A Conversation with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce
Podcast: Is Cryptocurrency a Security (like an orange grove)?
Episode 286 -- Matt Stankiewicz on the Ripple Decision and Celsius CEO Indictment
From Station Wagon to Lamborghini: One CypherPunk’s Journey from Cryptoanarchy to Solana Cross-Chain NFT Innovations
Wax Studios
Summer Enforcement Action Review; Raising Money in a Pandemic - Investment Management Roundtable Discussion
Theoretical No More: Blockchain Technology, Cryptocurrencies and the Tax, Legal and Business Implications
On February 27, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance (Corp Fin) published a new staff statement intended to clarify the application of federal securities laws to meme coins....more
The U.S. Supreme Court will likely decide before the end of its current term whether the failure to make a disclosure pursuant to Item 303 of Regulation S-K can serve as the basis for a securities fraud claim under Section...more
A federal court’s dismissal of claims against a decentralized cryptocurrency platform and its investors for the actions of scam token issuers is a case of first impression with wider significance. On August 29, 2023, the...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) brought three enforcement actions concerning digital assets in rapid succession in a week, underlining that the Division of Enforcement is as committed to crypto enforcement...more
SEC Commissioner Peirce has revived and refreshed her proposed three-year safe harbor for qualifying token projects, but some unresolved ambiguities remain. US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester...more
On December 21, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a high-profile enforcement action against a major cryptocurrency company. The SEC complaint alleges violations of federal securities laws by defendant...more
Delaware Supreme Court Holds Appraisal Action is Not “Securities Claim” Covered by D&O Insurance Policy; Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Dismissal of Derivative Claims Against Life Sciences Company For Failure to Plead Demand...more
It was a year filled with tantalizing tidbits and many loose ends. 2019 marked the 10th year since blockchain technology was released into the wild by its still unknown inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto, who mined the first bitcoin...more
U.S. Legislation - U.S. House Bill Seeks Classification of “Managed Stablecoins” as “Securities” - Texas Representative Sylvia Garcia introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would amend the...more
Until September 30, 2019, Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) enforcement actions in the crypto industry conveyed a consistent message: most crypto is a security, and if a token issuer does not follow the registration...more
A recent complaint concerning KIK Interactive Inc. filed in the US District Court of the Southern District of New York reveals some SEC priorities for cryptocurrency enforcement actions. The complaint indicates that the SEC...more
On May 13, 2019, Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr., of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida dismissed all claims asserted against four individual defendants under Sections 12(a)(1) of the Securities...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
Initial Coin Offerings, or ICOs, have emerged at the intersection of cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Compared to a traditional equity offering in the United States where a company issues stock to investors in exchange for...more
On December 20, 2018, a bipartisan pair of Congressmen, Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Darren Soto (D-FL), introduced bill H.R. 7356 to enact the Token Taxonomy Act (the “Act”). The Act proposes several amendments to federal...more
An increasingly sophisticated and active OCIE division, innovative market disruptors, a maturing credit cycle, and a philosophical change in how the private fund industry views and utilizes litigation are likely to lead to...more
On Wednesday, December 12, 2018, the D.C. Bar hosted a panel to discuss current developments in the world of crypto. Among the panelists were two senior SEC officers: Jonathan Ingram, Deputy Chief Counsel, Division of...more
Two United States congressmen introduced legislation in late December that would exclude certain digital currencies from being defined as securities – a bill that, if enacted, may finally provide the cryptocurrency industry...more
The end of the year has been a very busy time for the SEC in the digital asset space. From speeches to the issuance of joint statements to enforcement actions, there are many things to highlight, discuss and consider. This...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission has accused the founder of a digital asset trading platform of failing to register as a national securities exchange. Without admitting or denying the charges, the founder agreed to pay...more
This article discusses recommended strategies for token issuers to finance and develop fully operational and legally compliant token platforms through financing efforts and token distribution plans that are structured early...more
On September 11, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York denied a motion to dismiss an indictment of a Brooklyn real estate entrepreneur in relation to two virtual currency investment schemes and...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
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
The price of bitcoin is down nearly 80 percent since January 2018. Many other cryptocurrencies are down with it and investors are bearish about the future of digital assets. Atop such industry concerns, three recent...more