After years of regulatory uncertainty, the Trump administration has signaled a new approach to digital assets, including by establishing a working group focused on digital assets and nominating crypto-friendly chairs to the...more
5/6/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
FinTech ,
NYDFS ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Attorneys General ,
Technology
President Trump has taken the first steps toward fulfilling his promise to reverse the Biden administration’s approach to digital assets by issuing an executive order that establishes a framework for fostering the growth of...more
2/10/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Revocation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration
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
1/15/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Capital Markets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Federal Bank Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration
In this edition of Insights, we take a closer look at the megadeals and sponsor transactions driving recent M&A activity, the importance of staying ahead of the risks in AI development and deployment, and other diverse...more
9/30/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Chevron Deference ,
Corner Post Inc v Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ,
Corporate Governance ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Government Agencies ,
Judicial Authority ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Machine Learning ,
Mergers ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Privacy Laws ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
SCOTUS ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders ,
Technology Sector
On September 9, 2024, the Chief Accountant of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Munter, delivered remarks describing circumstances in which, in the SEC staff’s view, entities may engage in cryptoasset...more
Explore the unique considerations for mergers and acquisitions in the AI sector, the return of IPOs, the implications of new Supreme Court decisions and other developments in this edition of Skadden’s quarterly Insights....more
6/27/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Banking Sector ,
Capital Markets ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Executive Compensation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Private Equity ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Technology
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
On September 20, 2023, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a report outlining the varied and sometimes conflicting reporting requirements that private entities face when they are victims of a cyber incident. The...more
10/17/2023
/ CIRC ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Popular ,
Public-Private Entities ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The passage of omnibus federal legislation on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is unlikely in the short term, but individual federal agencies continue to address the implementation of AI within the areas they regulate....more
8/11/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Comment Period ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Machine Learning ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
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
7/18/2023
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ripple ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unregistered Securities
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
3/14/2023
/ Blockchain ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Commodities ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Ethereum ,
Investment Adviser ,
New York ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Attorneys General ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unregistered Brokers ,
White Collar Crimes
On February 22, 2023, Judge Victor Marrero of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an order in Friel v. Dapper Labs, Inc., denying Dapper Labs and its CEO’s motion to dismiss a putative...more
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
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
On September 22, 2022, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) (1) issued an order settling charges against protocol creator bZeroX, LLC and its founders, and (2) filed a federal civil enforcement action...more
A flurry of legal and enforcement activity has arisen over the last two weeks across a wide range of areas in the Web3 space, including actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of Foreign Assets Control,...more
8/25/2022
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
FDIC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Virtual Currency
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
7/27/2022
/ CFTC ,
Coinbase ,
Confidential Information ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
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
In the non-fungible tokens (NFT) space, many have focused their attention on how the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may view these digital assets. However, state laws are important, as well, as evidenced by recent...more
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
In December 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an action against Ripple Labs, Inc. and two of its executives, alleging they raised over $1.3 billion through an unregistered ongoing securities offering of...more
Takeaways -
Most existing agreements covering the exploitation of intellectual property rights did not contemplate how NFTs should be treated.
Drafting and negotiating agreements involving NFTs requires an...more
1/25/2022
/ Blockchain ,
Copyright ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Derivative Works ,
Digital Assets ,
FinTech ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Name and Likeness ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts
In recent months, the increased focus on cryptocurrency regulation and enforcement at both the federal and state levels demonstrates the digital currency’s place as an established component of the financial landscape. At the...more
10/1/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BitMEX ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
FinCEN ,
Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ,
IRS ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Ransomware ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The first 100 days of the Biden administration has coincided with a watershed period in the evolution of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. The price of Bitcoin has risen dramatically during that period, triggering...more
This issue discusses a variety of legal, regulatory and enforcement developments in the digital asset space in the U.S. and Europe....more
4/19/2021
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethereum ,
FinCEN ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Virtual Currency