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
4/19/2024
/ Coinbase ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Howey ,
Investment ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
In remarks given at the University of Oxford on February 14, 2024, Deputy Attorney General (“DAG”) Lisa O. Monaco announced the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) latest approach to artificial intelligence: naming the DOJ’s...more
2023 was a busy year across several federal agencies in terms of issuing compliance guidance for corporations, including health care companies. For example, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued significant compliance...more
2/15/2024
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Clawbacks ,
Compensation ,
Compliance ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
New Guidance ,
OIG ,
Risk Management ,
White Collar Crimes
Just barely two weeks ago, we wrote about the half-victory for Ripple Labs in its ongoing litigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), in which Judge Analisa Torres granted partial summary judgment in favor...more
8/8/2023
/ Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Investors ,
Partial Summary Judgments ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Popular ,
Ripple ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Securities Tokens ,
Securities Violations
On July 13, 2023, a New York federal judge issued a landmark split decision in the SEC v. Ripple Labs case that takes a step toward answering one of the biggest questions in the digital asset space: whether cryptocurrency...more
The “epidemic” of COVID-19 related fraud continued unabated in 2022, and we expect to see the same in 2023. The Department of Justice (DOJ) appears poised to continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute COVID-19-related...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
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
10/4/2022
/ Coinbase ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Endorsements ,
Ethereum ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Products ,
Financial Promotions ,
Fines ,
Howey ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Insider Trading ,
Kim Kardashian ,
Penalties ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
This week the Federal Reserve (“the Fed”) issued guidance telling all banking organizations that it supervises (“Supervised Banks”) what they need to do before getting involved in any cryptocurrency related activities....more
Get those cold storage crypto wallets ready, Ohio lawyers! The Ohio Board of Professional Conduct issued an advisory opinion allowing lawyers to accept and hold cryptocurrency in escrow when related to the representation of a...more
Forbes reported today that “every” U.S. crypto exchange is being investigated by the SEC. Forbes cited to an unnamed staffer for Senator Cynthia Lumis (R-Wy) as the source of the information. The Forbes article notes that...more
In separate cases last week the DOJ and the SEC charged a former Coinbase employee and two other individuals with wire fraud (DOJ) and violating the antifraud provisions of the securities laws (SEC).
The basic...more
On July 21, 2022, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced charges against three men in the "first ever cryptocurrency insider trader tipping scheme." The Indictment charged Ishan Wahi, a former...more
7/25/2022
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
CFTC ,
Coinbase ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
EU ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Wire Fraud
Last Friday, a federal Magistrate Judge in Washington, D.C. wrote an opinion, in a still sealed case, explaining why he approved a DOJ criminal complaint against an American citizen accused of transmitting more than $10...more
Crypto seems to be everywhere these days. Just last week Fidelity Investments launched a bitcoin option for its 401(k) plans. The nation’s largest plan administrator is providing the 23,000 companies it manages retirement...more