Key takeaways

• On December 15, 2017, the CFTC issued its proposed interpretation of the “actual delivery” exception for retail commodity transactions on virtual currencies.
• The proposed interpretation requires that “actual delivery” is achieved when the purchaser of a virtual currency obtains title and possession of the virtual currency within 28 days of purchase, and neither the an offeror or a seller of the currency can retain any interest or control.
• We believe that these new requirements run the risk of unintentionally stunting the advancements of the virtual currency industry and encourage the CFTC to implement a regulatory sandbox to deal with the challenge of applying current regulation to virtual currencies.