The Digital Asset SEC Timeline serves as an interactive compilation of select SEC guidance, enforcement actions, and speeches relating to the application of the federal securities laws to digital assets. Beginning with the...more
The Digital Asset SEC Timeline serves as an interactive compilation of select SEC guidance, enforcement actions, and speeches relating to the application of the federal securities laws to digital assets. Beginning with the...more
On August 7, Judge Richard Seeborg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied in part a motion to dismiss (the “Order”) sought by the defendants in In Re Tezos Securities Litigation (the “Tezos...more
8/31/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Browsewrap Agreement ,
Clickwrap Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Forum Selection ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Popular ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Litigation ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
On February 6, 2018, the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs conducted a hearing entitled “Virtual Currencies: The Oversight Role of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S....more
2/7/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Entrepreneurs ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
FSOC ,
Howey ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
IOSCO ,
Jurisdiction ,
New Guidance ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency
Just like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is actively policing the virtual currency market. On January 24, 2018, the CFTC announced an enforcement action against...more
On July 25, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released groundbreaking materials relating to blockchain tokens. These materials provide significant and welcome insight to the SEC’s and its staff’s thinking...more
7/27/2017
/ Alternative Trading System (ATS) ,
Blockchain ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Investor Advisory Committee ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
Federal authorities announced this week a settlement with Ripple Labs Inc. and its subsidiary, XRP Fund II, resolving an investigation by FinCEN and the Department of Justice into violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. ...more
The U. S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, has issued several recent statements signaling a steady pursuit of criminal conduct related to bitcoin. First, on Thursday, November 6, 2014, Trendon...more
The virtual currency industry is in the news once again following the October 1, 2013, Federal Bureau of Investigation’s shutdown of the “Silk Road” website. As part of the shutdown of the well-known underworld bazaar, the...more
Riding the coattails of an August 6, 2013 federal court ruling that alleged Ponzi-schemer Trendon Shavers’ Bitcoin-based investment scheme constituted an investment contract, and therefore a “security” under the federal...more
In response to the SEC’s first civil complaint arising from online virtual currency trading, alleged Bitcoin Ponzi schemer Trendon Shavers recently challenged the district court’s authority to hear the case. ...more
On July 23, 2013, the SEC ventured into the electronic currency world by filing a civil complaint against virtual currency “trader” Trendon Shavers and his company, Bitcoin Savings and Trust, in the U.S. District Court for...more
Asset Seizures and Arrests Mark Recent Federal Virtual Currency Enforcement Actions -
Federal authorities have initiated several recent enforcement actions that are indicative of continuing regulatory changes in the...more