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Blockchain Investment Contract

DLA Piper

SEC Staff Concludes Protocol Staking Activities on Proof-of-Stake Networks Are Not Securities

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On May 29, 2025, the Division of Corporation Finance of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a statement clarifying its views on the application of federal securities laws to certain proof-of-stake (PoS)...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

SEC Staff Clarifies That Certain Protocol Staking Activities Do Not Implicate the Registration Requirements of the US Federal...

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The Staff clarifies that protocol staking does not qualify as a security under the Howey Test, clearing the way for market participants to engage in staking....more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

SEC: Certain ‘Protocol Staking Activities’ Are Not Securities Transactions

On May 29, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Division of Corporation Finance issued a statement providing that certain cryptoasset staking activities in connection with proof-of-stake (PoS) networks do...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

SEC Concludes Certain Protocol Staking Activities Are Not Securities Offerings

On May 29, 2025, the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the “Staff”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a statement[1] (the “Staking Statement”) concluding that certain protocol staking...more

A&O Shearman

SEC staff takes a position on the securities status of protocol staking activities

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On May 29, 2025, the staff of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance (the “Staff”) issued a statement concluding that certain proof-of-stake blockchain “staking” activities do not involve the offer or sale of “securities”...more

Fenwick & West LLP

SEC Staff Statement Concludes Protocol Staking Is Not a Securities Transaction

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On May 29, 2025, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance (Corp Fin) released a Statement on Certain Protocol Staking Activities clarifying that certain crypto asset staking activities on proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain...more

Lowenstein Sandler LLP

SEC Staff Clarifies That Certain Staking Activities Are Not Securities

Protocol Staking Under the Federal Securities Laws - Historically, the SEC has taken issue with certain staking activities under the federal securities laws. The SEC previously alleged that staking-as-a-service programs...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Corporation Finance Issues Two Unusual Statements Regarding Regulation of Digital Assets

The Division of Corporation Finance (Division) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently issued two statements regarding whether certain tokens, or arrangements involving tokens, constitute “investment...more

Carlton Fields

Expect Focus - Volume I, January 2025

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The Mysterious Boundary Beyond Which “Personal” Relationships Jeopardize a Director’s Independence - In a recent enforcement action, the SEC concluded that the relationship between James Craigie and an officer of Church &...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

US House of Representatives Passes Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act

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FIT21 would provide regulatory certainty for the US digital asset ecosystem, balancing support for innovation with consumer protection....more

Barnea Jaffa Lande & Co.

SEC Signals Intent to Regulate NFTs

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This past August, the US Securities and Exchange Commission took enforcement action against Impact Theory, a US media company that sold NFTs called “KeyNFTs.” It filed a second enforcement action shortly thereafter, against...more

Ankura

Understanding the Crypto Ripple Effect

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On July 13, 2023, the Court ruled in partial favor of Ripple Labs Inc.’s argument that many of its XRP sales did not violate investor-protection laws. The ruling has sent the crypto world ablaze with speculation on the future...more

Goodwin

SEC’s ATS Re-proposal Doubles Down on DeFi and Digital Asset Regulation

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In April 2023, the SEC re-proposed amendments to Exchange Act Rule 3b-16 to expand the definition of what it means to be an exchange. When the SEC initially proposed these amendments in January 2022, there were zero direct...more

Polsinelli

Blockchain+ Bi-Weekly - October 2023

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The Blockchain Bi-Weekly presented by the Polsinelli Blockchain+ team is a rundown of some of the key stories in the Web3, blockchain and crypto ecosystems curated by our attorneys navigating the intersections of code, smart...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

SEC’s First Two NFT Enforcement Actions Cast Shadow of Ambiguity

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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

Jenner & Block

Client Alert: Ripple, and Terra, and Coinbase, Oh My!

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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

Mayer Brown Free Writings + Perspectives

Defining Digital Asset Securities: US District Court Issues Summary Judgment Rulings in SEC v. Ripple Labs

For the past several years, many have viewed “SEC v. Ripple” as one of the defining conflicts in the US crypto regulatory landscape. At the heart of this dispute is the question of whether digital tokens are “securities” for...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

SDNY Issues Split Decision in SEC v Ripple Labs, Potentially Complicating Analysis of When Crypto-Tokens Will Be Treated as...

On July 13, 2023, Judge Analisa Torres in the Southern District of New York issued the much-anticipated summary judgment order in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) case against Ripple Labs and two senior leaders,...more

BakerHostetler

Ripple Decision Makes Waves Finding Some XRP Sales Not Securities

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On July 13, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued its highly anticipated summary judgment decision in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) action against Ripple Labs, Inc....more

ArentFox Schiff

NYAG Questions Historic Classification of Ethereum’s Cryptocurrency in KuCoin Lawsuit

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On the heels of recent legal setbacks and challenges for NFT collections offered by Dapper Labs and DraftKings, the New York Attorney General (NYAG) filed suit in New York state court against the parent companies of...more

ArentFox Schiff

DraftKings NFTs Class Action – An Attempted Dapper Labs Sequel?

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On March 9, 2023, a putative class action was filed against DraftKings Inc. for alleged violations of federal securities laws in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The class, if certified, will include...more

BakerHostetler

U.S. District Court Signals That In Certain Cases, NFTs May Qualify as Securities

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Dapper Labs was founded in 2018 shortly after the debut of its first NFT collection, “CryptoKitties,” which was so successful it created a bottleneck of transactions on the decentralized Ethereum Network. Seeking faster...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

SEC v. Ripple: Approaching Judgment Day

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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

Husch Blackwell LLP

SEC v. LBRY: Is it Time for Blockchain Networks to Register Their Native Tokens?

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The New Hampshire District Court recently granted summary judgment in favor of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in SEC v. LBRY, Inc., concluding that the native token of the blockchain protocol and network...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Court Rules in Favor of SEC in LBRY Enforcement Action

On November 7, 2022, Judge Paul Barbadoro of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire issued an order in SEC v. LBRY, Inc., granting the SEC’s motion for summary judgment against LBRY Inc. (LBRY). The court...more

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