Dogecoin’s Day in Court
A Tale of Two Crypto Cases
FINCast Ep. 38 – The Future of Crypto: A Conversation with Coinbase’s Faryar Shirzad
Digital Assets: The Evolving Landscape from a Regulatory, Litigation & Tax Standpoint – IMS Insights Podcast Episode 62
The beginning of this year brought several legal milestones in the world of crypto litigation and enforcement. In the first live installment of our quarterly update webinar, we discussed how...more
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
The decision, which addresses a broad range of market activity by Coinbase relating to 13 third-party tokens, could have significant implications for market participants. On March 27, 2024, Judge Katherine Failla of the US...more
...A recent decision in an SEC enforcement action against Coinbase, the largest crypto-asset trading platform in the U.S., provides some long-awaited guidance on a topic that has been the subject of considerable debate in the...more
Key Points - In a thorough decision, a federal district judge in New York largely denied Coinbase’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a case brought by the SEC. Applying the plaintiff-friendly standards required at the...more
On August 28, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged media and entertainment company, Impact Theory, LLC, with violating the Securities Act of 1933 by making an unregistered offering of securities in...more
Three federal judges in the Southern District of New York sit at the center of the long-running battle between the SEC and the crypto industry, overseeing cases that may eventually bring clarity to the industry. After two...more
In a recent and highly anticipated decision, a court in the Southern District of New York held that Ripple’s cryptocurrency token – XRP – is not inherently a security. In a setback to the SEC, the court also held that...more
The US District Court of the Southern District of New York has appeared to hand digital asset sellers their first victory, albeit partial, amidst a flurry of enforcement actions by the US Securities and Exchange Commission...more
Three days before Christmas 2020, the SEC served Ripple Labs Inc. and two of its executives with a lawsuit. How is that for a present under the tree? As the SKrypto Blog reported at the time, the main issue was whether XRP, a...more
The most important part of today's ruling in the SEC v. Ripple Labs: Ripple's XRP token is not de facto a security. Let's not take that for granted. It is a widely held belief that tokens issued by companies to raise money...more
Arguments presented by Coinbase in its answer to SEC charges would, if accepted, potentially deprive the SEC of its most effective tool in regulating digital assets. The SEC alleges in a Complaint in SDNY that Coinbase...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Coinbase, Inc., alleging the crypto assets Coinbase made available for trading on its exchange met the definition of “securities.” Because Coinbase did not register the assets...more
The gloves are off. The SEC’s recent enforcement actions against leading crypto exchanges suggest that the SEC has decided that time’s up for the crypto industry as it currently exists in the United States....more
Government scrutiny of the crypto market has been sharply increasing in recent months on the criminal and civil enforcement fronts. In parallel proceedings that will be seen in other digital asset contexts — as in the...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
This summer was a busy one for cryptocurrency regulators, with aggressive actions potentially signaling an increase in consumer protection compliance activity. In August alone, the New York Department of Financial Services...more
In late-July, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought insider trading charges against a former manager at Coinbase—the largest crypto asset trading platform in the United States. The charges are the latest move in...more
A recent action brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) against a former Coinbase employee for insider trading in crypto tokens (the “Wahi Action”) highlights the lack of certainty surrounding the...more
Significant parallel actions commenced this week by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) bring crypto fraud enforcement into the spotlight, with the SEC alleging that multiple...more
Over the last five years, decentralized finance (DeFi), especially cryptocurrencies and other digital assets are a space that continues to grow at an exponential rate, not only for retail investors but also for private...more
Examining COMP’s ability to pass the Howey test for being qualified as investment contracts and to be considered a security. Innovation springs eternal in the digital asset ecosystem, and with Compound’s launch of its...more