Episode 286 -- Matt Stankiewicz on the Ripple Decision and Celsius CEO Indictment
Blue Sky Laws: Defending State-Level Securities Violations
The Justice Insiders: The Administrative State is Not Your Friend - A Conversation with Professor Richard Epstein
Four Decision Points in SEC Securities Investigations
Crypto Enforcement Is Here, and Always Has Been
Cryptocurrency: The Regulator’s Perspective
Investment Management Roundtable Discussion – Regulatory and Enforcement Update
On July 13, 2022, Judge Analisa Torres issued her long awaited ruling on the summary judgment motions in the SEC’s case against Ripple Labs, Inc. (“Ripple”). The 34-page order provided a win for both the SEC and for Ripple...more
As of June 6, the SEC has brought 24 cryptocurrency enforcement actions between litigations and administrative proceedings. The number of cryptocurrency enforcement actions brought by the SEC in 2023 is advancing at a record...more
Cryptocurrency companies face a steadily growing number of lawsuits, adding to a list of recent headaches for their industry. That list includes steep recent declines in investment value and a high probability of new...more
There are those in the crypto sphere who, despite the strong warnings of several federal agencies, believe there can be no enforcement without crypto specific regulation. This is not the case. There are also those who believe...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
New York’s chief law enforcement agency recently squandered an opportunity to bring much needed guidance to the digital assets space. On October 18, 2021, the Office of New York Attorney General, Letitia James (“NYAG”),...more
Ninth Circuit Holds that Purchasers of Unregistered Shares in Slack’s Direct Listing May Bring Securities Act Claims; Small Class of Crypto Purchasers Recommended for Certification; Tether to Pay $41 Million to Settle...more
With new types of digital assets and related business on the rise, federal authorities have been busy investigating. Recently, the SEC, FinCEN and the CFTC have imposed some notable settlements involving cryptocurrency...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
On December 2, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, Inc. and two of its executives alleging they offered and sold over $1.38 billion of digital asset XRP without registration or...more
In this Issue. In one of its first acts after being installed on January 20, the Biden Administration issued a regulatory freeze on new agency rules that have been adopted but are not yet effective; in one of its final acts...more
On October 21, 2020, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a final judgment on consent against Kik Interactive Inc. to resolve the Securities and Exchange Commission’s charges that...more
For public and private companies in all industries, the risk of being targeted in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation is a very real concern. As new and innovative securities offerings continue to be...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced charges against rapper and actor Clifford Harris, Jr., known as T.I. or Tip, film producer Ryan Felton, and three others who promoted Felton’s unregistered...more
After an extended fight with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), Telegram has agreed to resolve charges the company's unregistered offering of digital tokens called "Grams" violated the United States federal...more
The SEC recently required BitClave to return over $25 million to investors which the company raised by selling its Consumer Activity Tokens (CAT) to over 9,000 investors in an initial coin offering (ICO). BitClave was also...more
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Like the Shakespearean rose, Ripple Labs faces another claim that its digital asset XRP is a security in a new federal lawsuit in California. The suit filed by Bitcoin...more
The SEC has settled charges against action star Steven Seagal for failing to disclose payments he received for promoting an investment in an initial coin offering (ICO) conducted by Bitcoiin2Gen (B2G)....more
In 2019, regulators continued to consider whether and how to regulate blockchain technology. After the two previous years that included a high number of initial coin offerings (ICOs), many of which involved allegedly...more
On September 30, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that blockchain developer Block.one had agreed to pay a $24 million fine to settle charges that it had engaged in an unregistered offering of securities...more
U.S. Developments - Litigation - New York Resident Indicted for Duping Investors with Fake ICO Scam - On November 6, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced a wire fraud charge...more
This BitBlog summary focuses on the continuing actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) against the issuers of noncompliant initial coin offerings (“ICOs”) and other crypto related transactions including...more
Crypto currency began with the notion of getting “off the grid” – escaping the regulators and not being regulated. Over time that notion has transmuted. Now platforms trading crypto assets proclaim that the “revolution needs...more
This summary covers the last two weeks which includes news about continued enforcement actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) involving fraudulent digital asset transactions, dismissal of a securities...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