Crypto bull market and “memecoin” mania heat up despite recent U.S. enforcement action which formally accused over 30 tokens of being securities
Written by Laura “LC” Cole and Aaron Krowne The act of launching a blockchain token is not, intrinsically, problematic, but everything done in preparation for and in support of after said launch must be navigated thoughtfully with appropriate professional advisers. SEC and DOJ complaints from the past few years allege over thirty problematic tokens are […]
While Not The Final Word, Summary Judgment Ruling in SEC v. Ripple Case Is “Bullish” For Crypto
On June 13th, 2023, Southern District of New York federal judge Analisa Torres issued her summary judgment order in the case of SEC v. Ripple[1] (the “Ripple SJ Order,” or “Order,” herein). The Order surprised many observers (and pleased most of the blockchain industry) by finding against the SEC on a majority of its main […]
DFS Crypto “Coin Listing” Proposal Represents A Dramatic Expansion of the NY BitLicense
The comments below are in response to the New York DFS’s new proposed Coin Listing Policy Framework (the “Proposal” or the “Framework”) extension to the DFS Part 200 (the “BitLicense”) regulation, released on 12/11/2019 (available here. The DFS has provided only until January 27, 2020 to get comments in to innovation@dfs.ny.gov, so please read the Proposal and […]
A Tale of Two Token Offerings: Lessons from Blockstack (Reg A+) And Telegram (Reg D)
(*) Some of the biggest news of the past half-year on the US crypto regulatory front has been (1) Blockstack’s successful (qualified) “Reg A+” filing with the SEC and associated offering, and (2) the SEC’s lawsuit and injunction against Telegram, blocking distribution of their “Grams” tokens, sold pursuant to earlier “SAFTs” (Simple Agreements for Future […]
“Decentralized” No More — SEC Drops Proposed Blockchain Test?
Another takeaway of mine from the SEC’s April 3rd releases was noting a striking shift in gears from the SEC. Namely, there was a conspicuous lack of emphasis on the “degree of decentralization” of blockchain token-issuers as applied to the security-vs-utility analysis of their tokens (I didn’t mention this in my earlier post, to keep it as short […]
Initial Impressions On The SEC’s Big “Digital Asset Framework” and Token No-Action Letter Releases
Yesterday was a big day in blockchain legal news, as the SEC put out two releases (combined here) that arguably constitute the biggest advances in token-sale securities law policy since the DAO Report in 2017. The two releases were a “Framework for ‘Investment Contract’ Analysis of Digital Assets” by the SEC’s new FinHub (providing a guide for […]
No, Airdrops Weren’t Just “Legalized” in the U.S.
A November 27, 2018 order in the case of ICO-gone-wrong SEC v. BlockVest, LLC (SoCal U.S. District Court), caused quite a buzz, for the ostensible holding that it (tentatively, of course, as this was not a final order) deemed the “airdrop” method of token distribution (i.e., free giveaways) permissible in the U.S. The order denied an asset freeze that […]
House Financial Services – Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee Hearing (7/18/18): “The Future of Money: Digital Currency”
Below is a rough auto-transcript of a hearing held last week entitled “The Future of Money: Digital Currency” (video available at previous link). The witnesses were: We have not yet gone through the hearing record exhaustively and produced a selection of “pull quotes” of interest. However, the transcript with links to the hearing video is reproduced here […]
House Agricultural Committee Hearing (7/18/18): “Cryptocurrencies: Oversight of New Assets in the Digital Age”
Below is a rough auto-transcript of a hearing held last week entitled “Cryptocurrencies: Oversight of New Assets in the Digital Age” (video available at link). The witnesses were: Here are a few “pull quotes” and exchanges of interest (this is by no means exhaustive): Again, we have not yet gone through the hearing record exhaustively. However, the […]
Doubts Emerge Regarding SEC Director Hinman’s “Decentralization” Token Security-Criteria
On June 14th, 2018, at the Yahoo! Finance All Markets Summit, the SEC’s Director of the Corporate Finance Division, William Hinman, made a “speech heard ’round the world” — best known for its bombshell conclusion that Ether coin (or “ETH”, of the Ethereum blockchain network) should not be considered a security [1]. While this sort of […]
