As an advisory board member for AltCourt.org in New York, Braeden Anderson formerly worked with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Braeden Anderson supports this not-for-profit organization in its mission of improving investor protection and market integrity.FINRA recently requested information from its member firms regarding cryptocurrency-related activity. Topics of interest to FINRA include trading of cryptocurrencies, accepting cryptocurrencies from customers, dispensing with crypto-related advice, managing pooled crypto funds, and participation in token sales. It has also requested information on the practice of mining, in which miners earn rewards for participating in blockchain recording and other unspecified uses of blockchain technology.Participation in this regulatory notice is not mandatory, but comes as part of a comprehensive set of efforts by FINRA regarding the use of digital assets. Some individuals and organizations have committed fraud and other violations of the law using digital currencies and other assets, and FINRA seeks to build comprehensive data on the issue and encourage caution among investors regarding new types of assets.
Braeden Anderson is a lawyer and financial technology expert who currently serves on the advisory board for cryptocurrency and blockchain at AltCourt.Org. Prior to obtaining his current position, Braeden Anderson attended California State University and Seton Hall University’s School of Law. Moreover, Mr. Anderson will enroll in the Blockchain Strategy Programme at the Said Business School.A college within the University of Oxford, the Said Business School was founded in 1996 and currently offers over 30 different business programs. Over the course of six weeks, students in the Blockchain Strategy Programme participate in flexible learning modules that provide a comprehensive understanding of blockchain and how it works. Moreover, enrollees learn to apply the Oxford Blockchain Strategic framework and Oxford Blockchain Regulation framework to strategic decision making upon graduation.The program also connects participants with an international network of experts and innovators. Upon graduation, students receive a formal certificate from the Said Business School. For additional information on the Oxford Blockchain Strategy Programme, visit sbs.ox.ac.uk.
Lawyer Braeden Anderson has a keen interest in cryptocurrecy and its underlying blockchain technology. Serving on the advisory board of Altcourt.org, Braeden Anderson advises industry players on the legal issues surrounding coins and tokens. In the crypto world, coins and tokens are sometimes used interchangeably, even though they are completely different digital assets. To understand the distinction, one must first understand what cryptocurrency is: a virtual currency secured by cryptography. The transfer of this virtual currency is encrypted to ensure security and verifiability. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency. Transactions were supported by a decentralized ledger called the blockchain. This ledger was essentially a secure record of all transactions. Since the creation of Bitcoin, alternative cryptocurrencies have come up, including both coins tokens. Coins are created by making code changes to Bitcoin’s open-source protocol, resulting in an entirely new instrument. Examples are Namecoin and Litecoin. However, there are also coins that are not created from Bitcoin’s protocol but from entirely new blockchains and protocols. Examples include Ethereum and Ripple. Tokens, on the other hand, are simply representations of assets or utilities that are created from blockchains. They represent assets such as commodities, tradable securities, or even other cryptocurrencies. Their functionality, therefore, is far greater.
Before his recent graduation from law school, Braeden Anderson served as a legal extern at the regulatory agency FINRA, which is increasingly focused on the emerging field of cryptocurrencies. Braeden Anderson keeps abreast of changes in the regulation of digital assets and serves as an advisory board member in cryptocurrency and blockchain for AltCourt.org.The digital-assets market has grown significantly over the past few years. Cryptocurrencies, virtual coins, and tokens have become more common in the financial world. This growth has attracted many retail investors. FINRA is committed to protecting investors from fraud and securities violations. In this regard, FINRA recently issued a notice encouraging member firms to disclose their participation or intended participation in the digital-asset space. The notice, released on July 6, 2018, encouraged member firms to notify FINRA or its associated affiliates on whether it engages in activities relating to digital assets. FINRA defines participation in the digital assets market broadly to include (but not limited to): -Purchasing, selling, or otherwise executing digital-asset transactions, whether individually or through pulled investments.
-Providing advisory services for digital-asset transactions.
-Purchasing, selling, or executing derivative transactions tied to digital assets.
-Participating in initial coin offerings.
-Creating platforms to support digital-asset trading.
-Mining cryptocurrencies.
-Accepting cryptocurrency payments.
A law student at Seton Hall University School of Law, Braeden Anderson serves as a legal extern at FINRA and a law clerk at Budd Larner, PC, when he isn’t busy with school work. Through these positions, Braeden Anderson has gained hands-on experience with such things as commercial law, regulatory enforcement, and securities violations. In June 2018, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that Valerie Szczepanik would head the organization’s new cryptocurrency division. The agency created this new division as part of its efforts to balance innovation and consumer protection in the emerging cryptocurrency market. So far, the cryptocurrency market has had unclear regulations attached to it, partly due to the SEC’s struggle to fully classify the currency properly. Because of this, the agency can only warn investors about potential issues relating to cryptocurrency, such as pump-and-dump schemes, a scheme that artificially increases the price of a security.When Szczepanik takes on her new role, the SEC will grant her the title of senior advisor for Digital Assets and Innovation and associate director of the Division of Corporation Finance. She currently heads the agency’s Distributed Ledger Technology Working Group and Dark Web Working Group and previously worked in the justice field before joining the SEC in 1997.
A Seton Hall University law student, Braeden Anderson has extensive knowledge of securities law and is presently a legal extern with FINRA. One area in which Braeden Anderson has a strong interest is cryptocurrencies and the regulations surrounding them. A recent BanklessTimes article by Braeden Anderson, the president of the Cryptocurrency & Blockchain Regulatory Task Force (CBRTF), brought focus to a new US-based nonprofit that is designed to augment the regulatory structures of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Operating independently from financial interests and markets, the CBRTF requests the voluntary participation of crypto-market sell-side entities. These include blockchain startups, initial coin offerings (ICOs), and the developers of smart tokens/contracts. The aim is to set in place and enforce a set of standards and rules that have been designed as reflecting worldwide industry best practices. A focus is on regulatory issues that are at present inadequately addressed and reflect the technological complexity of “multifaceted amalgamations of code.” Areas of major CBRTF emphasis addressed include financial management standards, diligence and surveillance protocol, and conflict of interest rules. Compliance is seen as critical in bringing to a close the current “wild west” approach and ensuring consistent, transparent, and enforceable standards.
A law student at Seton Hall University, Braeden Anderson possesses long-standing interest in securities regulation, with a particular focus on algorithmic trading. Braeden Anderson is currently undertaking a legal externship with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA). The industry-funded regulator has oversight of 3,700 brokerage firms, as well as 630,000 registered representatives, and recently proposed steps to increase actions against churning. This practice involves brokers trading excessively using client accounts, with an aim of boosting their revenues.The proposed new regulation would not require the broker to have control and discretion over the client’s account in order to be liable for churning it. At issue are situations where the customer relies on guidance from the broker, although the client authorizes investment buying and selling within the account. For clients used to brokers making decisions for them, the potential for churning may not be evident and such activities go unnoticed. Even with the change in rules, FINRA would require that, in specific cases, it must be demonstrated that the transactions at issue were “excessive and unsuitable.”
