The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) and the United States Copyright Office (“USCO”) delivered a report to Congress entitled Non-Fungible Tokens and Intellectual Property on March 12, 2024 (“Report”). While...more
3/13/2024
/ Consumer Confusion ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Office ,
Copyright Ownership ,
DMCA ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Technology Sector ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
The SEC has, in rapid fire, announced enforcements against two NFT projects for allegedly violating securities laws. The first action announced August 28, 2023 was against Impact Theory and the second action announced...more
Despite the minimal regulatory enforcement actions against blockchain game companies and NFT issuers, now is NOT the time to become complacent about regulatory issues. As indicated below, many U.S. agencies are increasing...more
1/17/2023
/ Blockchain ,
Celebrity Endorsements ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Insider Trading ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Money Laundering ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sanctions ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Taxation
We previously blogged about the NFT insider trading case against Nathaniel Chastain. He was charged with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to commit “insider trading” in Non-Fungible Tokens (“NFTs”)...more
The rising prevalence of crypto and virtual currencies has invited the scrutiny of several regulatory bodies who continue to grapple with the unique challenges posed by blockchain technology, FinCEN being one prime example....more
10/4/2022
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Blockchain ,
California ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
FinCEN ,
In-Game Purchases ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Transmission Act ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Software Developers ,
Virtual Currency
We have previously addressed the recent indictment against Nathaniel Chastain, a former executive of a major NFT marketplace, for insider trading involving NFTs. The indictment charges Chastain with one count of wire fraud...more
It is well known that insider trading—the practice of buying and selling stocks, bonds, or other securities based on material, non-public information—is unlawful. For that reason, many companies have compliance programs and...more
For quite some time, we have been advising that marketplaces and NFT/crypto issuers consider developing an insider trading policy. The SEC is now investigating this issue. If you do not have a policy this is a good time to do...more
The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the unsealing of an Indictment...more
“NFT” was 2021’s word of the year. This isn’t too surprising—they’re everywhere! The market cap for NFT transactions jumped from roughly $400 million at the beginning of 2021 to over $7 billion by year’s end. What’s next...more
As the world economy increasingly goes digital, innovators and existing market participants are finding new ways to tokenize assets and expand upon their uses, particularly with non-fungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs have commonly...more
For the past decade the crypto space has been described as the wild west. The crypto cowboys and cowgirls have innovated and moved the industry forward, despite some regulatory uncertainty. Innovation always leads regulatory...more
For some time now we have cautioned companies to seek legal advice for certain business models relating to NFTs. According to a recent report, the SEC is now targeting certain NFT uses. According to the report, the SEC is...more
As frequently as you heard “NFTs” in 2021, you will hear “metaverse” in 2022. The common denominator with these topics is that both heavily leverage blockchain technology. The other common denominator is that both NFTs and...more
Blockchain is one of the most significant new technologies since the internet. It has ushered in what has been referred to as Web3.0. Some of the most popular applications of this technology include NFTs and metaverses....more
2/28/2022
/ Blockchain ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
FinCEN ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Money Laundering ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Online Platforms ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Technology Sector
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action last Monday, November 8, 2021, and sanctioned a Latvia-based exchange, Chatex, its associated support network, and two ransomware operators for...more
11/17/2021
/ Compliance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Ransomware ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Treasury
At least three different types of marketplaces facilitate the sale and/or resale of NFTs. These include open marketplaces, curated marketplaces and proprietary marketplaces. Other variations do exist, however, and it is...more
When the artist Beeple recently sold a digital work of art for $69 million, it caught the world’s attention especially because that one-of-a-kind digital art was a non-fungible token (NFT). In this episode, we’re taking a...more
Everything is being tokenized these days, including art, games, collectibles and much more. The record prices being fetched have created an NFT frenzy. This distribution model has created a new channel for monetization of...more
Many things are being tokenized, but the growth of NFTs for digital art is booming. This, in part, is due to the recent headline news that Beeple’s iconic digital art work was sold at auction by Christie’s for $69 million....more
The tokenization of physical and digital art has many advantages. Some of the advantages create potential complexities under US law. Each situation is fact specific, but the following is a summary of some of the areas for...more
1. Blockchain Games and Collectibles Are on the Rise – The use of blockchain (or distributed ledger) technology for games (a.k.a blockchain games) and token-based digital collectibles is on the rise. The overnight popularity...more
3/20/2019
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
FinCEN ,
Gambling ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Patent Applications ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Technology Sector ,
Token Sales ,
Video Games