Podcast: Is Cryptocurrency a Security (like an orange grove)?
The Staff Statement provides clarity that Proof-of-Work crypto mining does not involve securities, reducing regulatory uncertainty and enforcement risks for miners....more
On March 20, the SEC released a Statement on Certain Proof-of-Work Mining Activities. In the statement, the Division of Corporation Finance (Corp Fin) provides its view that many proof-of-work mining activities are not...more
In welcome news, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance (Division) recently announced “[a]s part of an effort to provide greater clarity” that meme coins do not involve the offer and...more
This past August, the US Securities and Exchange Commission took enforcement action against Impact Theory, a US media company that sold NFTs called “KeyNFTs.” It filed a second enforcement action shortly thereafter, against...more
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
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
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
Government scrutiny of the crypto market has been sharply increasing in recent months on the criminal and civil enforcement fronts. In parallel proceedings that will be seen in other digital asset contexts — as in the...more
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
In order to provide an overview for busy in-house counsel and compliance professionals, we summarize below some of the most important SEC enforcement developments from the past month, with links to primary resources....more
On November 7, 2022, Judge Paul Barbadoro of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire issued an order in SEC v. LBRY, Inc., granting the SEC’s motion for summary judgment against LBRY Inc. (LBRY). The court...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
A key question for any company considering the issuance of cryptocurrency is whether that digital asset will be treated by regulators as a security, like BP stock, or a commodity, like Bitcoin. In 2019, the Securities and...more
“Decentralization” is a concept that has consistently vexed the entire blockchain-enabled ecosystem in the U.S., including its counsel and regulators, wherein a lack of clarity on the exact definition of decentralization has...more
On December 21, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a high-profile enforcement action against a major cryptocurrency company. The SEC complaint alleges violations of federal securities laws by defendant...more
Developing a framework for consumer tokens - With the rapid growth in the development of blockchain technology, virtual currencies and token sales (sometimes referred to as initial coin offerings, or ICOs), token...more
The SEC Division of Corporate Finance recently issued a no-action letter to Pocketful of Quarters, confirming that the Division will not recommend any enforcement action if the company sells its blockchain-based tokens...more
A federal appellate court in California issued a decision effectively ratifying the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s expansive view of its authority to bring enforcement actions addressing a diverse range of purported...more
On June 4, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) filed a complaint in the Southern District of New York against Kik Interactive Inc. (“Kik”) alleging violations of Section 5 of the Securities Act of...more
A recent complaint concerning KIK Interactive Inc. filed in the US District Court of the Southern District of New York reveals some SEC priorities for cryptocurrency enforcement actions. The complaint indicates that the SEC...more
On April 24, 2019, Skadden hosted a webinar titled “The Current State of Cryptocurrency Enforcement and Securities Litigation.” The presented topics largely focused on the SEC’s evolving regulatory approach to cryptocurrency...more
On April 3, 2019, Finhub, the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology, released the “Framework for ‘Investment Contract’ analysis of digital assets” (the “Framework”) providing principles for analyzing...more
U.S. Developments - Regulatory Updates - SEC Releases “No-Action Letter” Stating Turnkey Jet ICO Tokens Are Not Securities and Releases “Framework for ‘Investment Contract’ Analysis of Digital Assets” - The U.S....more
In its long-awaited guidance, the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission recently provided a lengthy list of factors to consider when determining whether an initial coin offering (ICO) is a security. While the...more
The Situation: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") issued a framework for market participants in assessing whether their digital assets-related activities involve the offer, sale, or distribution of investment...more