The Securities and Exchange Commission recently brought its first two enforcement actions against issuers of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), resulting in cease-and-desist orders, penalties and other remedies, finding that the...more
10/2/2023
/ Blockchain ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Offerings ,
Section 5 ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Securities Violations ,
Smart Contracts ,
Unregistered Securities
Background: Crypto Catch 22 -
Followers of the SEC’s efforts to regulate digital tokens will recall former SEC Corp Fin Director William Hinman’s speech at the June 14, 2018 Yahoo Finance Conference in which he introduced...more
10/18/2021
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Howey ,
Investment ,
Popular ,
Safe Harbors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
On May 3, 2021, blockchain-based trading platform operator INX Ltd. announced it had completed its initial public offering of digital tokens, raising approximately $85 million in the IPO from over 7,200 institutional and...more
6/14/2021
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Form F-1 ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Popular ,
Regulation A ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Venture Capital
On December 2, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, Inc. and two of its executives alleging they offered and sold over $1.38 billion of digital asset XRP without registration or...more
3/8/2021
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Popular ,
Ripple ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
On October 21, 2020, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a final judgment on consent against Kik Interactive Inc. to resolve the Securities and Exchange Commission’s charges that...more
11/2/2020
/ Blockchain ,
Capital Raising ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT) ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
On September 30, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that blockchain developer Block.one had agreed to pay a $24 million fine to settle charges that it had engaged in an unregistered offering of securities...more
12/2/2019
/ Bad Actors ,
Blockchain ,
Capital Raising ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment ,
Offerings ,
Rescission ,
Section 5 ,
Securities Act ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
On October 11, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) announced it filed a complaint and obtained a temporary restraining order against Telegram Group Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary TON Issuer...more
10/28/2019
/ Blockchain ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Offerings ,
Popular ,
Purchase Agreement ,
Regulation D ,
Restraining Orders ,
Rule 506(c) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT) ,
Token Sales ,
TRO ,
Unregistered Securities
On July 10, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission declared Blockstack PBC’s offering statement “qualified”, thus allowing Blockstack to commence the distribution and sale of its Stacks Tokens under Regulation A. ...more
8/5/2019
/ Blockchain ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Contract ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Offering Statements ,
Offerings ,
Regulation A ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Token Sales ,
Venture Capital
On November 27, 2018, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California denied the Securities and Exchange Commission’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block an initial coin offering, finding the...more
12/3/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unregistered Securities
If you were looking for a safe blockchain investment and had the chance to invest in the “first licensed and regulated tokenized cryptocurrency exchange and index fund based in the U.S.” and audited by a Big 4 accounting...more
December 11, 2017 was a day of reckoning for entrepreneurs conducting or contemplating initial coin offerings, and for securities professionals who advise them. ...more
12/18/2017
/ Blockchain ,
Capital Raising ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
Bloomberg reported on October 16 that over $3 billion dollars have been raised in over 200 initial coin offerings so far this year. It remains to be seen whether the pace of ICOs will slow down in the face of regulatory...more
On August 1, 2017, Delaware became the first state to allow corporations to record issuances, transfers and ownership of stock using blockchain technology. The amendments were passed by the Delaware State Senate and House of...more
On July 25, 2017, the SEC’s Division of Enforcement issued a Report of Investigation (the “Report”) that concluded that the tokens issued in an initial coin offering (“ICO”) by a decentralized autonomous organization called...more