News & Analysis as of November 15, 2024

Securities Regulation

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Virtual Currency (aka Digital Currency or Digital Money) is a type of currency or medium of exchange that is not issued by any government nor guaranteed by a government currency. Despite lacking legal tender status, Virtual Currency is still traded and exchanged in some environments, typically online environments or communities. Bitcoin is the most well-known form of Virtual Currency. less -

Commissioner Comments on Tokenization

Mayer Brown Free Writings + Perspectives on 6/17/2024

Commissioner Uyeda spoke at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s 30th Annual Institute for Securities Market Growth and Development. Commissioner Uyeda focused on the need to root out bad actors and promote transparent...more

Crypto is Here to Stay in 2024, So Be Careful How You Talk About It

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP on 2/2/2024

More than ever before, financial services regulators must increasingly adapt to technological advances. Perhaps no other technological advancement is more important right now than crypto currency. Crypto currency is defined...more

[Webinar] Your Legal Guide to NFTs, the Metaverse, and Web3 - June 14th - 16th, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET

Venable LLP on 6/9/2022

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the metaverse, and Web3 bring with them a host of new legal challenges in such areas as IP, securities law, tax, and advertising. As NFTs revolutionize the digital landscape and global economy, it...more

“Are You Guys Into Crypto???”: Celebrities Promoting Cryptocurrencies Become Class Action Targets

Venable LLP on 2/9/2022

A class action lawsuit filed against Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather, and former professional basketball player Paul Pierce earlier this month underscores the need for celebrity endorsers to take care when they approach any...more

SEC Commissioner to DeFi: Follow the Law or Face Enforcement

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP on 11/12/2021

In a recent article, SEC Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw encouraged decentralized finance (DeFi) participants to voluntarily comply with securities law regulations, in particular those governing risk disclosure, warning...more

Tuesday’s Rising Regulatory Chorus On Crypto

Burr & Forman on 9/23/2021

This past Tuesday, September 21, the chorus calling for more regulation over crypto reached a sort of crescendo. The SEC - Earlier, in September 14 testimony before the Senate Banking Committee [1], former CFTC and current...more

SEC Chair Gensler Signals Greater Regulation of Cryptocurrency Under Existing Authorities

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck on 9/22/2021

On Sept. 14, Gary Gensler, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, testified before the Senate Banking Committee that the agency has authority using the existing, “broad” definition of a “security” to regulate the...more

John McAfee Meet Agent Smith

Polsinelli on 11/6/2020

Agent Smith in the Matrix described humans as a “virus. A disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we are the cure.” While not alleging all human beings are a virus, the U.S. government views John McAfee, the...more

The SEC Gets its Kiks out of a Successful Application of the Howey Test

Orrick - On the Chain on 10/6/2020

In a closely-watched cryptocurrency case, on September 30, the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of the SEC in SEC v. Kik Interactive, Inc., holding that the Kin tokens Kik had offered and sold through a pre-sale...more

Has the SAFT Been KIKed to the Curb?

Cozen O'Connor on 10/5/2020

On September 30, 2020, SDNY Judge Alvin Hellerstein issued a decision of major significance for the digital token industry in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Kik Interactive, Inc. This is only the second federal court...more

SEC Mike Drop on Rapper and Film Producer Charged With Illegal ICOs

Polsinelli on 10/2/2020

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced charges against rapper and actor Clifford Harris, Jr., known as T.I. or Tip, film producer Ryan Felton, and three others who promoted Felton’s unregistered...more

Ring of Fire - SEC Hangs Up on Telegram

Polsinelli on 7/1/2020

After an extended fight with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), Telegram has agreed to resolve charges the company's unregistered offering of digital tokens called "Grams" violated the United States federal...more

It’s the Fall That’s Gonna Kill You

Polsinelli on 4/15/2020

Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid gloriously diving off a cliff, Telegram is about to take the fall and is trying to take the SEC with it. However, Telegram and supporters are making a number of important arguments in...more

BitBlog Bi-Weekly Update - March 2020

Polsinelli on 3/4/2020

Strikeout for Bitcoin ETF - Another ETF bites the dust. On February 26th the SEC rejected the application of NYSE Acre for the approval of an exchange traded fund sponsored by the New York firm of Wilshire Phoenix to...more

Blockchain Litigation Year In Review (Part 2): Lessons From 2019 And What’s Ahead For 2020

Polsinelli on 2/20/2020

It began as an obscure experiment in unregulated virtual currency. Initially undistinguished from Bitcoin, blockchain evolved to become one of the pillars of web 3.0, enabling new means of trust, transparency, security and...more

Blockchain Litigation Year in Review (Part 1): Lessons From 2019 And What’s Ahead For 2020

Polsinelli on 2/20/2020

When is a digital asset a security or a commodity? Are SAFTs safe? Does hyping blockchain create an expectation of profit? Is blockchain a trademark, trade secret or neither? Are free tokens tax-free? Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?...more

Power of the Peirce: SEC Commissioner Spends Some of Her Influence on Trying to Help Crypto Network Developers

Orrick - On the Chain on 2/19/2020

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce continues to be one of the most vocal persons in leadership positions at federal regulators who are promoting innovation in digital currency and the blockchain....more

BitBlog Bi-Weekly Update - February 2020

Polsinelli on 2/14/2020

Many crypto entrepreneurs are seeking to build decentralized networks in which a token serves as a means of exchange on, or provides access to a function of the network. In the course of building out the network, they need...more

Wind of Change - The Year FinTech Came in From the Cold - Polsinelli BitBlog: Year End Edition

Polsinelli on 1/3/2020

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

SEC Division of Enforcement 2019 Annual Report Shows Cryptocurrency Is Still Under the Microscope

Orrick - On the Chain on 11/26/2019

The SEC Division of Enforcement’s 2019 Annual Report, released earlier this month, shows a continuing focus on activities involving blockchain and cryptocurrency, and its website shows an increase in cases since last fiscal...more

In Case You Needed A Reminder – AML/CFT Regulations Apply to Transactions in Cryptocurrencies

Orrick - On the Chain on 11/6/2019

Earlier this month, the leaders of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released a joint statement reminding individuals...more

BitBlog Weekly Update

Polsinelli on 10/29/2019

This BitBlog summary focuses on the continuing actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) against the issuers of noncompliant initial coin offerings (“ICOs”) and other crypto related transactions including...more

SEC Issues Warning on Certain ICOs

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 8/29/2017

As the number and dollar volume of Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”) continue to increase, the SEC has taken a greater interest in this activity. As we previously reported, the SEC issued its initial ICO guidance on July 25,...more

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