Prediction market platform Kalshi has secured a preliminary injunction against the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (the Division), preventing the state from enforcing a cease-and-desist order that aimed to halt...more
Stablecoin, Wallet Products Launch; German Bank Launches Crypto Services - Circle, a global fintech firm and issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has announced new smart contract functionality to allow holders of BUIDL, a...more
On July 31, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) formally charged the enigmatic crypto-personality Richard Heart (whose real name, as I learned from the complaint, is Richard Schueler) and his three...more
In his famous 2018 speech, William Hinman, Digital Asset Transactions: When Howey Met Gary (Plastic), the Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), asked...more
While the blockchain crypto community is processing the latest round of “crypto contagion,” potentially lost in the busy news week was a significant legal development regarding what digital assets qualify as securities under...more
The People’s Bank of China (“PBOC”) announced this morning that it is banning crypto currencies and related services, including “trading, order matching, token issuance and derivatives for virtual currencies are strictly...more
The CFTC recently joined the host of other federal and state regulators who enforce anti-money laundering laws, by bringing three cases finding violations of CFTC Regulation 42.2. Regulation 42.2 requires futures commission...more
SEC Charges Trust Company with Operating Unregistered Investment Companies and Failing to Register Securities Offerings. On September 30, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it had settled charges with...more
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
The battle in federal court between the SEC and Telegram continues to progress at breakneck speed. The SEC commenced its action less than four months ago, on October 11, 2019, by seeking a temporary restraining order against...more
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
The Situation: ICOs and digital assets have become a new phenomenon that has impacted many aspects of our modern economies and created an alternative way of financing for start-ups or small and medium-sized enterprises. ...more
New York regulators continued an aggressive approach against certain entities engaged in virtual currency businesses when the state's Attorney General’s office obtained an ex parte order precluding companies associated with a...more
Last week, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) backed up its strong public statements about enforcing the anti-money laundering (AML) laws with respect to cryptocurrency by bringing an enforcement action against...more
In a regulatory first, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a cease and desist order and imposed a $200,000 fine against a hedge fund that invested in digital assets and its founder. ...more
Technology evolves and events unfold at a dizzying pace in the blockchain world, but even by those standards this past week was tough to keep up with. Every day seemed to bring a new first for the industry...more
SEC Bars Perpetrator of Initial Coin Offering Fraud - On August 14, 2018, the SEC obtained permanent officer-and-director and penny stocks bars against David T. Laurance of Tomahawk Exploration LLC (“Tomahawk”), who...more
Earlier this month, the District Court for the Central District of California imposed a prison sentence of one year and a day, with three years of supervised release, on defendant Theresa Lynn Tetley, who had pleaded guilty...more
Some analysis of last week’s jobs report, including thoughts on why a sub-4% unemployment rate poses a problem for a Fed still set on a slow and steady rate hike plan....more
Below is a summary of some of the significant legal and regulatory actions that occurred over the past week. This alert is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all such developments, but rather a selection of...more
As we previously have blogged, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) became one of the first regulators to wade into the regulation of cryptocurrency when it released interpretive guidance in March 2013 stating...more
Initial Coin Offerings, or ICOs, were an extremely popular way of raising capital in exchange for crypto tokens in 2017 and have led to class action litigation in 2017 and 2018. While ICOs have been around since 2013, they...more
On Friday, June 17, 2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the “Commission”) issued an Order Assessing Civil Penalties against ETRACOM LLC (“ETRACOM”) and ETRACOM’s founding member and majority owner, Michael...more