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Cryptocurrency Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) Securities Regulation

WilmerHale

Opportunities Await: Engaging with the SEC’s Crypto Task Force

WilmerHale on

On February 4, 2025, Commissioner Hester Peirce offered a first glimpse at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) roadmap for establishing a regulatory framework for crypto. Tasked with leading the SEC’s...more

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

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

When James Met Gary, Howey, and Hinman: New York AG Takes Aim at KuCoin (but hits Ethereum) in Latest Crypto Crackdown

In his famous 2018 speech, William Hinman, Digital Asset Transactions: When Howey Met Gary (Plastic), the Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), asked...more

Oberheiden P.C.

Tokenization Lawyer – 5 Reasons Why You Might Need One

Oberheiden P.C. on

What is Tokenization? Tokenization is the process of converting an asset into a token on the blockchain. It operates by dividing—or fractionalizing—the ownership of an asset (whether the asset is a piece of real estate or...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

SEC Chair Gensler Signals Greater Regulation of Cryptocurrency Under Existing Authorities

On Sept. 14, Gary Gensler, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, testified before the Senate Banking Committee that the agency has authority using the existing, “broad” definition of a “security” to regulate the...more

UB Greensfelder LLP

Comparing Apples To Orange [Groves]: How The SEC Defines Digital Assets As Securities

UB Greensfelder LLP on

In any classic securities regulation textbook, you’ll be sure to find a chapter called “Definition of a Security.” Besides your typical bonds and stocks, which are easily identifiable as securities, the most infamous (and a...more

Morgan Lewis - Tech & Sourcing

SEC Looking to Wrangle Cryptocurrency ‘Wild West’: A Conversation with Jeff Boujoukos

As part of our Spotlight series, we connect with Jeff Boujoukos, the leader of Morgan Lewis’s securities enforcement practice, to discuss the current and future state of affairs of the regulation and enforcement activities of...more

Proskauer - Blockchain and the Law

NFTs Are Interesting but Fractionalized Non-Fungible Tokens (F-NFTs) May Present Even More Challenging Legal Issues

Except for the extensive coverage surrounding Coinbase’s IPO last week and the volatility in the price of cryptocurrencies, much of the air in the crypto space in the last few months has been taken up by the meteoric rise of...more

Polsinelli

John McAfee Meet Agent Smith

Polsinelli on

 Agent Smith in the Matrix described humans as a “virus.  A disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we are the cure.” While not alleging all human beings are a virus, the U.S. government views John McAfee, the...more

Orrick - On the Chain

The SEC Gets its Kiks out of a Successful Application of the Howey Test

Orrick - On the Chain on

In a closely-watched cryptocurrency case, on September 30, the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of the SEC in SEC v. Kik Interactive, Inc., holding that the Kin tokens Kik had offered and sold through a pre-sale...more

Cozen O'Connor

Has the SAFT Been KIKed to the Curb?

Cozen O'Connor on

On September 30, 2020, SDNY Judge Alvin Hellerstein issued a decision of major significance for the digital token industry in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Kik Interactive, Inc. This is only the second federal court...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

Polsinelli

It’s the Fall That’s Gonna Kill You

Polsinelli on

Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid gloriously diving off a cliff, Telegram is about to take the fall and is trying to take the SEC with it.  However, Telegram and supporters are making a number of important arguments in...more

Polsinelli

BitBlog Bi-Weekly Update - March 2020

Polsinelli on

Strikeout for Bitcoin ETF -   Another ETF bites the dust. On February 26th the SEC rejected the application of NYSE Acre for the approval of an exchange traded fund sponsored by the New York firm of Wilshire Phoenix to...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Proposed Three-Year Digital Token Safe Harbor May Bridge Gap to Decentralization or Functionality

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

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

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – FinTech initiatives

Asset managers will need to consider how FinTech developments impact their business model in 2020, including developments related to digital asset securities, cryptocurrency-based ETFs and blockchain. In this Bottom Line...more

Polsinelli

Blockchain Litigation Year In Review (Part 2): Lessons From 2019 And What’s Ahead For 2020

Polsinelli on

It began as an obscure experiment in unregulated virtual currency. Initially undistinguished from Bitcoin, blockchain evolved to become one of the pillars of web 3.0, enabling new means of trust, transparency, security and...more

Polsinelli

Blockchain Litigation Year in Review (Part 1): Lessons From 2019 And What’s Ahead For 2020

Polsinelli on

When is a digital asset a security or a commodity? Are SAFTs safe? Does hyping blockchain create an expectation of profit? Is blockchain a trademark, trade secret or neither? Are free tokens tax-free? Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?...more

Orrick - On the Chain

Power of the Peirce: SEC Commissioner Spends Some of Her Influence on Trying to Help Crypto Network Developers

Orrick - On the Chain on

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce continues to be one of the most vocal persons in leadership positions at federal regulators who are promoting innovation in digital currency and the blockchain....more

Polsinelli

BitBlog Bi-Weekly Update - February 2020

Polsinelli on

Many crypto entrepreneurs are seeking to build decentralized networks in which a token serves as a means of exchange on, or provides access to a function of the network.  In the course of building out the network, they need...more

Hogan Lovells

IOSCO issues report on regulating cryptoasset trading platforms

Hogan Lovells on

IOSCO has published its final report on the issues, risks and regulatory considerations associated with CTPs, which includes key considerations to help regulatory authorities address those issues. ...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

SEC Commissioner Peirce Proposes Three Year “Safe Harbor” For Tokens

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: On Thursday, February 6, 2020, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce proposed rules which, if certain conditions are met, would, for three years, exempt (1) the offer and sale of tokens from most provisions of the...more

Polsinelli

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

Polsinelli on

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

Orrick - On the Chain

Fraud is Fraud – Sales of Unregistered Digital Securities Resemble Classic Microcap Fraud

Orrick - On the Chain on

A Complaint filed by the SEC in the Southern District of New York last week reminds us that in the area of securities law violations there is not much new under the sun. Even though the action against Eran Eyal and...more

Orrick - On the Chain

SEC Division of Enforcement 2019 Annual Report Shows Cryptocurrency Is Still Under the Microscope

Orrick - On the Chain on

The SEC Division of Enforcement’s 2019 Annual Report, released earlier this month, shows a continuing focus on activities involving blockchain and cryptocurrency, and its website shows an increase in cases since last fiscal...more

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