From Bitcoin to Stablecoins: International Legal Questions for Attorneys

Crypto-asset markets have evolved from experimental networks into a trillion-dollar global financial ecosystem - powering cross-border payments, decentralized finance (DeFi), tokenized securities, and stablecoin settlements. Yet as adoption accelerates, regulators and prosecutors worldwide are catching up, triggering a surge in enforcement actions that test the limits of existing legal frameworks.

Unlike traditional financial instruments, digital assets blur the lines between commodity, currency, and security. When a token launch doubles as an investment contract, an exchange operates without registration, or a stablecoin issuer fails to maintain reserves - which jurisdiction prevails? Who bears liability: the issuer, the protocol developer, the custodian, or the user?

Over the past five years, crypto-related enforcement has expanded dramatically: record-setting monetary penalties (nearly $5 billion in 2024), criminal prosecutions for money-laundering and fraud, and cross-border actions coordinated by the SEC, DOJ, FCA, and Europol. These developments expose the growing regulatory complexity surrounding digital assets - where securities law, AML/CFT compliance, consumer protection, and sanctions enforcement intersect.

This program, presented by Ewa Kozlowska, Esq., examines how international legal frameworks are being stretched to govern decentralized finance. Attendees will explore how enforcement risk is driven not only by evolving statutes but also by technological realities - anonymity, token interoperability, smart-contract immutability, and the absence of centralized control - that challenge compliance and accountability.

Participants will gain a grounded understanding of:

1. The global pattern of enforcement actions (2020-2025) and key jurisdictions driving policy.
2. Major regulatory milestones such as the EU's MiCA, FATF's updated Travel Rule, and the U.S. SEC's expanding interpretation of securities law in the crypto context.
3. Practical strategies for counsel advising token issuers, exchanges, custodians, and investors on risk mitigation, voluntary disclosures, and cross-border compliance.

In an era where billions move across blockchains daily and regulatory definitions evolve faster than case law, this program equips attorneys to navigate - and anticipate - the next wave of crypto-asset enforcement.

Learning Objectives: 

1. Understand how securities, commodities, AML/CFT, and consumer protection laws collide in the digital-asset ecosystem - and how those overlaps create new exposure for token issuers, exchanges, and even lawyers advising them
2. Identify the newest enforcement flashpoints:
   1. Unregistered token sales dubbed "securities in disguise"
   2. Stablecoin reserve breakdowns and regulatory takedowns
   3. High-profile crypto fraud cases 
   4. Cross-border money-laundering and sanctions-evasion investigations
3. Explore the patchwork of global regulation - from the EU's MiCA to FATF's Travel Rule and the SEC's expanding crypto jurisdiction - and predict how the next wave of rules will reshape digital asset markets
4. Analyze real enforcement case studies, dissecting how prosecutors build cases and how defense teams negotiate settlements - including strategies for voluntary disclosure, cooperation, and compliance remediation
5. Prepare a forward-looking compliance roadmap: integrating AML controls, blockchain forensics, disclosure standards, and crisis response plans that stand up to regulatory scrutiny