Podcast: Is Cryptocurrency a Security (like an orange grove)?
On February 27, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission formally abandoned its enforcement action against Coinbase. ...more
The see-saw court battle over whether Coinbase is an unregistered securities exchange/broker-dealer/clearing agency has flipped, this time with the SEC dropping low. On January 7, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the...more
The beginning of this year brought several legal milestones in the world of crypto litigation and enforcement. In the first live installment of our quarterly update webinar, we discussed how...more
On March 27, 2024, the SEC received a favorable—if at least somewhat split—decision when Judge Failla of the SDNY denied a motion by Defendants Coinbase, Inc. and Coinbase Global, Inc. (collectively, “Coinbase”) for judgment...more
The decision, which addresses a broad range of market activity by Coinbase relating to 13 third-party tokens, could have significant implications for market participants. On March 27, 2024, Judge Katherine Failla of the US...more
On July 13, 2023, the Court ruled in partial favor of Ripple Labs Inc.’s argument that many of its XRP sales did not violate investor-protection laws. The ruling has sent the crypto world ablaze with speculation on the future...more
On August 28, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged media and entertainment company, Impact Theory, LLC, with violating the Securities Act of 1933 by making an unregistered offering of securities in...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
In a recent and highly anticipated decision, a court in the Southern District of New York held that Ripple’s cryptocurrency token – XRP – is not inherently a security. In a setback to the SEC, the court also held that...more
Three days before Christmas 2020, the SEC served Ripple Labs Inc. and two of its executives with a lawsuit. How is that for a present under the tree? As the SKrypto Blog reported at the time, the main issue was whether XRP, a...more
Arguments presented by Coinbase in its answer to SEC charges would, if accepted, potentially deprive the SEC of its most effective tool in regulating digital assets. The SEC alleges in a Complaint in SDNY that Coinbase...more
The gloves are off. The SEC’s recent enforcement actions against leading crypto exchanges suggest that the SEC has decided that time’s up for the crypto industry as it currently exists in the United States....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
Kim Kardashian, the reality television personality, social media star, and entrepreneur has agreed to pay $1.26 million to settle the SEC’s claims that she improperly touted a crypto token without disclosing that she had been...more
This summer was a busy one for cryptocurrency regulators, with aggressive actions potentially signaling an increase in consumer protection compliance activity. In August alone, the New York Department of Financial Services...more
In late-July, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought insider trading charges against a former manager at Coinbase—the largest crypto asset trading platform in the United States. The charges are the latest move in...more
Over the last five years, decentralized finance (DeFi), especially cryptocurrencies and other digital assets are a space that continues to grow at an exponential rate, not only for retail investors but also for private...more
Examining COMP’s ability to pass the Howey test for being qualified as investment contracts and to be considered a security. Innovation springs eternal in the digital asset ecosystem, and with Compound’s launch of its...more