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‘Enforcement 40’ for 2020
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Join the Securities Litigation and Enforcement Group on LinkedInTwo sides of the same coin: analyzing the recent Ripple and Terraform decisions | Reuters
On July 13, 2023, Judge Analisa Torres issued a summary judgment decision in SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc., No. 20 Civ. 10832, ECF No. 874 (S.D.N.Y. July 13, 2023), holding in part that Ripple’s sales of XRP through trading platforms did not constitute securities transactions while its direct sales to institutional investors did. In contrast, […]
Crypto Scam Token Case Yields Novel Win for Andreessen Horowitz
Venture firm Andreessen Horowitz and other backers of the Uniswap Protocol—a cryptocurrency exchange that runs on self-executing “smart contracts”—won a novel court ruling Wednesday absolving them of federal securities liability to platform users victimized by “scam tokens.” Judge Katherine Polk Failla dismissed the proposed class action, which also targeted exchange founder Hayden Adams, several affiliates, […]
A Crypto President? Top U.S. 2024 Contenders Aren’t Fans, and Rivals Are Way Behind
Crypto was on fire as a topic in the early U.S. presidential campaigning, but the first Republican debate last week showed it may not be an issue that has legs with candidates trying to grasp mainstream attention. As the top GOP candidates spun out their well-rehearsed positions – minus former President Donald Trump, who decided […]
Biden administration unveils new crypto tax reporting rules | Reuters
A proposed new tax reporting form called Form 1099-DA is meant to help taxpayers determine if they owe taxes, and would help crypto users avoid having to make complicated calculations to determine their gains, the Treasury Department said. It would also subject digital asset brokers to the same information reporting rules as brokers for other […]
Crypto Is Dead? Or Is That Just ‘Fud’? – The New York Times
It’s been an awful year for the cryptocurrency industry. Corporate bankruptcies, criminal charges, a slew of government lawsuits. But true believers have a simple response to all the predictions of crypto’s demise: They dismiss them as “FUD.” Here’s what that means. Source: Crypto Is Dead? Or Is That Just ‘Fud’? – The New York Times
SEC Charges Former New Jersey Corrections Officer with Crypto Fraud Scheme Targeting Law Enforcement Personnel
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged former New Jersey State Correctional Police Officer John A. DeSalvo with fraudulently raising funds through the unregistered offering of the Blazar Token, a crypto asset security he created but that collapsed in May 2022. The SEC also charged DeSalvo with misappropriating investor funds, much of which he sent […]
How PayPal Upended the Crypto Debate in Washington D.C.
As the end of July arrived, House Financial Services Committee Republicans achieved its goal of passing a bipartisan stablecoins bill. Still, they left D.C. without the broad bipartisan vote Chair Pat McHenry had labored to achieve. The session ended with new recriminations over old disputes, namely the degree of federal vs. state regulation in a […]
SEC Charges Georgia Resident in Crypto-Related Affinity Fraud
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Keith Crews of Kennesaw, Georgia for conducting an affinity fraud through two entities which he owned and controlled, Stem Biotech LLC and Four (4) Square Biz LLC. According to the SEC’s complaint, between October 2019 and May 2021, Crews raised at least $800,000 from as many […]
Desperately Seeking Crypto’s Killer App
Since the start of the year, I’ve been pre-occupied by a question I can’t seem to get decent answers to. I’ve asked it at conferences, on live panels, on podcasts, and to smart friends over zoom. It’s pretty simple: “If you couldn’t get rich off of it, what currently existing products in crypto would significant […]
Congress, Not the SEC, Should Set U.S. Digital Asset Policy
The United States blocking the emergence of the digital asset industry does not mean that the industry will not exist. It just means that it will flourish elsewhere. The E.U., U.K., Singapore and Australia have already passed regulatory frameworks for digital assets. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has gone so far as to publicly tell […]