News & Analysis as of

Cryptocurrency Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) Securities Fraud

Cornerstone Research

SEC Enforcement of Cryptocurrency Dropped 30% in the Last Year of the Gensler Administration

Cornerstone Research on

Enforcement during Gensler administration was considerably higher than during the previous administration. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought 33 cryptocurrency-related enforcement actions in 2024, the...more

Proskauer - Blockchain and the Law

SEC Brings Charges against Individuals Behind Allegedly Fraudulent Unregistered Digital Asset Securities Offering

On February 1, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had brought charges against several individuals involved in an alleged scheme to induce investors to transfer more than $11 million to...more

Polsinelli

Another One Bites The Dust - SEC Charges Issuer and CEO in Fraudulent ICO

Polsinelli on

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced charges against Boon.Tech and its chief executive officer for fraud and registration violations in connection with a $5 million initial coin offering (ICO)...more

Carlton Fields

Recovery by ICO Token Investors May Be Challenged in Bankruptcy

Carlton Fields on

Bankruptcy courts may provide relief to debtors by discharging pre-petition obligations to repay existing debts owed to creditors, and claims by equity holders. Creditors who hold debt and investors who hold equity interests,...more

K&L Gates LLP

Voluntary Disclosure: Newsflash August 2020

K&L Gates LLP on

A government inquiry can result in serious consequences for a company or individual. Our new podcast series, Voluntary Disclosure—brought to you by the lawyers in our investigations, enforcement, and white collar practice—is...more

Polsinelli

BitBlog Bi-Weekly Update - May 2020

Polsinelli on

With the world slowly coming out of the COVID-19 lock down and the economy hopefully on the path to recovery there have been many developments in the blockchain / crypto space over the last few weeks....more

Polsinelli

Blockvest Receives “Terminating Sanctions” For Misconduct In SEC Lawsuit Over Illegal ICO

Polsinelli on

The SEC successfully landed another blow in its ongoing battle with Blockvest, LLC for alleged securities fraud and the sale of unregistered securities. ...more

Polsinelli

Wind of Change - The Year FinTech Came in From the Cold - Polsinelli BitBlog: Year End Edition

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Digital assets and Blockchain technologies which were once described as the tools of criminals, are now a key part of efforts by traditional financial services firms to transform their businesses and innovative firms looking...more

Polsinelli

BitBlog Weekly Update

Polsinelli on

The Polsinelli BitBlog Weekly Update begins with the U.S. Securities and Exchange (“SEC”) settlement with an issuer of securities, who managed to both illegally offer securities, and create an unlicensed exchange to trade...more

Orrick - On the Chain

The SEC Can’t Keep Kik-ing the Crypto Can

Orrick - On the Chain on

On June 4, 2019, the SEC sued Kik Interactive Inc. (“Kik”), a privately held Canadian company, in the Southern District of New York, alleging that Kik’s offer and sale of $100 million worth of Kin tokens in 2017 constituted...more

Perkins Coie

Blockchain Week in Review - June 2019

Perkins Coie on

U.S. Developments - SEC Sues Social Media Company Kik over Digital Coin Offering - The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) sued Kik Interactive Inc. (“Kik”) in federal court in Manhattan this week, arguing that...more

A&O Shearman

Southern District Of Florida Dismisses Claims Against Individual Defendants Related To Initial Coin Offering For Failure To...

A&O Shearman on

On May 13, 2019, Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr., of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida dismissed all claims asserted against four individual defendants under Sections 12(a)(1) of the Securities...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

The Distributed Ledger: Blockchain, Digital Assets and Smart Contracts - April 2019

In this issue, we examine the release of the much-anticipated Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub) guidance for analyzing how U.S. federal securities laws apply to initial coin offerings, the...more

BakerHostetler

2018 Year-End Cross-Border Government Investigations and Regulatory Enforcement Review

BakerHostetler on

BakerHostetler’s White Collar, Investigations and Securities Enforcement and Litigation team is pleased to release its 2018 Year-End Cross-Border Government Investigations and Regulatory Enforcement Review, a resource for...more

Hanzo

Hanzo's 2018 FINRA AND SEC Regulatory Compliance Year in Review

Hanzo on

From Elon Musk’s tweets to Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled’s promotion of cryptocurrencies, 2018 was, to say the least, an interesting year in regulatory enforcement news. Even if all you do is win, win, win, no matter what,...more

Proskauer - Blockchain and the Law

Airfox and Paragon Settle with SEC for Unregistered ICOs: Civil Monetary Penalties Imposed; Rescission and Registration Required

On November 16, the SEC announced that it settled charges against CarrierEQ, Inc. (“Airfox”) and Paragon Coin, Inc. (“Paragon”) for securities offering registration violations in connection with their respective initial coin...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Not So Fast: Court Rules Against SEC, Finding It Did Not Prove Blockvest Sold Tokens as Securities

Fenwick & West LLP on

Digital token issuers caught up in the onslaught of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations finally received some encouraging news regarding their token sales’ exposure to federal securities laws. On Tuesday,...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

New York Federal Court’s View on Cryptocurrency as Securities

On September 11, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York denied a motion to dismiss an indictment of a Brooklyn real estate entrepreneur in relation to two virtual currency investment schemes and...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Developments in Cryptocurrency in 2018

• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff made official statements regarding when a token may or may no longer be a security • The SEC continued to bring actions related to cryptocurrency offerings against...more

Jones Day

Case Alleging Cryptocurrencies Are Securities Can Proceed to Trial

Jones Day on

The Situation: Federal prosecutors have asserted that two cryptocurrencies sold in initial coin offerings ("ICOs") are "securities" for purposes of federal securities laws in a criminal indictment alleging fraud against the...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Cryptocurrency Litigation Update: Court Allows Government’s Criminal Case Against REcoin Founder to Proceed

On September 11, 2018, Judge Raymond J. Dearie of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued a new decision in U.S. v. Zaslavskiy, No. 1:17-cr-00647-RJD-RER, Dkt. No. 37 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 11, 2018),...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Increased SEC Enforcement Action and Litigation In the Cryptocurrency Space

As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated previously, it is continuing to scrutinize and commence enforcement actions against companies, advisors and investors involved in the offering of cryptocurrencies...more

A&O Shearman

Significant Judicial And Enforcement Developments In The Cryptocurrency Space

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This past week saw important developments in the cryptocurrency space with two new regulatory actions, and a significant and much-anticipated decision in a criminal securities fraud action relating to an initial coin...more

Perkins Coie

Federal District Court Upholds Securities Indictment for ICOs but Defers Final Howey Determination in United States v. Zaslavskiy

Perkins Coie on

In what is believed to be the first criminal case examining whether so-called “initial coin offerings” (ICOs) are securities under U.S. law, on September 11, 2018, Judge Raymond J. Dearie of the U.S. District Court for the...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Recent Development in Regulatory Enforcement of Digital Securities

In a flurry of activity and confluence of developments, the SEC, FINRA and a Brooklyn federal judge have commenced actions and made rulings that continue to define the regulatory framework and obligations surrounding the sale...more

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