Podcast: Is Cryptocurrency a Security (like an orange grove)?
As investment firms and public issuers contemplate adjustments in response to the evolving risk environment brought about by changes in federal securities enforcement priorities, one area of focus should be a likely expansion...more
The decision, which addresses a broad range of market activity by Coinbase relating to 13 third-party tokens, could have significant implications for market participants. On March 27, 2024, Judge Katherine Failla of the US...more
On June 4, 2019, the SEC sued Kik Interactive Inc. (“Kik”), a privately held Canadian company, in the Southern District of New York, alleging that Kik’s offer and sale of $100 million worth of Kin tokens in 2017 constituted...more
In early March, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney unsealed indictments against the leaders of the Bulgarian-based “purported” cryptocurrency “OneCoin” on wire fraud, money laundering and federal securities fraud charges relating to...more
Digital token issuers caught up in the onslaught of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations finally received some encouraging news regarding their token sales’ exposure to federal securities laws. On Tuesday,...more
The Situation: Federal prosecutors have asserted that two cryptocurrencies sold in initial coin offerings ("ICOs") are "securities" for purposes of federal securities laws in a criminal indictment alleging fraud against the...more
On September 11, 2018, Judge Raymond J. Dearie of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued a new decision in U.S. v. Zaslavskiy, No. 1:17-cr-00647-RJD-RER, Dkt. No. 37 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 11, 2018),...more
In what is believed to be the first criminal case examining whether so-called “initial coin offerings” (ICOs) are securities under U.S. law, on September 11, 2018, Judge Raymond J. Dearie of the U.S. District Court for the...more
U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie of the Eastern District of New York has ruled that initial coin offerings (ICOs) may be subject to securities law. The ruling came in the court’s denial of defendant Maksim Zaslavkiy’s...more
The ICO boom in 2017 brings with it questions of jurisdiction and compliance, and a need for further guidance - The benefits of ICOs in raising capital, as well as in providing a marketing push for a new business model,...more