As we have been discussing in prior updates, the bankruptcy case of Celsius Network LLC is reaching an important milestone as most creditors now have the ability to vote on the Plan of Reorganization proposed by the Debtors...more
The Blockchain Bi-Weekly presented by the Polsinelli Blockchain+ team is a rundown of some of the key stories in the Web3, blockchain and crypto ecosystems curated by our attorneys navigating the intersections of code, smart...more
9/8/2023
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Coinbase ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Financial Services Industry ,
First Amendment ,
Fourth Amendment ,
IRS ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Pump and Dump ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Smart Contracts ,
Tax Liability ,
Unregistered Securities
The Blockchain Bi-Weekly presented by the Polsinelli Blockchain+ team is a rundown of some of the key stories in the Web3, blockchain and crypto ecosystems curated by our attorneys navigating the intersections of code, smart...more
8/24/2023
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Coinbase ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinTech ,
Investment ,
PayPal ,
Ripple ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
In a major step forward for the reorganization of Celsius Network LLC and its affiliated debtors (the "Debtors"), the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved the adequacy of the Debtors’...more
8/21/2023
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Blockchain ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Creditors ,
Debtors ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
FinTech ,
Proxy Voting ,
Reorganizations ,
Solicitation
The Blockchain Bi-Weekly presented by the Polsinelli Blockchain+ team is a rundown of some of the key stories in the Web3, blockchain and crypto ecosystems curated by our attorneys navigating the intersections of code, smart...more
8/10/2023
/ Blockchain ,
Coinbase ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Smart Contracts ,
Stablecoins
Introduction -
After multiple delays, on June 27th, Celsius Network, LLC and certain of its affiliates as debtors and debtors in possession (collectively, the “Debtors” the “Company” or “Celsius”) filed a disclosure...more
The Blockchain Bi-Weekly presented by the Polsinelli Blockchain+ team is a rundown of some of the key stories in the Web3, blockchain and crypto ecosystems curated by our attorneys navigating the intersections of code, smart...more
7/28/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Blockchain ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
FinCEN ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts
The long battle between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Ripple reached a partial resolution with the Court ruling the digital asset at issue (“XRP”) is not itself a security and certain sales of the...more
On February 9, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) charged Kraken with offering and selling Kraken’s Staking Program – its staking-as-a-service product – as an unregistered security. Kraken, more...more
2/16/2023
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unregistered Securities
In July of 2022, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) each alleged insider trading violations against a former Coinbase employee Ishan Wahi (“Ishan”), his brother...more
2/14/2023
/ Coinbase ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insider Trading ,
Investment Contract ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations
As Celsius Network LLC, et al., Case Number: 22-10964 (MG), proceeds in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”), the highly anticipated examiner report was released on January 31st....more
Court rules that Earn Account Cryptocurrency is owned by Debtors and will not be returned -
In our latest Bitblog update regarding the Celsius Network LLC, et al. (the “Debtors”) bankruptcy proceeding (Case No. Number:...more
1/18/2023
/ Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Contract Terms ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deposit Accounts ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Interest Payments ,
Ownership Rules ,
Terms of Use ,
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
As discussed in the prior Bitblog update regarding the Celsius Network LLC, et al., (the “Debtor”) bankruptcy proceeding (Case No. 22-10964 (MG) in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”)),...more
As Celsius Network LLC, et al., Case Number: 22-10964 (MG), proceeds in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”), recent case updates relating to the approaching claims bar date...more
As Celsius Network LLC, et al., Case Number: 22-10964 (MG), proceeds in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”), the following summarizes two important case updates as of November 18, 2022: ...more
While the blockchain crypto community is processing the latest round of “crypto contagion,” potentially lost in the busy news week was a significant legal development regarding what digital assets qualify as securities under...more
11/17/2022
/ Blockchain ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Instruments ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Payment Tokens ,
Securities Act ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Summary Judgment ,
Token Sales ,
User-Generated Content
As Celsius Network LLC, et al., Case Number: 22-10964 (MG), proceeds in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”), the following summarizes an important case update as of November 4, 2022...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was one of the first United States regulators to provide guidance on the tax treatment of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. Starting back in 2014 with its release of Internal Revenue...more
As Celsius Network LLC, et al., Case Number: 22-10964 (MG), proceeds in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”) over the last month there have been a number of important updates in the case....more
On September 15, 2022, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (the “Ag. Committee”) held a hearing to discuss Senate Bill 4760, titled the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act of 2022 (the “Bill”)...more
9/19/2022
/ Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Ethereum ,
Financial Instruments ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stablecoins
With the proliferation of non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”), particularly in the art space, an interesting and potentially groundbreaking practice has developed where certain intellectual property (“IP”) pertaining to the NFTs is...more
On July 21, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) each alleged insider trading violations against a former Coinbase employee, his brother, and another alleged acquaintance...more
8/5/2022
/ Coinbase ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insider Trading ,
Investment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations ,
Wire Fraud
In the generally opaque emerging world of “DAOs”, a rare public dispute recently played out between the Web3 investment group Yield Guild Games (“YGG”) and Merit Circle DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization, or “DAO”,...more
A former employee of OpenSea, the largest marketplace for the purchase and sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), has been indicted and charged with wire fraud and money laundering allegedly in connection with actions he took...more
6/10/2022
/ Art ,
Breach of Duty ,
Confidential Information ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Indictments ,
Insider Trading ,
Money Laundering ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Trading Platforms ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud
On January 3, 2022, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced an order against and settlement with Polymarket, a blockchain-enabled prediction market that allows users to “bet” on the occurrence of certain...more