Podcast: Is Cryptocurrency a Security (like an orange grove)?
On April 4, the Division of Corporation Finance of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a statement providing clarity on the application of federal securities laws to stablecoins, specifically those designed...more
The SEC staff has promulgated new views on stablecoins. Specifically, the staff statement addresses stablecoins that are designed to maintain a stable value relative to the United States Dollar, or “USD,” on a one-for-one...more
On February 27, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance (“CorpFin”) issued a Staff Statement announcing its view that meme coin transactions do not involve the offer and sale of...more
Although the U.S. Government under President Trump has flipped the script on its approach to cryptocurrency in just a matter of weeks, one big question that is still out there is will the courts chill the recent enthusiasm of...more
The Trump Administration and the new Republican-led Congress are expected to create a friendlier governmental approach to crypto assets. Among other things, key nominees to serve as senior administration officials are known...more
Last year, the Court in SEC v. Terraform Labs suggested, by denying the defendants’ motion to dismiss, that the sale of a digital asset to the public on a secondary market may constitute a security. Now, the Court has...more
The same day that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) in SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc. denied the SEC's request for an interlocutory appeal of the bombshell summary judgment ruling in the case, the...more
A US court recently handed down a landmark ruling addressing the question of whether the crypto token XRP falls under the definition of “security”. The US court ruled that the same crypto token may be classified differently...more
In a monumental decision that will likely have substantial ramifications for crypto industry developers, securities practitioners, and millions of investors and token purchasers alike, on July 13, 2023, the U.S. District...more
The questions revolving around crypto assets typically begin with examining if a security is involved. The answer to that question is determined by applying the Howey test and frequently concluding that the asset is in fact a...more
The most important part of today's ruling in the SEC v. Ripple Labs: Ripple's XRP token is not de facto a security. Let's not take that for granted. It is a widely held belief that tokens issued by companies to raise money...more
Dapper Labs was founded in 2018 shortly after the debut of its first NFT collection, “CryptoKitties,” which was so successful it created a bottleneck of transactions on the decentralized Ethereum Network. Seeking faster...more
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
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
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) has been accused of “regulation by enforcement” when it comes to the standard for determining whether a crypto token is a security. Part of this stems from the fact...more
On July 21, 2022, the SEC charged three individuals with insider trading of digital assets via a scheme to trade ahead of multiple announcements regarding crypto assets being made available on a United States-based digital...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
With offerings across a growing number of online platforms and increased trading volume, NFT issuers, promoters, and buyers should consider the legal and regulatory implications relating to NFTs and federal securities laws. ...more
Recent SEC guidance on digital assets cleared a path for at least certain stable coins or payment tokens to avoid securities regulation. However, Latham & Watkins attorneys say there are still a number of open questions that...more
Federal regulators start to address some of the recent questions about digital assets such as tokens and virtual currencies, though many questions remain. U.S. Regulators and Congress are grappling with how to manage the...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
Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) provided additional guidance on digital assets, which include “tokens” and “coins.” The SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (“FinHub”)...more
While SEC FinHub’s new framework announced last week for identifying crypto-securities suggests continued resistance for those using digital assets to access capital markets, an SEC no-action letter issued the same day to...more
When assessing whether a digital asset is a security, the key question to ask is whether a third party is driving the expectation of a return, says a senior Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official....more
On July 25, 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) published an investigative report (the “Report”) cautioning market participants that the offer and sale of digital assets such as “coins” or “tokens,”...more