On Dec. 12, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought what crypto followers consider one of the most consequential enforcement actions related to the sale of cryptocurrency since the industry’s inception. The lawsuit is against Ripple Labs, Inc., creator of the XRP token—which was at the time one of the top cryptocurrencies by market
To Kim Kardashian’s fans and followers, her endorsement of a product signals the product is on trend. However, when a simple post endorsing cryptocurrency goes out to the world, it may have not so simple ramifications.
On Oct. 3, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled with Ms. Kardashian for violating Section 17b of
On May 3, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced in a press release that it is nearly doubling the size of its enforcement unit overseeing cryptocurrency markets and cyber-related threats to 50 dedicated positions. The SEC is also renaming the unit within the Division of Enforcement as the Crypto Assets and Cyber
At a speech to the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s Capital Markets Association on April 4, 2022, SEC Chair Gary Gensler took the opportunity to again promote his strong desire to add greater regulation and oversight to the digital asset and cryptocurrency markets. While reminding the audience of the SEC’s mission to protect investors, facilitate
On Feb. 14, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged crypto lending platform BlockFi Lending LLC (BlockFi) with (1) failing to register the offers and sales of its crypto lending product under the Securities Act of 1933, (2) making a material misrepresentation and omission regarding the level of risk in its loan portfolio, and
On Sept. 25, 2020, the SEC issued a No-Action Letter to FINRA, in response to a previously issued Joint Statement by the SEC and FINRA. This No-Action Letter detailed how broker-dealers could operate alternative trading systems that trade digital assets without garnering enforcement action from the SEC for not meeting the custody requirements required under
In March 2020, a Southern District of New York court issued a significant decision in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Telegram Group Inc. et al., strengthening the U.S. government’s efforts in cryptocurrency enforcement – an area that is largely unsettled. As we wrote in our article discussing that decision, Judge P. Kevin Castel’s opinion
On Sept. 21, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the OCC) issued guidance pertaining to whether national banks could hold stablecoin reserves. That same day, the Securities and Exchange Commission Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology Staff (the SEC) issued a statement in response to that guidance, advising whether such digital
Gibraltar-based INX Ltd. (the Company) launched its U.S. initial public offering of INX security tokens (INX Tokens) on August 20, 2020, over two years after the July 2018 confidential filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission of its initial draft registration statement on Form F-1. The INX registration marks the first registered offering of security tokens declared effective by the Commission. Prior to INX, at least two other issuers successfully qualified security token offerings with the Commission under the Regulation A, Tier 2 offering exemption. The 130,000,000 INX Tokens are being offered directly to the public in a self-underwritten offering by officers and directors of the Company, with minimum investment requirements to participate.
Continue Reading Gibraltar-Based INX Ltd. Launches SEC-Registered Security Token IPO
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce on Feb. 6, 2020, delivered a thought-provoking speech entitled Running on Empty: A Proposal to Fill the Gap Between Regulation and Decentralization, accompanied by a preliminary three-year safe harbor for network development projects to issue tokens. The proposed Securities Act Rule 195, authored solo by Commissioner Peirce, one of five