Crypto for Advisors: Is the Clarity Act dead?

As you might have seen, the heavily contested “ethics” portion of the pending Digital Asset Market Clarity Act has had a bit of a bumpy ride. The language, that would prohibit certain federal officials, including the President, from issuing cryptocurrency tokens while in office, has long been a cornerstone of the Democratic crypto agenda.

This is a tricky issue for Republicans because in order for the crypto bill to become a law, President Trump has to sign it, and historically he has liked issuing cryptocurrency tokens. Nonetheless, they reached an agreement on proposed language and sent it to their colleagues across the aisle. Unfortunately, this was not well received, with Sen. Ruben Gallego noting “Whatever piece of s**t they sent back to us, that was not a serious effort.”

This comes as Senate Majority Leader John Thune threw in the towel and told reporters that the bill was not going to pass before September. And if you are a reader of tea leaves, that means it is dead. Congress tends to spend the autumn months of election years campaigning to keep their jobs and if Democrats win either house, as they are expected to, there will be no bill before 2029. Anything can happen, but things are not looking good for the plucky bill that couldn’t.

That may be good though after all, because much of the industry organizing to support the bill obscured the fact that it is a heap. The basic problem with Clarity is that it is meant to enable a design paradigm that doesn’t exist anymore. Now that it has finally stopped mooing, we can admit it.

by CoinDesk

New York sues Kalshi, alleges it offers a gambling platform 'plain and simple'

New York sued prediction-market Kalshi, alleging it offers sports and event wagers in the state without a gaming license.

The petition, filed in the New York Supreme Court on Friday, asks a judge to bar the company from operating an unlicensed gambling business and seeks an accounting of customer bets, losses and company gains, plus restitution, damages and civil penalties.

The state is seeking a penalty equal to three times Kalshi’s gains from the activity, plus $100,000 for each unauthorized or attempted offer of sports or mobile sports wagering, according to a statement published by Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James.

by CoinDesk

SEC Clears Challenge Over Enforcement Action During Shutdown

The SEC convinced a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a trading fintech company’s founder challenging the agency’s enforcement action against his firm during a government shutdown.

Srinivas Koneru, founder of Triterras, can instead pursue his claims against the Securities and Exchange Commission for violating the Anti-Deficiency Act as part of the pending enforcement action in the Southern District of New York, Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan of the US District Court for the District of Columbia said in a decision dismissing the complaint Wednesday.

by Bloomberg Law

AI-Related Securities Suit Hits Israeli Web Development Platform

In its July 29, 2026, report on first half securities class action lawsuit filings (here), Cornerstone Research explained the increased levels of 1H26 securities suit filings as being due in significant part to “a surge in litigation involving artificial intelligence-related claims .” In the latest example of this type of AI-related securities litigation, as well as an example of the kinds of allegations that can lead to these kinds of suits, late last week a plaintiff shareholder sued Israeli cloud web development platform company Wix.com, alleging the company had overstated its AI-related capabilities and prospects, while understating its AI-related costs....

by The D & O Diary

Gibson Dunn’s $2 Billion Litigation Arm Just Got a Big Boost

Gibson Dunn’s hire of Bill Savitt adds a crucial puzzle piece to the firm’s yearslong growth campaign, building an army of go-to litigators for a broad range of court fights.

Savitt, who until this week was the co-leader of powerful corporate firm Wachtell Lipton, brings expertise in high-stakes disputes in Delaware’s Chancery court. He joins a firm long known for its litigation chops, which is winning more work on the kinds of deals that often wind up before the country’s top business court. [...]

The firm has kept its eye on litigation as Big Law rivals spent the last decade feverishly building corporate practices. Litigation work accounted for more than $2 billion of Gibson Dunn’s record $4.2 billion in gross revenue in 2025, according to the firm.

by Bloomberg Law

Question: is there one federal whistleblower program? Answer: There isn't. Not even close.

"Whistleblower law" is really a collection of separate frameworks. Different agencies, different eligibility rules, different reporting procedures, different confidentiality protections, different award structures.

A quick tour.

🔹The SEC and CFTC programs came out of Dodd-Frank. Awards can run 10 to 30 percent of what the government collects. These are the ones that get the headlines. They're also the ones I know best from my years on SEC staff.

🔹The IRS program is much older, and pays awards in qualifying tax cases.

🔹The False Claims Act takes a different approach entirely. Individuals can sue on behalf of the government in certain fraud cases and share in any recovery. The courts are actively reshaping this area as we speak.

🔹DOJ's Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program, launched in 2024, is another door.

🔹And FinCEN's anti-money laundering program is taking shape as we speak. Proposed rules landed this spring; a final rule is the next step.

Why does any of this matter? Because which program applies shapes everything. Whether you're eligible. Whether you're protected. How you report. What happens next.

by Christina Milnor on LinkedIn