On April 10, 2025, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance (the Division) released a statement providing its views on disclosure requirements for Offerings and Registrations of Securities in the Crypto Asset Markets....more
On April 10, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Division of Corporation Finance (the Staff) published a Statement on Offerings and Registrations of Securities in the Crypto Asset Markets (the Statement)....more
The Trump administration continues its efforts to relax digital asset regulation, including most recently by exempting decentralized finance ("DeFi") apps and wallets from tax reporting and through Securities and Exchange...more
On April 10, 2025, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued a staff statement (the “Statement”) titled “Offerings and Registrations of Securities in the Crypto Asset Markets.” This development underscores the...more
Ether ETFs Begin Public Trading, Generate $1.07B in Cumulative Volume - According to reports, on July 23, nine different spot ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from eight different issuers began public trading on...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently brought its first two enforcement actions against issuers of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), resulting in cease-and-desist orders, penalties and other remedies, finding that the...more
In a published settlement of the charges on August 28, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) stated that non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) issued by Impact Theory, LLC (“Impact”) were “securities” under US...more
Summary - The SEC’s focus on the crypto industry expanded this week to include non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In its first NFT-enforcement action, the SEC settled with Impact Theory, a media and entertainment company, over...more
In SEC v. Ripple Labs, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) alleges that Ripple Labs, Inc. and two of its executives raised over $1.3 billion through an unregistered and ongoing digital asset securities...more
While a conclusion to the much-hyped case may be approaching, market participants should be wary of doomsday prognostications. As a new year begins, the digital assets industry is still enduring a deep and widespread crypto...more
On January 12, the SEC filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against two companies (collectively, defendants), alleging that they were involved in the unregistered offer and sale...more
On January 6, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted a defendant cryptocurrency exchange’s motion to compel arbitration in a class action alleging the exchange, along with the issuer of a...more
I - INTRODUCTION TO THE LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK - Canada currently has no comprehensive framework governing the regulation of digital assets. Securities regulation has emerged as the main regulatory instrument in...more
Financial institutions M&A sector trends: fintech — H1 2021 and outlook for H2 2021 - E-commerce and online financial services experienced exponential growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. The significance of digital...more
On July 14, 2021, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) announced settled charges against Blotics, Ltd., f/d/b/a Coinschedule Ltd. (Coinschedule), the UK-based operator of Coinschedule.com, a...more
On February 26, 2021, the SEC’s Division of Examinations issued a Risk Alert signaling an exam focus this year on activities of investment advisers, broker-dealers, exchanges, and transfer agents related to Digital Asset...more
While most of the world was locked down, the preverbal shoe (litigation) finally dropped on Crypto companies that raised money through the sale of digital assets which are alleged to be illegal, unregistered securities...more
On January 14, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Office of Investor Education and Advocacy issued an Investor Alert urging investors to use caution before investing in “initial exchange offerings”...more
Digital assets and Blockchain technologies which were once described as the tools of criminals, are now a key part of efforts by traditional financial services firms to transform their businesses and innovative firms looking...more
A Complaint filed by the SEC in the Southern District of New York last week reminds us that in the area of securities law violations there is not much new under the sun. Even though the action against Eran Eyal and...more
On October 11, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) announced it filed a complaint and obtained a temporary restraining order against Telegram Group Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary TON Issuer...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
In this issue, we examine the release of the much-anticipated Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub) guidance for analyzing how U.S. federal securities laws apply to initial coin offerings, the...more
While SEC FinHub’s new framework announced last week for identifying crypto-securities suggests continued resistance for those using digital assets to access capital markets, an SEC no-action letter issued the same day to...more
A recent ruling from a federal district judge in the Southern District of New York, involving a trademark dispute between a digital asset offering and web-titan Alibaba, has caused heads throughout the FinTech world to turn. ...more