Weekly Focus: Germany Securities Settlement Bridge India’s New Crypto Reporting Regulations Bank of Jamaica Announces Central Bank Digital Current Pilot Program US Regulatory Developments Securities Fraud on the Dark Web Using Bitcoin For the first time, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has brought an action against an individual, James Roland Jones, in connection with activities on the dark web that the SEC asserts constituted securities fraud under 10(b) and 10b-5 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Mr. Jones is accused of accepting Bitcoin in exchange for selling falsified information on dark web marketplaces. The SEC’s March 18, 2021 complaint describes the attempts by Mr. Jones to first obtain material nonpublic information about the public securities markets, and then after failing to do so, sell false nonpublic information about the public securities markets. Although Mr. Jones did not actually obtain nonpublic information, the SEC asserts that he did successfully sell a false tip for which he received $20,000 in Bitcoin as compensation. Mr. Jones has already pled guilty to criminal charges brought by the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, to which Mr. Jones has pled guilty.