Lowenstein Crypto advises leading digital asset and cryptocurrency projects, exchanges, and trading firms. Our practice covers regulatory advice, transactions and structuring advice, investigations, and adversarial matters including commercial disputes, bankruptcy, and related litigation. As these markets continue their rapid growth and market participants continue to evolve and mature their businesses, we are providing this weekly digest as a resource that highlights and summarizes a selection of key recent legal regulatory developments.
Clarity Act Reported to the Senate and Placed on the Legislative Calendar
On June 1, H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, was reported to the Senate by Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar. The measure had cleared the Senate Banking Committee on May 14 in a 15-9 bipartisan vote and still must be reconciled with the parallel Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act (S. 3755) approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee. Key points of contention remain ahead of a floor vote, including an unresolved conflict-of-interest/ethics provision for government officials holding digital assets, the treatment of stablecoin yield, the scope of decentralized finance obligations, and the Securities and Exchange Commission/Commodity Futures Trading Commission jurisdictional balance. The bill text and actions are available here.
Congressional Democrats Press Labor Department To Abandon Rule Opening 401(k)s to Crypto and Other Alternative Assets
On June 1, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Bobby Scott sent a 14-page bicameral letter to acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling urging the Department of Labor (DOL) to withdraw a proposed rule that would give 401(k) plan fiduciaries cover to offer volatile alternative assets–including cryptocurrency–so long as fiduciaries can demonstrate they weighed relevant factors before offering access. The lawmakers argued that the proposal is “harmful to American workers and counter to statute, Congressional intent, existing regulations, and case law,” contending it would flip the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s “prudence” standard by presuming due diligence rather than requiring fiduciaries to demonstrate it. They further raised conflict-of-interest concerns, asserting that the change “expands opportunities for President Trump and his family to profit at the expense of taxpayers, workers, and retirees” given the family’s crypto ventures. The challenged rule, Fiduciary Duties in Selecting Designated Investment Alternatives, issued by the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration on March 30-31, 2026, implements Trump’s Executive Order 14330, Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors, and establishes a process-based safe harbor. The bicameral letter is available here, the DOL news release is available here, and the proposed rule is available here.
First Stablecoin Issued by a U.S. Bank
On May 27, SoFi Technologies announced the launch of SoFiUSD, which it described as “the First Stablecoin Issued by a US National Bank to Launch on a Banking Platform.” SoFiUSD is a payment stablecoin issued by SoFi Bank, N.A., and is available for SoFi’s nearly 15 million members to buy, sell, hold, and convert directly within the SoFi app. The bank describes SoFiUSD as a “bank-grade, 1:1 redeemable U.S. dollar stablecoin,” redeemable one-to-one for U.S. dollars from SoFi Bank, which maintains liquid assets to support all outstanding SoFiUSD and provides regular attestations performed by an independent U.S.-licensed CPA. The token launched on Ethereum and Solana, with additional networks to be added, and full availability was expected by early June as members updated to the latest version of the app. SoFi also outlined a road map to let members convert SoFiUSD into tokenized deposits that could earn interest and access FDIC insurance, to enable 24/7 cross-border transfers, and to list SoFiUSD on its first centralized-exchange partner, Bullish, for institutional trading. The SoFi press release is available here.
NYDFS Signs Stablecoin MOU with the European Banking Authority
On June 2, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the European Banking Authority (EBA) to facilitate the exchange of supervisory and confidential information related to stablecoins. Acting Superintendent Kaitlin Asrow said the MOU “reflects the Department’s deep commitment to cross-border supervision and collaboration,” while EBA Chair François-Louis Michaud called it “an important milestone in strengthening transatlantic cooperation on stablecoin supervision.” The MOU provides for information exchange on request or own initiative–including recurrent quarterly exchanges on certain categories such as authorizations, the volume of stablecoins in circulation and number of holders (in custodial and unhosted wallets), suspected infringements, and supervisory sanctions–as well as participation in supervisory colleges, mutual assistance in general investigations and on-site inspections, and notification mechanisms for material infringements and emergency or crisis situations. The NYDFS press release is available here, and the signed MOU is available here.
Brazil’s Central Bank Makes Independent Audits Mandatory for Crypto Firms
Effective June 1, Brazil’s central bank, Banco Central do Brasil, requires every virtual-asset firm–including exchanges, brokerages, and custody platforms–to submit an independent audit report signed by an auditor registered with Brazil’s securities regulator before it can be authorized to operate. The measure requires the external auditor to validate each firm’s anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism-financing controls and applies both to new applicants and to already licensed firms. The full measure is available here.
FCA Warns UK Football Clubs about Sponsorship Deals with Unauthorized Crypto Firms
On June 3, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned UK football clubs–principally Premier League clubs signing sponsorship deals with unregistered financial firms–that they could be exposed to potential money-laundering violations if they continue to partner with unauthorized crypto firms. The regulator’s letter asked clubs to carry out five due-diligence checks, including confirming whether a firm is FCA-authorized or relies on an exemption, confirming whether its services are regulated under UK law, and checking the FCA’s warning lists and Firm Checker tool. The FCA press release is available here.