News & Analysis as of

Digital Currency Virtual Currency Securities Violations

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

NFTs and Securities Law Issues Are on the Rise – SEC Analysis Relies on Resale Royalties

Until fall 2023, there were few SEC enforcements or litigations involving securities issues with non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”). This has changed dramatically. In rapid succession last fall, the SEC undertook two enforcements...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

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

SEC vs. Ripple Could Make Waves in Cryptocurrency Market

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

On December 2, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, Inc. and two of its executives alleging they offered and sold over $1.38 billion of digital asset XRP without registration or...more

Polsinelli

SEC Mike Drop on Rapper and Film Producer Charged With Illegal ICOs

Polsinelli on

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced charges against rapper and actor Clifford Harris, Jr., known as T.I. or Tip, film producer Ryan Felton, and three others who promoted Felton’s unregistered...more

Polsinelli

Ring of Fire - SEC Hangs Up on Telegram

Polsinelli on

After an extended fight with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), Telegram has agreed to resolve charges the company's unregistered offering of digital tokens called "Grams" violated the United States federal...more

Polsinelli

Under Siege - Zen Master Steven Seagal Loses to the SEC

Polsinelli on

The SEC has settled charges against action star Steven Seagal for failing to disclose payments he received for promoting an investment in an initial coin offering (ICO) conducted by Bitcoiin2Gen (B2G)....more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

What to Make of SEC Leniency in Block.one ICO Settlement?

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

On September 30, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that blockchain developer Block.one had agreed to pay a $24 million fine to settle charges that it had engaged in an unregistered offering of securities...more

Perkins Coie

Blockchain Week in Review - November 2019

Perkins Coie on

U.S. Developments - Litigation - New York Resident Indicted for Duping Investors with Fake ICO Scam - On November 6, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced a wire fraud charge...more

Polsinelli

BitBlog Weekly Update

Polsinelli on

This BitBlog summary focuses on the continuing actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) against the issuers of noncompliant initial coin offerings (“ICOs”) and other crypto related transactions including...more

Burr & Forman

SEC’s First Action Against Unregistered Crypto “Exchange”

Burr & Forman on

On November 8, the SEC filed its first settled enforcement action against cryptocurrency trading platform for operating as an unregistered exchange trading securities, in violation of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934....more

Polsinelli

Continued SEC Enforcement in Digital Token Industry Likely Foretells Increase in Private Claims

Polsinelli on

On November 8, 2018, the SEC announced it had settled charges against Zachary Coburn, the founder of EtherDelta, a digital “token” trading platform. ...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Our Music Festival- Empowering a Decentralized Fanbase with Blockchain

Distributed ledger technology is continuing to be thought of as the technology that can address some of the issues that plague the music and content-creation space. Our Music Festival (“OMF”) is relying on this technology to...more

Burr & Forman

SEC Sues Blockvest for False Claims of SEC Endorsement of ICO

Burr & Forman on

On October 3, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Blockvest LLC and its founder Reginald Buddy Ringgold, III for falsely claiming that its initial coin offering had been approved by the SEC. ...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Your Daily Dose of Financial News

Robins Kaplan LLP on

Hiding somewhat in the shadows during the rise of virtual currencies over the past year or two has been blockchain, the ledger technology that undergirds bitcoin and other cryptos, and its potential application beyond digital...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Your Daily Dose of Financial News

Robins Kaplan LLP on

China is answering the White House’s latest tariff announcement with another $60 billion in levies on US goods of its own....more

Burr & Forman

FINRA’s First Crypto Enforcement Action

Burr & Forman on

On September 11, FINRA announced its filing of an enforcement action accusing a Massachusetts broker of fraud and registration violations arising from his sale of an unregistered cryptocurrency, “HempCoin.” It is FINRA’s...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

“No Good Deed”: Free Tokens Issued in Airdrops, Bounty Programs Likely Violate Securities Laws

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

If you’re thinking of airdropping free tokens or implementing a cryptocurrency bounty program, be careful. The Securities and Exchange Commission just issued a cease and desist order (the “Order”) with respect to an initial...more

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

Cryptocurrencies Face Rise in Investor Class Actions

After a surge in popularity and an increased interest from regulators, virtual currencies — also known as cryptocurrencies — have entered into a new phase in their relatively short history, with an increase in class actions...more

Proskauer - Blockchain and the Law

SEC Flexes Funny Bone in Fictional Token Offering

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has taken to using humor and sarcasm to educate retail investors about the potential risks of purchasing tokens in initial coin offerings (“ICOs”)....more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Your Daily Dose of Financial News

Robins Kaplan LLP on

Breakingviews on what the White House’s intervention into Broadcom’s [dropped] bid for Qualcomm could mean for the US-based chip maker. [Hint, it involves China, and it’s not great for the big Q]....more

The Volkov Law Group

The SEC Targets ICOs for Enforcement

The Volkov Law Group on

I am always amazed at how “business” entrepreneurs ignore enforcement risks in the face of specific warnings from regulators.  The SEC and the CFTC have made it clear to the emerging initial coin offering (ICO) and...more

Proskauer - Blockchain and the Law

SEC Cyber Unit Targets PlexCoin

On December 4, the SEC’s new Cyber Unit announced it obtained an emergency asset freeze to halt the initial coin offering (“ICO”) of PlexCoin. According to the SEC, the Plexcoin ICO had raised up to $15 million to date...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Your Daily Dose of Financial News

Robins Kaplan LLP on

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office unveiled new charges against Barclays Bank yesterday over a $3 billion loan it made to Qatar in 2008 for the purpose of “allowing the firm to directly or indirectly acquire shares in Barclays...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

AML/BSA Focus by U.S. Senate Committee Testimony – From Beneficial Ownership to Cryptocurrency

Ballard Spahr LLP on

This week, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held hearings focused in part on Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) and the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”)....more

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

Recent ICO Enforcement Trends

One week after filing a fraud suit against the organizer of the PlexCoin token sale, the SEC issued an enforcement order in connection with a token offering by Munchee and a public statement that shed some additional light on...more

47 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide