Commissioner Uyeda spoke at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s 30th Annual Institute for Securities Market Growth and Development. Commissioner Uyeda focused on the need to root out bad actors and promote transparent...more
On July 31, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) formally charged the enigmatic crypto-personality Richard Heart (whose real name, as I learned from the complaint, is Richard Schueler) and his three...more
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
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
While the blockchain crypto community is processing the latest round of “crypto contagion,” potentially lost in the busy news week was a significant legal development regarding what digital assets qualify as securities under...more
In the generally opaque emerging world of “DAOs”, a rare public dispute recently played out between the Web3 investment group Yield Guild Games (“YGG”) and Merit Circle DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization, or “DAO”,...more
This week, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu gave remarks to the DC Blockchain Summit titled “Crypto: A Call to Reset and Recalibrate.” By speaking at the Blockchain Summit, Mr. Hsu may have gone into the...more
This article is the fifth in a multi-part series in which we explain how the SEC has structured its anti-cryptocurrency campaign, why the SEC has over-reached its regulatory authority in attacking the creators of digital...more
Tokenization - Tokenization limits the exposure of sensitive information and makes digital transactions more secure. Whether people realize it or not, millions of Americans already use tokenization technology on a daily...more
The People’s Bank of China (“PBOC”) announced this morning that it is banning crypto currencies and related services, including “trading, order matching, token issuance and derivatives for virtual currencies are strictly...more
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
While the world at large shelters in place due to COVID-19 legal and regulatory activity of digital asset and the blockchain world is hopping. ...more
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
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
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
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
The battle in federal court between the SEC and Telegram continues to progress at breakneck speed. The SEC commenced its action less than four months ago, on October 11, 2019, by seeking a temporary restraining order against...more
The Situation: Following the enactment earlier in 2019 of new French legislation to regulate activities related to digital assets (including cryptocurrency but excluding tokenized securities), final regulatory provisions were...more
The Situation: ICOs and digital assets have become a new phenomenon that has impacted many aspects of our modern economies and created an alternative way of financing for start-ups or small and medium-sized enterprises. ...more
Latham & Watkins has collaborated with ConsenSys to launch the Automated Convertible Note to help startups raise capital using a traditional financing instrument with an eye toward a future distribution of tokens. In...more
Amid increasing enforcement activity with respect to cryptocurrencies, coins and tokens, the SEC recently issued guidance intended to provide clarity to the markets. ...more
As the 116th Congress continues its work in the first session, several new and revived bills have been introduced concerning blockchain and cryptocurrencies. ...more
The Situation: On January 9, 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") issued advice to the EU Commission, Council, and Parliament on initial coin offerings ("ICOs") and crypto assets. The Result: ESMA...more
SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce was awarded the nick name “Crypto Mom” by digital asset aficionados in a previous speech encouraging forward thinking by the SEC in the regulation of tokens and initial coin offerings....more
Courts and regulators continue to struggle with how to define cryptocurrencies. The latest installment of this ongoing debate came from an unlikely source: a state appellate court’s opinion on a criminal matter. Specifically,...more