Of particular importance for the crypto industry, the opinion analyzes the SEC’s allegations that Binance and BAM offered and sold various tokens and programs to investors as investment contracts without registering them with...more
On February 29, the state of Montana, supported by seven other states, filed an amicus brief arguing that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lacks authority to regulate crypto assets. The attorneys general (AG)...more
Specifically, the SEC wants a change to persuade the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit – now, not later – of its view that Torres got it wrong when she determined that the company's offer and sale of its XRP token...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Coinbase, Inc., alleging the crypto assets Coinbase made available for trading on its exchange met the definition of “securities.” Because Coinbase did not register the assets...more
In the span of two days, June 5 and June 6, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commenced proceedings against the largest crypto asset exchange in the world, Binance.com; its affiliated US exchange,...more
Subscribers to our blog know that we monitor EDGAR for new SEC comment letters and enjoy bringing attention to the more interesting ones. In today’s blog post, we bring your attention to a recent SEC comment letter exchange...more
The SEC’s reliance on a nebulous US Supreme Court decision raises important questions for the future of decentralized finance. Reves v. Ernst & Young,[1] a 30-year-old US Supreme Court decision on farmers’ co-ops, is...more
Pending before the Second Circuit is a unique (and apparently sua sponte) application of the jurisdictional test announced by the Supreme Court in Morrison v. Nat’l Australia Bank Ltd., to dismiss non-securities state law...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
Last August, Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske issued a Summary Order to Cease and Desist on Thomas Becker and Wellington Sports Club, LLC, Einstein Sports Advisory, Ltd., and Welscorp, Inc. The gist of Secretary of...more
U.S. Developments - Mark Zuckerberg Testifies Before U.S. House of Representatives Regarding Libra - On October 23, Facebook, Inc. CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, testified before the House Committee on Financial Services regarding...more
On October 28, 2019, Paxos Trust Company, LLC (Paxos) received a time-limited (two-year) No-Action Letter from the Division of Trading and Markets of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This No-Action Letter...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
TurnKey No-Action Letter and Framework Publication - The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") recently issued highly anticipated guidance to assist market participants in determining whether a digital asset is...more
In early March, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney unsealed indictments against the leaders of the Bulgarian-based “purported” cryptocurrency “OneCoin” on wire fraud, money laundering and federal securities fraud charges relating to...more
Through two publications on April 3, 2018, the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission provided greater clarity on the application of the federal securities laws to blockchain-based “digital assets.”1 While the Staff...more
In this issue, we examine the release of the much-anticipated Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub) guidance for analyzing how U.S. federal securities laws apply to initial coin offerings, the...more
On September 11, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York denied a motion to dismiss an indictment of a Brooklyn real estate entrepreneur in relation to two virtual currency investment schemes and...more
The Situation: Federal prosecutors have asserted that two cryptocurrencies sold in initial coin offerings ("ICOs") are "securities" for purposes of federal securities laws in a criminal indictment alleging fraud against the...more
The SEC announced a pair of settled orders on Tuesday extending additional provisions of the securities laws over ICOs and other digital assets – the agency’s first ever enforcement actions of their kind. As the SEC has been...more
U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie of the Eastern District of New York has ruled that initial coin offerings (ICOs) may be subject to securities law. The ruling came in the court’s denial of defendant Maksim Zaslavkiy’s...more
During a speech in San Francisco last week at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit, William Hinman, Director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), provided some welcome...more
The market for cryptocurrencies and the current wave of initial coin offerings (ICOs) that seek to raise capital for blockchain-based projects have enjoyed a swell of popularity in recent years. U.S. regulatory agencies and...more