A U.S. wealth or income test that gates many private crypto and RWA offerings.

Transfer rules that allow only verified accredited or qualified buyers to receive a security token.

Anti-money-laundering controls: monitoring, reporting, and blocking illicit flows.

An Alternative Trading System, a U.S. SEC-registered venue that can match securities without being a full national exchange.

The U.S. anti-money-laundering statute that requires financial institutions, including many crypto platforms, to know customers and file reports.

The policy fear that a platform with billions of users could issue private money that rivals sovereign payment systems.

New York's state license for virtual-currency businesses, among the earliest U.S. crypto licensing regimes.

A U.S. firm licensed to effect securities transactions for customers or for its own account.

Crypto-asset service provider, MiCA's licensed category for exchanges, custodians, and brokers in the EU.

Combating the financing of terrorism, usually paired with AML programs.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees commodity derivatives and has treated Bitcoin and ether as commodities.

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, H.R.3633, a U.S. House-origin market-structure bill with subsequent Senate consideration.

The U.S. statute that gives the CFTC authority over commodity futures, swaps, and fraud in interstate commodity markets.

Transfer restrictions, freeze functions, or allowlists built into regulated tokens.

Selective disclosure designs that aim to satisfy audits without full public ledgers.

An ATS that lists digital-asset securities. Few exist, and they are not the same as a Binance-style CEX.

When public officials or their affiliates earn from tokens or exchanges while setting policy that affects those markets.

A currency transaction report for large cash moves. Crypto analogs appear as threshold transfer reports.

An EU directive that extends tax-reporting rules to crypto-asset service providers.

H.R.3633 in the 119th U.S. Congress, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025: a House-origin proposal addressing digital-asset market structure and regulatory responsibilities.

The EU Digital Operational Resilience Act, which sets cyber and outsourcing rules for financial entities including many CASPs.

The Financial Action Task Force. The intergovernmental body whose recommendations drive AML and Travel Rule rules worldwide.

FATF's term for a virtual asset service provider: exchanges, custodians, and similar businesses that must follow AML standards.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority, which registers crypto firms for AML and is expanding a fuller crypto regime.

The U.S. central bank. It supervises large banks, runs wholesale payment rails, and researches a potential digital dollar.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the U.S. Treasury bureau that writes AML rules and receives suspicious activity reports.

The U.S. Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, a House-passed bill that would split CFTC and SEC oversight of digital assets.

International policy recommendations for consistent regulation, supervision, and oversight of crypto-asset activities and relevant stablecoin arrangements.

The EU data-protection law. On-chain permanence collides with erasure rights, a standing compliance tension.

The U.S. payment-stablecoin law enacted as Public Law 119-27 on July 18, 2025, establishing an issuer and supervisory framework with implementation provisions.

The U.S. Supreme Court test for an investment contract: money, a common enterprise, and an expectation of profit from the efforts of others.

High transaction taxes and rules that chilled local volume and became a case study in policy chilling effects.

A U.S. law regulating investment companies, including many mutual funds and ETFs; U.S. spot Bitcoin and ether commodity-trust ETPs do not register under this Act.

Know Your Algorithm or Know Your Asset, informal terms for reviewing a token's code and issuer before listing.

Know Your Customer. Collecting and verifying identity before opening an account, required of most regulated venues.

Know Your Entity, due diligence on companies rather than natural persons.

A bipartisan U.S. Senate crypto framework bill that would define digital-asset categories and some tax rules.

U.S. proposals to allocate crypto oversight between the CFTC and SEC.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, a major licensing venue for crypto and digital-asset service providers in Asia.

Markets in Crypto-Assets, the EU regulation that licenses crypto issuers and service providers and sets rules for stablecoins.

EU crypto-asset service provider license covering exchange, custody, and related services.

A MiCA category for a crypto-asset that seeks to maintain a stable value by referencing one official currency.

The MiCA chapters that govern asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens, the EU's stablecoin core.

A service that pools and shuffles coins to hide the link between sender and receiver. Heavily sanctioned and prosecuted.

A state-licensed business that transmits value for customers. Many U.S. exchanges hold these licenses.

Money services business. U.S. federal registration category many crypto firms fall into.

An EU cybersecurity directive that can cover essential digital infrastructure, including some crypto hosts.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the U.S. national-bank regulator, which has issued guidance on crypto custody and stablecoin reserves.

An international framework for collecting and exchanging information about specified crypto-asset transactions for tax transparency.

The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control. It publishes sanctions lists that exchanges and mixers have been charged with violating.

A regulated entity that can hold assets for U.S. advisers under custody rules.

A U.S. mini-IPO exemption some tokenized-equity issuers have tried to use.

A U.S. exemption for small public raises, occasionally used for tokenized deals.

A U.S. exemption used for private securities offerings, including many token sales to accredited investors.

A U.S. safe harbor for offerings made outside the United States.

An SEC staff accounting bulletin that forced many banks to put custodied crypto on balance sheet, later rescinded by SAB 122.

The SEC staff bulletin that rescinded SAB 121 and pointed banks back to ordinary principal-versus-agent custody accounting.

Ideas like temporary relief for sufficiently decentralized networks while disclosure catches up.

Simple Agreement for Future Tokens. A financing document used in many private token deals.

Legal prohibitions on dealing with listed people, entities, or jurisdictions. On-chain, this often means frozen addresses.

A suspicious activity or suspicious transaction report filed with a financial-intelligence unit.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which polices securities offerings, exchanges, and advisers.

The U.S. law that requires registration or an exemption before securities are offered to the public.

The U.S. law that governs exchanges, brokers, and ongoing disclosure for public securities.

A family of U.S. drafts that would license payment-stablecoin issuers as banks or specially supervised trusts.

Rules governing stablecoin issuance, reserves, redemption, and supervision, including EU MiCA provisions and the U.S. GENIUS Act enacted in 2025. Scope and implementation dates vary by jurisdiction.

Beyond FinCEN, U.S. firms often need state money-transmitter licenses or New York's BitLicense.

Exchanges can delist assets after enforcement pressure, stranding liquidity for holders.

The EU rule that applies the Travel Rule to crypto transfers, alongside MiCA.

The requirement that virtual-asset service providers pass originator and beneficiary information with transfers above a threshold.

VASPs exchange originator and beneficiary data when moving customer crypto above thresholds.

The amount above which originator and beneficiary data must travel with a crypto transfer, often EUR 1,000 or USD 3,000 by regime.

The U.S. issuer, reserve, and supervisory framework established by the GENIUS Act enacted in July 2025, with obligations subject to its implementation provisions.

Virtual asset service provider. FATF's category for exchanges, custodians, and similar businesses.

An address approved to hold a restricted security token after KYC or accreditation checks.