News & Analysis as of

Digital Assets Enforcement Actions Securities Litigation

A&O Shearman

Southern District Of New York Denies Digital Asset Trading Company’s Motion For Judgment On The Pleadings

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On February 7, 2025, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a motion for judgment on the pleadings in a putative class action against a cryptocurrency...more

Amundsen Davis LLC

SEC Drops Case Against Coinbase: What Are the Implications for Other Cryptocurrency Cases With the SEC?

Amundsen Davis LLC on

On February 21, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it was dropping its case against Coinbase. In 2023, the SEC sued Coinbase for operating an unregistered exchange that sold unregistered securities....more

DLA Piper

Meme Coins Alleged to be Securities in Two New Class Actions

DLA Piper on

On January 16 and January 30, two related class actions were filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York against Baton Corporation LTD (Pump.Fun) and its founders. The complaints allege that Pump.Fun...more

Cooley LLP

Don’t Celebrate Just Yet – Potential Litigation Risks Under the Trump Administration

Cooley LLP on

The inauguration of President Donald J. Trump has been widely celebrated as the dawn of the first pro-crypto presidential administration – a dramatic shift from the Biden administration’s antagonistic stance on crypto. But...more

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

Third Circuit Chides SEC for Terse Refusal To Engage in Crypto Rulemaking

On Jan. 13, 2025, a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or the Commission) violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when it offered...more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Crypto in the Courts: Five Cases Reshaping Digital Asset Regulation in 2025

There has rarely been a larger or more widely distributed financial market that existed in a more uncertain regulatory context than cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance (DeFi) at the start of 2025. In the past several...more

Polsinelli

Top 10 Web3/Blockchain Legal Developments of 2024

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The legal landscape surrounding blockchain technology underwent dramatic shifts in 2024, particularly in the United States, offering both remarkable opportunities and substantial compliance challenges. Governments introduced...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

NFT Legal Issues

This year, the SEC has ramped up its enforcement efforts against digital asset marketplaces for selling non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) (and other digital assets) the agency alleges are securities. In response, some potential...more

Cornerstone Research

Securities Class Action Filings: 2024 Midyear Assessment

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The number of securities class action filings increased in the first half of 2024 relative to the second half of 2023, according to a report released today by Cornerstone Research and the Stanford Law School Securities Class...more

Polsinelli

Assessing the Landscape: One Year into the SEC’s Litigation Against Major U.S. Digital Asset Exchanges

Polsinelli on

The SEC’s litigation against the largest digital asset exchanges in America has been unfolding for over a year, beginning with the agency suing various Binance entities in June 2023, followed by actions against Coinbase...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

CryptoLink - February 2024 Updates

CryptoLink is a compilation of news stories published by outside organizations. Akin aggregates the stories, but the information contained in them does not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of the firm. Akin's...more

Cornerstone Research

SEC Cryptocurrency Enforcement Report Summary

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Cryptocurrency enforcement continues to be a high priority for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In 2023, the SEC administration under Chair Gary Gensler brought a total of 46 cryptocurrency-related...more

Cornerstone Research

SEC Cryptocurrency Enforcement Activity

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Since the first action in July 2013, the SEC has brought a total of 173 cryptocurrency-related enforcement actions as of December 31, 2023, comprising: 108 litigations, and - 65 administrative proceedings....more

Cornerstone Research

SEC Enforcement of Cryptocurrency Reaches a New High

Cornerstone Research on

More than 50% increase in SEC cryptocurrency-related enforcement actions in 2023 over 2022. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to view cryptocurrency-related enforcement as a top priority, bringing 46...more

A&O Shearman

SEC charges Impact Theory for unregistered offering of NFTs

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On August 28, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) charged Impact Theory, LLC (“Impact Theory”), a media and entertainment company headquartered in Los Angeles, with conducting an unregistered securities...more

Jenner & Block

Client Alert: Ripple, and Terra, and Coinbase, Oh My!

Jenner & Block on

Three federal judges in the Southern District of New York sit at the center of the long-running battle between the SEC and the crypto industry, overseeing cases that may eventually bring clarity to the industry. After two...more

ArentFox Schiff

SDNY’s Ripple Decision Could Have a Rippling Effect on SEC Enforcement Actions

ArentFox Schiff on

The US District Court of the Southern District of New York has appeared to hand digital asset sellers their first victory, albeit partial, amidst a flurry of enforcement actions by the US Securities and Exchange Commission...more

DarrowEverett LLP

The Ripple Effect: SEC’s Battle Vs. Crypto Gains Some Clarity

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) is paying considerable attention to the world of cryptocurrency (“crypto”). According to the SEC website, the SEC has brought more than 50 enforcement actions against crypto...more

A&O Shearman

Ripple Labs: long-awaited decision answers some questions but gives rise to further uncertainty

A&O Shearman on

In SEC v. Ripple Labs, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) alleges that Ripple Labs, Inc. and two of its executives raised over $1.3 billion through an unregistered and ongoing digital asset securities...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

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

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

The SEC (and Other Agencies) Could Lose a Powerful Enforcement Tool

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether the use of administrative law judges passes constitutional muster If the U.S. Supreme Court upholds a recent Fifth Circuit ruling, it could end the use of administrative proceedings...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

SEC Showcases Lesser-Known Legal Theory in Crypto Lending Suit

The Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) has taken action against Genesis Global Capital, LLC (“Genesis”) and Gemini Trust Company, LLC (“Gemini”) (collectively, “Defendants”) in a recently-filed complaint...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

SEC v. Ripple: Approaching Judgment Day

Latham & Watkins LLP on

While a conclusion to the much-hyped case may be approaching, market participants should be wary of doomsday prognostications. As a new year begins, the digital assets industry is still enduring a deep and widespread crypto...more

Perkins Coie

Digital Asset SEC Timeline - October 2022

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The Digital Asset SEC Timeline serves as an interactive compilation of select SEC guidance, enforcement actions, and speeches relating to the application of the federal securities laws to digital assets. Beginning with the...more

Jones Day

SDNY Issues Two Rulings in Closely Watched Enforcement Action Against Ripple Labs

Jones Day on

The SEC's Enforcement Action Against Ripple - In December 2020, the SEC commenced an enforcement action against Ripple and two of its senior executives alleging that the defendants violated Section 5 of the Securities Act...more

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