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Friday, May 16, 2025

Wire fraud: the most powerful law in crypto right now - Reuters

Representations of cryptocurrencies are seen in this illustration, August 10, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
August 23, 2022 - Regulation and enforcement in the cryptocurrency space are hot topics, with the debate centered around the complex issue of whether to classify digital assets as securities, commodities, or a separate asset class entirely. In the middle of this debate, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has sent a message — the classification does not matter for its purposes. In recent prosecutions, DOJ has used the wire fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, a law with origins dating back to the 1800s, to bring innovative cases in the cryptocurrency space that do not depend on how a digital asset is classified.
My previous article in February 2022 highlighted how DOJ could seek to use the wire fraud statute to prosecute rug pulls (i.e., take the money and run schemes), insider trading, and the market manipulation of digital assets. (See McGinley, "Expect indictments in the...



Read Full Story: https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/wire-fraud-most-powerful-law-cryp...

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