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Digital Assets Unregistered Securities Blockchain

Polsinelli

Blockchain+ Bi-Weekly - May 2024

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Big news dropped in the past few weeks, which sent shockwaves across the industry: according to a recently filed lawsuit, the SEC has classified the second largest cryptocurrency, Ether, as a security in certain ongoing...more

WilmerHale

Binance Ruling Spotlights Muddled Post-Morrison Landscape

WilmerHale on

The March decision in Williams v. Binance from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit marks the latest chapter in the judiciary's struggle to apply the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Morrison v. National...more

Polsinelli

Blockchain+ Bi-Weekly - April 2024 #2

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The focus in Web3 law the past few weeks has been on jurisdictional issues when litigating matters involving borderless digital asset transactions. This is expected to be an ongoing issue, as courts work through these...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

SEC’s First Two NFT Enforcement Actions Cast Shadow of Ambiguity

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The Securities and Exchange Commission recently brought its first two enforcement actions against issuers of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), resulting in cease-and-desist orders, penalties and other remedies, finding that the...more

King & Spalding

Cryptocurrency: Legal Developments and Outlook

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Federal and state regulators have taken an increased interest in regulating cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and the larger blockchain ecosystem. This landscape is opaque and rapidly evolving, and many industry participants...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

The SEC’s Second NFT Enforcement Action: SEC v. Stoner Cats 2

Key Point - Just over two weeks after the SEC announced the settlement of its first NFT enforcement action against Impact Theory, on September 13, 2023, the SEC announced its second NFT enforcement action against SC2, the...more

Polsinelli

Blockchain+ Bi-Weekly - September 2023

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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

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Offering of NFTs Allegedly Promoted as Investments Claimed To Be Unregistered Securities Offering by SEC in Settled Enforcement...

An offering of non-fungible tokens was deemed an unlawful offering of securities without registration by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a novel Order of first impression accepting a settlement of proposed charges...more

BakerHostetler

NFT Used for Service of Process; Blockchain CO2 Monitoring Solution Launches; IRS Addresses Staking; SEC Enforcement Continues;...

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Federal District Court Enters Default Judgment Based on NFT Service of Process - A federal district court judge in Florida entered a $2.2 million default judgment against a defendant on whom the judge previously authorized...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Judges in the Southern District of New York Divided on Whether a Token Is a Security: SEC v. Terraform Labs and SEC v. Ripple Labs

Key Point - Just shy of three weeks after Judge Torres held that the digital asset XRP is not itself a security,1 Judge Rakoff held that the SEC had adequately pled that certain digital assets, such as the UST and LUNA...more

Mayer Brown Free Writings + Perspectives

Defining Digital Asset Securities: US District Court Issues Summary Judgment Rulings in SEC v. Ripple Labs

For the past several years, many have viewed “SEC v. Ripple” as one of the defining conflicts in the US crypto regulatory landscape. At the heart of this dispute is the question of whether digital tokens are “securities” for...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

Proskauer - Corporate Defense and Disputes

The Ripple Effect: Implications of the SEC’s Partial Loss in SEC v. Ripple Labs Inc.

The SEC suffered a significant loss last week in its ongoing legal battle with Ripple over the XRP digital token. While the District Court held that Ripple’s initial sales of XRP to institutional investors constituted the...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

SDNY Issues Split Decision in SEC v Ripple Labs, Potentially Complicating Analysis of When Crypto-Tokens Will Be Treated as...

On July 13, 2023, Judge Analisa Torres in the Southern District of New York issued the much-anticipated summary judgment order in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) case against Ripple Labs and two senior leaders,...more

Polsinelli

Proposed Digital Asset Market Structure Bill Could Give Regulatory Clarity; But is it the Regulatory Clarity the Industry Wants?

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The Digital Asset Market Structure “(DAMS”) discussion draft bill attempts to provide regulatory clarity on crucial blockchain industry issues. These issues include when a blockchain is legally considered decentralized, the...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Can an NFT Be a Security? The Dapper Labs Decision Provides a Cautionary Tale

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We have previously discussed the thorny intellectual property implications of non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”), units of data stored on a blockchain that signify ownership of a unique digital media item. But another emergent...more

Venable LLP

Layup or Airball? Court Holds NBA Top Shot NFTs May Be a Security in Friel v. Dapper Labs

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The start of 2023 hasn’t gone much better for the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry than the end of 2022 did. In declining to dismiss a case alleging that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) called Moments are considered...more

Polsinelli

Kraken the Whip – Kraken Penalized Over Staking-as-a-Service

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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

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

SEC Goes After Staking-as-a-Service: Crypto Exchange Kraken Shuts Down Its U.S. Staking Program

With the announcement of charges against and a settlement with two subsidiaries of a prominent crypto exchange, Kraken, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appears to have a new target within the blockchain...more

Goodwin

2022 Year in Review: Digital Currency and Blockchain Litigation and Enforcement Developments

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Throughout a tumultuous 2022, the digital currency and blockchain space saw a number of significant investigation, litigation, and enforcement matters as regulators continue their laser focus on the industry. This Year in...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

SEC v. Ripple: Approaching Judgment Day

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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

Morgan Lewis - All Things FinReg

Court OKs CFTC’s Service of Process Through Online Forum, Chat Box in Ooki DAO Action

The US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled on December 20, 2022, that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) properly served the defendant, Ooki DAO, by posting summons documents in Ooki...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Crypto Link - November 2022

This edition of CryptoLink follows the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, and lawmakers in Congress are now outlining ambitious agenda priorities for next Congress, putting digital assets near the top of the list. Following the FTX...more

Tonkon Torp LLP

SEC Scores a Win in Securities Case Against LBRY

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If the ongoing fallout from the collapse of offshore cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, and now BlockFi wasn’t enough, crypto investors also lost a significant battle last month in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire....more

The Volkov Law Group

DOJ Targeting Crypto Industry for Enforcement

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A basic truism — you do not want to become the subject of a Justice Department investigation.  The wheels of justice — prosecutors and law enforcement — can cause real harm to organizations and individuals that violate the...more

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