The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts recently unsealed what it described as the “first-ever criminal charges against financial services firms for market manipulation and ‘wash trading’ in the...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
4/19/2024
/ Coinbase ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Howey ,
Investment ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On January 10, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) approved eleven applications for spot exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) tracking Bitcoin. This landmark moment for the crypto asset industry has been over...more
1/15/2024
/ Appeals ,
Bitcoin ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
ETFs ,
Investors ,
Money Laundering ,
Ransomware ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Terrorist Financing
In a widely anticipated decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court unanimously upheld the Massachusetts Fiduciary Duty Rule, which imposes a fiduciary duty standard on Massachusetts broker-dealers. The high Court’s...more
Just barely two weeks ago, we wrote about the half-victory for Ripple Labs in its ongoing litigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), in which Judge Analisa Torres granted partial summary judgment in favor...more
8/8/2023
/ Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Investors ,
Partial Summary Judgments ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Popular ,
Ripple ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Securities Tokens ,
Securities Violations
On July 13, 2023, a New York federal judge issued a landmark split decision in the SEC v. Ripple Labs case that takes a step toward answering one of the biggest questions in the digital asset space: whether cryptocurrency...more
In a significant victory for the SEC, US District Court Judge Paul J. Barbadoro granted summary judgment to the SEC in what is the first enforcement action targeting a cryptocurrency not issued via an initial coin officer...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
10/4/2022
/ Coinbase ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Endorsements ,
Ethereum ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Products ,
Financial Promotions ,
Fines ,
Howey ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Insider Trading ,
Kim Kardashian ,
Penalties ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
This week the Federal Reserve (“the Fed”) issued guidance telling all banking organizations that it supervises (“Supervised Banks”) what they need to do before getting involved in any cryptocurrency related activities....more
July was a hot month for crypto enforcement, but August is off to a hot start in its own right. On August 2, 2022, the New York State Department of Financial Services (the “Department”) issued a Consent Order with Robinhood’s...more