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Virtual Currency › Investment Contract

Virtual Currency (aka Digital Currency or Digital Money) is a type of currency or medium of exchange that is not issued by any government nor guaranteed by a government currency. Despite lacking legal tender... more +
Virtual Currency (aka Digital Currency or Digital Money) is a type of currency or medium of exchange that is not issued by any government nor guaranteed by a government currency. Despite lacking legal tender status, Virtual Currency is still traded and exchanged in some environments, typically online environments or communities. Bitcoin is the most well-known form of Virtual Currency.    less -
Oberheiden P.C.

Tokenization Lawyer – 5 Reasons Why You Might Need One

Oberheiden P.C. on

What is Tokenization? Tokenization is the process of converting an asset into a token on the blockchain. It operates by dividing—or fractionalizing—the ownership of an asset (whether the asset is a piece of real estate or...more

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Focus on Crypto and Blockchain: Regulatory Fog Begins to Lift, but Many Questions Remain

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP on

The cryptocurrency and blockchain industry has developed over the past decade with a large and increasingly glaring void: What regulations ultimately will apply and who will regulate the space? Much regulatory focus to date...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

A Brief Overview of the SEC’s Guidance on Cryptocurrencies in the Context of the Commission’s Enforcement Action Against Ripple...

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP on

A key question for any company considering the issuance of cryptocurrency is whether that digital asset will be treated by regulators as a security, like BP stock, or a commodity, like Bitcoin.  In 2019, the Securities and...more

Dechert LLP

“Hashing” It Out: Federal Jury Decides Some Cryptocurrency Products are not Securities

Dechert LLP on

Whether a cryptocurrency product is a security is an issue with serious regulatory consequences. In recent years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has taken a broad position that various crypto assets are...more

Proskauer - Corporate Defense and Disputes

SEC’s Coinschedule Settlement Offers Mere “Clue-By-Enforcement” Into Whether Cryptocurrencies are Securities

Proskauer - Corporate Defense and Disputes on

On July 14, 2021 the SEC issued a consented-to Cease and Desist Order against U.K.-based cryptocurrency review website owner Blotics Ltd. (formerly doing business as Coinschedule Ltd.) for violating Section 17(a) of the...more

Amundsen Davis LLC

Ripple Effect: SEC Lawsuit against Cryptocurrency Company May Provide Guidance For Crypto Industry

Amundsen Davis LLC on

On December 21, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a high-profile enforcement action against a major cryptocurrency company. The SEC complaint alleges violations of federal securities laws by defendant...more

Orrick - On the Chain

The SEC Gets its Kiks out of a Successful Application of the Howey Test

Orrick - On the Chain on

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

Cozen O'Connor

Has the SAFT Been KIKed to the Curb?

Cozen O'Connor on

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

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Legal Implications of Secondary SAFT Sales

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on

Simple Agreements for Future Tokens pose difficult and controversial legal questions under U.S. securities, commodities and tax laws. SAFT holders face significant difficulties in securing liquidity, and regulatory issues...more

Orrick - On the Chain

Power of the Peirce: SEC Commissioner Spends Some of Her Influence on Trying to Help Crypto Network Developers

Orrick - On the Chain on

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce continues to be one of the most vocal persons in leadership positions at federal regulators who are promoting innovation in digital currency and the blockchain....more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Crypto and the Regulators: Will the Revolution Get Rules?

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

Crypto currency began with the notion of getting “off the grid” – escaping the regulators and not being regulated. Over time that notion has transmuted. Now platforms trading crypto assets proclaim that the “revolution needs...more

Proskauer - Blockchain and the Law

CFTC Chairman States Ether is a Commodity

Proskauer - Blockchain and the Law on

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

McDermott Will & Emery

The SEC Takes Aim at Another Initial Coin Offering

McDermott Will & Emery on

A recent complaint concerning KIK Interactive Inc. filed in the US District Court of the Southern District of New York reveals some SEC priorities for cryptocurrency enforcement actions. The complaint indicates that the SEC...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

The Distributed Ledger: Blockchain, Digital Assets and Smart Contracts - April 2019

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on

In this issue, we examine the release of the much-anticipated Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub) guidance for analyzing how U.S. federal securities laws apply to initial coin offerings, the...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Blockchain Tokens: The SEC Staff Issues Its Framework for Determining Whether an ICO is an Issuance of Securities

McDermott Will & Emery on

In its long-awaited guidance, the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission recently provided a lengthy list of factors to consider when determining whether an initial coin offering (ICO) is a security. While the...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

New York Federal Court’s View on Cryptocurrency as Securities

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on

On September 11, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York denied a motion to dismiss an indictment of a Brooklyn real estate entrepreneur in relation to two virtual currency investment schemes and...more

Proskauer - Blockchain and the Law

Federal Judge Rules Securities Laws May Cover ICOs

Proskauer - Blockchain and the Law on

U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie of the Eastern District of New York has ruled that initial coin offerings (ICOs) may be subject to securities law. The ruling came in the court’s denial of defendant Maksim Zaslavkiy’s...more

Burr & Forman

Some Legal Issues Surrounding Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Part 2: Regulation of ICOs.

Burr & Forman on

This is Part 2 of a seven-part series of posts looking at some broad legal issues affecting crypto-currencies. State and federal regulators, especially the SEC, have moved aggressively to halt unregistered initial coin...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

In the Matter of Tomahawk Exploration LLC: No Such Thing as a Free Launch

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP on

The issuance of digital tokens in exchange for services rather than money still can constitute an offering of securities, according to findings recently made by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a settled enforcement...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Can a Digital Token Evolve? Head of Corp Fin Says “Yes”, if Network Becomes Decentralized

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

“Can a digital asset that was originally offered in a securities offering ever be later sold in a manner that does not constitute an offering of a security?” ...more

Carlton Fields

The SEC Addresses Initial Coin Offerings

Carlton Fields on

On July 25, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a Report of Investigation pursuant to Section 21(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Report) and an Investor Bulletin: Initial Coin Offerings...more

Proskauer - New Media & Technology

SEC Speaks on Initial Coin Offerings: Tokens May Be Securities

Proskauer - New Media & Technology on

No blockchain phenomenon has garnered more attention lately than Initial Coin Offerings ("ICOs"), which have exploded in value and raised more than $1.2 billion thus far this year....more

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