Securities Enforcement. Corporate Investigations. Financial Regulation.
Independent analysis of the laws, regulations, investigations, and enforcement actions shaping modern financial markets.
BRAEDEN ANDERSON
Braeden is one of the top securities lawyers in the country and was recognized by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America in the Financial Services Regulation Law and Securities Regulation categories. This honor is awarded to only the top 2% of attorneys in the United States and is based on a comprehensive peer-review survey.
Braeden helped lead Gesmer Updegrove to recognition in The Legal 500 United States for Corporate Investigations & White Collar Crime, Tier 3, and Finance: Fintech, Tier 4.
Braeden is active in the U.S. securities enforcement community through Securities Docket, where he has served on the 2025 and 2026 Advisory Boards and contributed video commentary through the Weekly Update.
Braeden was named the #1 United States author in FinTech in Mondaq’s Spring 2025 Thought Leadership Awards, reflecting the national reach and influence of his writing on fintech, securities regulation, and digital asset policy.
The SEC Closes the Loop on Howey’s Application to Crypto
The SEC’s March 17, 2026 crypto guidance marks a turning point in digital asset regulation. By clarifying token classifications and, critically, when an investment contract begins and ends under Howey, the Commission introduces a lifecycle-based framework that brings long-awaited structure to the market. This article breaks down what the new interpretation means for crypto projects, investors, and regulatory strategy going forward.
Crenshaw’s Exit, Dissent, and the SEC’s Troubled Crypto Record
Acknowledging the value of dissent does not require suspending scrutiny. It is fair, and necessary, to ask whether the SEC during the prior administration, and Crenshaw in particular, demonstrated sufficient command of the crypto markets they sought to regulate, and whether the agency’s approach over the past several years meaningfully advanced investor protection or instead imposed avoidable costs through uncertainty and inconsistency.
GENIUS Act Passes the House: A Defining Moment for U.S. Crypto Policy
Praised by SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins in an official statement, the GENIUS Act reflects years of bipartisan effort to create a coherent legal framework for crypto asset innovation in the United States. The bill’s passage represents more than regulatory progress—it is a signal that U.S. policy is beginning to shift from enforcement-by-default to regulation-by-design.
Regulatory Update: SEC Staff Guidance Eases Broker-Dealer Path Into Digital Asset Markets
On May 15, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets (“Staff”) published a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) offering long-awaited clarity for SEC-registered broker-dealers and transfer agents engaging in crypto asset-related activities.
Issued alongside FINRA and accompanied by the formal withdrawal of the 2019 Joint Staff Statement on Broker-Dealer Custody of Digital Asset Securities, this update is a meaningful step forward. It signals the Staff’s intent to move past defensive postures and toward practical, systems-level integration of crypto asset infrastructure into the legacy securities framework.
To be clear: the FAQs don’t alter statutory obligations or override the SEC’s 2020 Special Purpose Broker-Dealer (“SPBD”) Statement. But what they do provide is a viable, operational path for traditional broker-dealers to custody crypto asset securities—without siloed carveouts or regulatory acrobatics.
Let’s break down what matters, and why this shift should be on the radar of every compliance officer, digital asset GC, and prime services executive with an eye on the evolving intersection of finance and blockchain.
The GENIUS Act: A Long Overdue Framework for Blockchain-Era Banking
The recent Senate vote to advance the GENIUS Act—a bipartisan bill to regulate stablecoins—is more than just another milestone in crypto policy. It represents a long-overdue recognition that fiat-backed digital dollars are not speculative assets; they are infrastructure.
At Anderson P.C., we strongly support the GENIUS Act and believe it lays the foundation for a safer, more credible, and ultimately more competitive U.S. digital economy.