gaming Law
By: Steven Eichorn
As discussed in an earlier blog post, New Jersey’s licensing requirements for affiliate marketers impose significantly different structures depending on the revenue model. If the affiliate marketer only plans to work with casinos in a flat fee model (e.g. CPA or other form of pre-determined compensation), then they must register as a vendor. The vendor registration process is quite straightforward, but it does limit the…
An Epic Fail: Complaint Against Fortnite Creator Based On Facts As Stale As Fruitcake
March 5, 2019
An Epic Fail: Complaint Against Fortnite Creator Based On Facts As Stale As Fruitcake
By: Nicole Kardell
Parents can get angry when their kids spend too much time or money on video games. We get it. But going after a gaming company in retaliation is probably not the best response. And doing so without actually understanding the game can result in, well, a giant waste of time, or, in a recent example, an epic fail. Last week, an angry parent filed a…
