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, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the “Staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) released a statement concerning meme coins (“Statement”) with the stated...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
Specifically, the SEC wants a change to persuade the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit – now, not later – of its view that Torres got it wrong when she determined that the company's offer and sale of its XRP token...more
In a one-two punch earlier this month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought successive actions against two of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges – the first blows in what will likely be...more
Speaking at the International Blockchain Congress in Chicago on February 6, 2020, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce proposed a safe harbor from U.S. securities laws so that developers of blockchain protocols could offer and sell...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
On December 18, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced settled charges against blockchain technology company Blockchain of Things Inc. (BCOT) for conducting an unregistered initial coin offering (ICO) of...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
The SEC Division of Corporate Finance recently issued a no-action letter to Pocketful of Quarters, confirming that the Division will not recommend any enforcement action if the company sells its blockchain-based tokens...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
On April 10, 2019, U.S. Representatives Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Darren Soto (D-FL) reintroduced the Token Taxonomy Act (“TTA”) in the effort to amend the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to...more
A new bill, the Token Taxonomy Act was introduced to congress to amend the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to exclude digital tokens from the definition of a security, to direct the Securities...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
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
The settled order is the first SEC action charging a seller of digital tokens as an unregistered broker-dealer. On September 11, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a settled order instituting...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
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 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
In a flurry of activity and confluence of developments, the SEC, FINRA and a Brooklyn federal judge have commenced actions and made rulings that continue to define the regulatory framework and obligations surrounding the sale...more
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
On July 25, 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) published an investigative report (the “Report”) cautioning market participants that the offer and sale of digital assets such as “coins” or “tokens,”...more
On July 25, the SEC released an investigative report warning that “virtual” organizations’ offers and sales of digital assets may be subject to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of...more
What Is an ICO? An ICO, or initial coin offering, is the sale of virtual coins or tokens, often as a means of capital raising by startup companies that are involved in blockchain technology. Depending on the terms of the...more