The U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) is calling on brokerage firms to keep the regulator apprised of any ongoing dealings in cryptocurrencies or other digital assets.
In a notice to the industry, FINRA called on industry firms to keep the self-regulatory organization’s (SRO) staff updated on any activity involving digital assets, including assets that aren’t necessarily considered securities.
“As the area of digital assets continues to evolve and present unique regulatory challenges, FINRA believes it is important to keep the lines of communication with members open,” FINRA said in the notice.
To that end, FINRA is calling on firms to alert the SRO to any “new activities and planned activities relating to digital assets not previously disclosed.”
Those activities include trading digital assets, dealing in or advising investment vehicles that hold digital assets, trading derivatives with underlying digital assets, participating in initial or secondary offerings (such as initial coin offerings), creating a trading platform and accepting or mining crypto.