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Working Through the Riddles of Tokenized Securities

Key Points: - The SEC’s Crypto Task Force cited past “hostility” toward digital assets and aims to create a regulatory framework. - Tokenized securities face complex regulatory challenges, including compliance with the...more

Inside the Courts – An Update From Skadden Securities Litigators - February 2025

Key Points - - In 2024, securities litigation remained consistent with historical averages, with a slight increase in core filings and cases related to COVID-19 and artificial intelligence. - The U.S. Supreme Court had an...more

Cryptocurrencies Stand To Gain From New Regulators and a Receptive Congress

Key Points - - A Republican president and Congress are expected to be more supportive of digital assets than the current administration. - There is a reasonable chance that legislation creating a regulatory framework...more

The Distributed Ledger: Blockchain, Digital Assets and Smart Contracts - January 2024

SEC Wins Summary Judgment on Howey Issue in Terraform Litigation - On December 28, 2023, Judge Jed Rakoff in the Southern District of New York issued a summary judgment decision in SEC v. Terraform Labs Pte. Ltd., a...more

Fifth Circuit Reverses CFTC Penalty Judgment Under ‘Fair Notice’ Doctrine

On January 8, 2024, in a decision that underscores the potential viability of fair-notice defenses to U.S. regulators’ rule interpretations, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed a $6.5 million penalty...more

CFTC Charges DeFi Developers With Facilitating Off-Exchange Trading

On September 7, 2023, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued three enforcement settlement orders against developers of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. The orders charge Opyn, Inc., Deridex, Inc., and...more

DOJ Relies on Traditional Statutes To Charge Defendants in Cryptoasset Fraud Cases

Two recent indictments highlight the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) continuing use of the traditional wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft statutes to pursue fraud involving digital assets, indicating that law...more

New Senate Crypto Bill Would Limit SEC Regulatory Role in Favor of CFTC

A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate last week seeks “to bring crypto assets within the regulatory perimeter” by granting oversight responsibility to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for most forms...more

Ripple Labs : District Court Holds That Direct Digital Token Sales Constituted Investment Contracts Under Howey, but Other...

On July 13, 2023, Judge Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a much-awaited summary judgment decision in SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc., No. 1:20-cv-10832-AT-SN (S.D.N.Y. July 13, 2023),...more

NYAG Files Action Against Crypto Trading Platform, Takes Position That ETH Is a Security

On March 9, 2023, the New York State Attorney General’s Office (NYAG) filed a lawsuit charging crypto trading platform KuCoin for “failing to register as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and falsely representing...more

Digital Asset Insider Trading Case Could Provide Sought-After Guidance to Industry

On February 7, 2023, Ishan Wahi (Ishan), a former Coinbase product manager, pled guilty to wire fraud charges in an indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY)....more

Rise in Crypto Securities Filings Could Persist

Increased regulatory oversight and recent turmoil in the digital asset market have led to a rising number of securities litigations focusing on cryptocurrencies. Sixteen cryptocurrency-related class actions have been filed...more

Court Rules in Favor of SEC in LBRY Enforcement Action

On November 7, 2022, Judge Paul Barbadoro of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire issued an order in SEC v. LBRY, Inc., granting the SEC’s motion for summary judgment against LBRY Inc. (LBRY). The court...more

Treasury and Justice Department Reports Signal Tougher Enforcement and Regulation in the Digital Assets Sector

On September 16, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Department of Justice released four much-anticipated reports on different aspects of cryptoasset regulation. They confirm the Biden administration’s broad but...more

Cryptocurrency Insider Trading Case Could Have Broader Ramifications for the Industry

On July 21, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) each brought insider trading charges against a former Coinbase product manager, his brother and a close friend for using...more

Regulatory Actions and Legislative Proposals Signal Growing Consensus on Parameters for Stablecoins

Recent guidance from the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) and a proposed bill in the U.S. Senate portend more regulatory and legislative activity to clarify the status of and requirements for stablecoin...more

‘Insider Trading’ and NFTs: What Should Companies Be Doing?

The recent indictment of an employee of OpenSea, a prominent NFT marketplace, highlights the risk of trading digital assets based on the improper use of confidential information, even where the digital asset is not a...more

Senate Bill Would Create Comprehensive Regulatory Structure for Cryptocurrencies and Other Digital Assets

In recent years, innovation in the blockchain or “Web3” space has been impacted by uncertainty on the regulatory front. Undoubtedly, the greatest area of uncertainty has involved the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and...more

Congressional Blockchain Caucus Challenges SEC Chairman on Web3 Enforcement

The Web3 community has long expressed frustration at the lack of clarity emanating from the SEC regarding the treatment of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets under current securities laws, with many characterizing the...more

Executive Order Aiming To Coordinate Digital Assets Policies May Bring Much-Needed Clarity

As the digital asset sector has exploded in recent years, there has been growing frustration in the U.S. at the lack of clarity on the application of existing laws to this new ecosystem and a perceived lack of coordination...more

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