Search Results: Bitcoin

Department of Justice Announces “Cryptocurrency: An Enforcement Framework"

On October 8, 2020, the Attorney General’s Cyber Digital Task Force announced the release of a publication entitled Cryptocurrency: An Enforcement Framework (the “Enforcement Framework”).  The Enforcement Framework describes the DOJ’s three areas of focus for illicit activity involving cryptocurrency:  (1) financial transactions associated with the commission of crimes; (2)…

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SEC Commissioner Peirce Not Skating Around Her Views on Telegram Settlement

Never one to hold back, especially when it comes to crypto and blockchain matters, SEC Commissioner Peirce recently explained her views on the SEC’s settlement with Telegram and the agency’s approach to regulating the crypto and blockchain ecosphere generally. Simply put, Peirce disagreed with the Telegram settlement.  In her words:…

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FINRA (Again) Encourages Members to Report Digital Asset Activities

U.S. broker-dealer activity involving digital assets could implicate various FINRA rules in addition to federal and state securities laws and SEC rules.  As most readers likely know by now, whether this activity is of interest to or subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. securities regulators (both federal and state) largely…

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SEC Deems Digital-Currency Investment Vehicle a Reporting Company

On January 21, 2020, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (the “Trust”) became the first digital currency investment vehicle to attain the status of an SEC reporting company. The Trust’s sponsor, Grayscale Investments, LLC (“Grayscale”), is a digital currency asset manager that offers cryptocurrency investment products that provide exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum, among…

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Leibowitz v. iFinex Inc., No. 1:19-cv-09236 (S.D.N.Y. filed Oct. 6, 2019)

On October 6, 2019, alleged cryptocurrency investors filed a putative class action complaint in the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that Bitfinex, Tether, and other defendants coordinated to manipulate the price of Bitcoin and disrupted the cryptocurrency market. The complaint brought claims for…

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SEC Director Clears Path for Secondary Sales of Security Tokens as Non-Securities, Declares Bitcoin and Ether Non-Securities

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally provided some good news, and guidance, regarding permissible token sales. On June 14, 2018, William Hinman, Director of the SEC Division of Corporation Finance, speaking at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit: Crypto, shared remarks that filled in some gaps surrounding the security…

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State and Federal Regulators Coordinate Efforts to Combat Crypto Fraud

This past week was a busy one for state securities regulators, the CFTC and the SEC as they continue their focus on rooting out fraud from the digital currency space and crypto- and blockchain-based ventures.  Noteworthy developments included (1) the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) announcing a “cryptosweep” –…

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