Podcast: Is Cryptocurrency a Security (like an orange grove)?
More than 50% increase in SEC cryptocurrency-related enforcement actions in 2023 over 2022. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to view cryptocurrency-related enforcement as a top priority, bringing 46...more
On Aug. 28. 2023, the SEC issued a settled Order against Impact Theory, LLC in connection with its offer and sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It was the first SEC enforcement action involving NFTs....more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) has been accused of “regulation by enforcement” when it comes to the standard for determining whether a crypto token is a security. Part of this stems from the fact...more
On November 7, 2022, Judge Paul J. Barbadoro in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire granted summary judgment in favor of the Securities and Exchange Commission against the content sharing...more
In a significant victory for the SEC, US District Court Judge Paul J. Barbadoro granted summary judgment to the SEC in what is the first enforcement action targeting a cryptocurrency not issued via an initial coin officer...more
We have previously posted about the SEC lawsuit against LBRY. In that post, we noted that while the crypto community is rightfully focused on the Ripple case to see how the SEC will fare in court on enforcements alleging...more
Kim Kardashian, the reality television personality, social media star, and entrepreneur has agreed to pay $1.26 million to settle the SEC’s claims that she improperly touted a crypto token without disclosing that she had been...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is ramping up its investigation and potential enforcement activities against sellers of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers. Regulators...more
In any classic securities regulation textbook, you’ll be sure to find a chapter called “Definition of a Security.” Besides your typical bonds and stocks, which are easily identifiable as securities, the most infamous (and a...more
In the intersection of financial markets and the internet, sometimes it seems like the only certainty in the year of cryptocurrency and “meme stocks,” like GameStop and AMC, is the continuing legal haze of cryptocurrencies....more
Except for the extensive coverage surrounding Coinbase’s IPO last week and the volatility in the price of cryptocurrencies, much of the air in the crypto space in the last few months has been taken up by the meteoric rise of...more
Late last year, the SEC filed a litigated action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Ripple Labs Inc. and two of its executive officers (collectively, “Ripple”), alleging that Ripple...more
On January 8, 2021, Judge Richard Seeborg of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued an Order denying a motion to dismiss in S.E.C. v. NAC Foundation, LLC, et al. The U.S. Securities &...more
In a closely-watched cryptocurrency case, on September 30, the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of the SEC in SEC v. Kik Interactive, Inc., holding that the Kin tokens Kik had offered and sold through a pre-sale...more
On September 30, 2020, SDNY Judge Alvin Hellerstein issued a decision of major significance for the digital token industry in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Kik Interactive, Inc. This is only the second federal court...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on September 15, 2020, that it charged online esports gaming and gambling platform Unikrn with violations of Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) for...more
The Southern District of New York granted the SEC’s request for a preliminary injunction halting a coin offering in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Telegram Group Inc. et al....more
On February 6, 2020, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce presented her proposal of a new regulatory scheme for legal ICOs in the United States (“Safe Harbor”). To date, token issuers have struggled with the U.S. Securities and...more
Developing a framework for consumer tokens - With the rapid growth in the development of blockchain technology, virtual currencies and token sales (sometimes referred to as initial coin offerings, or ICOs), token...more
In remarks made at the Yahoo! All Markets Summit in New York, Heath Tarbert, Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said that he believed the Ether cryptocurrency was a “commodity” and should be...more
It is official. Finally. On October 10, 2019, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Chairman Heath Tarbert announced that he believes ether is a commodity and thus falls under the jurisdiction of the CFTC....more
This white paper discusses considerations related to conducting a token offering under Regulation A under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”). The benefit of this strategy is that it can allow broad...more
After a long wait, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has permitted a startup company to raise funds from the general public through a supervised security token offering (STO) under Reg A+ regulations....more
On June 4, 2019, the SEC sued Kik Interactive Inc. (“Kik”), a privately held Canadian company, in the Southern District of New York, alleging that Kik’s offer and sale of $100 million worth of Kin tokens in 2017 constituted...more
On June 4, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) filed a complaint in the Southern District of New York against Kik Interactive Inc. (“Kik”) alleging violations of Section 5 of the Securities Act of...more