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
It’s not often that an SEC Commissioner quotes Bruce Springsteen – not once, but twice – in a speech on securities regulation. But SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce did just that in a February 6, 2020 speech in which she...more
3/2/2020
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Exempt Transactions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Offerings ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Safe Harbors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities
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 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’re thinking of airdropping free tokens or implementing a cryptocurrency bounty program, be careful. The Securities and Exchange Commission just issued a cease and desist order (the “Order”) with respect to an initial...more
8/20/2018
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
“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
Initial coin offerings so far have gone through two major phases in their brief lifespan. The initial phase flew under the regulatory radar in an explosion of deals that raised billions of dollars seemingly overnight and...more
5/7/2018
/ Accredited Investors ,
Bitcoin ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Form S-1 ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
JOBS Act ,
Pooled Investment Vehicles ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Registration Statement ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
The Wall Street Journal ominously reported on February 28 that the Securities and Exchange Commission recently issued dozens of subpoenas to initial coin offering issuers and their advisors demanding information about the...more
Last month, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Galvin made good on his promise to conduct an exam sweep of ICOs in Massachusetts. On January 17, the Enforcement Section of the Massachusetts Securities...more
2/5/2018
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities Violations ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
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 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