News & Analysis as of

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Investors Investment Contract

A&O Shearman

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

A&O Shearman on

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

Goodwin

Stablecoins Unlikely to Be Subject to the SEC’s Jurisdiction

Goodwin on

The recent decision in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Binance Holdings Limited et al (Binance) has cast further doubt on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) pursuit of jurisdiction over stablecoins....more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

The SEC’s First NFT Enforcement Action: SEC v. Impact Theory

Key Points - On August 28, 2023, the SEC charged Impact Theory, LLC, a media company with an unregistered securities offering through its sale of NFTs. This marks the first time that the SEC has brought an enforcement action...more

Mintz - Securities Litigation Viewpoints

Judge Rakoff puts the Ripple Party on Ice as the Crypto Community and SEC Ponder their Next Moves

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

Barnea Jaffa Lande & Co.

Crypto as a Security – Applying the Howey Test

A US court recently handed down a landmark ruling addressing the question of whether the crypto token XRP falls under the definition of “security”. The US court ruled that the same crypto token may be classified differently...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

SEC Showcases Lesser-Known Legal Theory in Crypto Lending Suit

The Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) has taken action against Genesis Global Capital, LLC (“Genesis”) and Gemini Trust Company, LLC (“Gemini”) (collectively, “Defendants”) in a recently-filed complaint...more

Oberheiden P.C.

Tokenization Lawyer – 5 Reasons Why You Might Need One

Oberheiden P.C. on

What is Tokenization? Tokenization is the process of converting an asset into a token on the blockchain. It operates by dividing—or fractionalizing—the ownership of an asset (whether the asset is a piece of real estate or...more

Proskauer - The Capital Commitment

Three Critical Questions That Will (Hopefully) be Answered by the SEC’s Lawsuit against Ripple

Late last year, the SEC filed a litigated action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Ripple Labs Inc. and two of its executive officers (collectively, “Ripple”), alleging that Ripple...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Legal Implications of Secondary SAFT Sales

Simple Agreements for Future Tokens pose difficult and controversial legal questions under U.S. securities, commodities and tax laws. SAFT holders face significant difficulties in securing liquidity, and regulatory issues...more

Winstead PC

Steven Seagal is not “Above the Law” in Crypto Scalping Case

Winstead PC on

Hollywood martial arts sensei Steven Seagal was recently karate-chopped by the SEC for his alleged undisclosed payments for Twitter-touting a security that was being offered and sold in an initial coin offering. In a settled...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

The SEC Lays Down a Bet in a Nevada Court

The college football bowl season is upon us, NFL teams are jockeying for playoff seeding, and with the college basketball season underway fans of that game are looking longingly towards March for how their brackets may look...more

Sullivan & Worcester

Ether Is…a Commodity

Sullivan & Worcester on

It is official. Finally. On October 10, 2019, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Chairman Heath Tarbert announced that he believes ether is a commodity and thus falls under the jurisdiction of the CFTC....more

Fenwick & West LLP

New SEC Digital Asset Framework Creates Additional Ambiguity for Cryptocurrency Companies

Fenwick & West LLP on

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has released a new framework to help cryptocurrency companies and industry players determine whether a particular digital asset is offered and sold as an investment contract, making...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Blockchain Tokens: The SEC Staff Issues Its Framework for Determining Whether an ICO is an Issuance of Securities

In its long-awaited guidance, the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission recently provided a lengthy list of factors to consider when determining whether an initial coin offering (ICO) is a security. While the...more

Proskauer - Blockchain and the Law

Crypto Crackdown – SEC Imposes Broker-Dealer and Investment Company Registration Provisions on Token Traders and a Crypto Fund

The SEC announced a pair of settled orders on Tuesday extending additional provisions of the securities laws over ICOs and other digital assets – the agency’s first ever enforcement actions of their kind. As the SEC has been...more

Perkins Coie

Senior SEC Official Provides Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets

Perkins Coie on

During a speech in San Francisco last week at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit, William Hinman, Director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), provided some welcome...more

Proskauer - Blockchain and the Law

SEC Director William Hinman: “Current offers and sales of Ether are not securities transactions”

At last week’s Yahoo! All Markets Summit in Palo Alto, SEC Division of Corporation Finance Director William Hinman delivered a speech sure to send shockwaves through the crypto world. Applying the Howey test (which sets forth...more

Perkins Coie

Ether is not a security: Summary of SEC Remarks Today

Perkins Coie on

In a speech today during a crypto conference in San Francisco, a top Securities and Exchange Commission official expressed his view that, at this point, sales of Ether are not securities transactions. Speaking from prepared...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs): The Current State of Play

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

Burr & Forman

The Only Color in Gambling is Green—Why Staking is a Security

Burr & Forman on

The Securities Act of 1933’s catchall for defining a security is the “investment contract.” The landmark case, SEC v Howey, explained that “an investment contract for the purposes of the Securities Act means a contract,...more

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