Episode 3 - The Freeman Law Project - Cryptocurrency Regulation and Taxation: A Brief Primer
This is the final article in our three-part series focused on a key question: as bank-fintech partnerships continue to play a vital role in driving financial services, how does the industry make this system safer and better?...more
In an opinion post for a16z crypto, Latham lawyer Jenny Cieplak calls for a new regulatory approach for tokenized securities. A significant number of projects over the past several years have “tokenized” so-called real...more
On February 4, 2025, Commissioner Hester Peirce offered a first glimpse at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) roadmap for establishing a regulatory framework for crypto. Tasked with leading the SEC’s...more
A prior DAO Jungle Chronicles post here covered a 2023 federal District Court opinion from California’s Southern District holding that a complaint adequately alleged a DAO (in that case, bZx DAO) could be sued as a general...more
Crypto Firms Announce New Products in Payments, Investments, Custody - A major U.S. digital asset management company recently announced the creation and public launch of its MakerDAO Trust, which “offers investors the...more
As the Web3 and digital assets ecosystem continues to grow, hacks, scams and other threats remain a major cause for concern and a potential impediment to broader adoption. Data from various sources indicates that after a year...more
With so much focus on the regulatory treatment (and mistreatment) of blockchain related businesses, the benefits of commercial legal certainty for choosing a country or territory as a home of choice for these businesses is...more
The March decision in Williams v. Binance from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit marks the latest chapter in the judiciary's struggle to apply the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Morrison v. National...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 Sept 13, 2023, for its second non-fungible token (NFT) related enforcement action, the SEC issued a settled Order against Stoner Cats 2, LLC (“SC2”) for SC2’s offer and sale of 10,320 NFTs linked to images of characters...more
The IRS published guidance on the federal income tax treatment of staking income in Revenue Ruling 2023-14. Consistent with its prior ruling on hard forks, the IRS maintains that taxpayers realize taxable income when he or...more
On July 13, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued its highly anticipated summary judgment decision in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) action against Ripple Labs, Inc....more
DeFi, Stablecoin Products Launch; Bitcoin Network Spikes Due to NFTs - According to reports, a new decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol recently launched that allows users to deposit the stablecoins USDC or DAI in a...more
In granting the SEC’s motion for summary judgment, a federal court ruled that sales of LBC tokens were securities transactions. On November 7, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prevailed in a motion for...more
In a significant victory for the SEC, US District Court Judge Paul J. Barbadoro granted summary judgment to the SEC in what is the first enforcement action targeting a cryptocurrency not issued via an initial coin officer...more
A complaint filed in federal court will test the boundaries of protection from liability for individuals behind decentralized autonomous organizations. On May 2, 2022, a putative class action was filed in the US District...more
What is a Digital Security Offering (DSO)? Conducting digital security offerings (DSOs), or security token offerings (STOs) is time-consuming and can be quite complicated. You will need to consider factors such as whether...more
In a speech before the Aspen Security Forum on August 3, 2021, SEC Chair Gary Gensler followed the lead of his predecessor and repeated the SEC’s view that current securities regulations are clear and almost all tokens are...more
THE CHALLENGE: When INX Limited formed in 2017, its founders recognized that market enthusiasm around bitcoin and other blockchain assets would lead to a new standard in the finance industry. Looking beyond the...more
Recent and significant regulatory and legislative events in the digital asset space demonstrate the evolving and expanding approach by U.S. and international regulators to the burgeoning digital asset markets. These...more
In this episode of The Freeman Law Project podcast, Jason B. Freeman discusses cryptocurrency and blockchain legal issues, including regulation and taxation. This primer episode provides an introduction into the technology...more
Nachdem das Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz und das Bundesministerium der Finanzen mit dem Diskussionspapier "Eckpunkte für die regulatorische Behandlung von elektronischen Wertpapieren und...more
After the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection and the Federal Ministry of Finance announced the introduction of electronic securities with the “Key-issues paper on the regulatory treatment of electronic...more
The milestone fund structure portends a reduced role for broker-dealers, who may be sidelined by innovators unwilling to wait for regulators. On July 6, 2020, asset management firm Arca announced that the US Securities and...more
On March 24, 2020, Judge P. Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York granted the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) an injunction to prevent Telegram Group Inc. and TON Issuer Inc. (collectively, “Telegram”)...more