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 tokens for the purpose of developing functioning token networks and creating liquidity for users. Commissioner Peirce’s…
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…
On December 18, 2019, the SEC issued an order instituting cease-and-desist proceedings pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act of 1933, making findings, and imposing penalties and a cease-and-desist order with respect to Blockchain of Things Inc. (BCOT) in connection with an ICO allegedly conducted in violation of Sections…
On December 13, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted the plaintiffs’ motion for default judgment in a putative securities class action against Centra Tech, Inc. (“Centra Tech”). The putative class action complaint alleged that the defendants violated Sections 12(a) and 15 of the Securities…
On December 11, 2019, the SEC filed an enforcement action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against United Data, Inc. d/b/a Shopin (“Shopin”) and its CEO (Eran Eyal) for violations of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act for the sale of…
On November 1, 2019, the SEC issued a final judgment as to Veritaseum, Inc., Veritaseum, LLC, and their founder (Reginald Middleton) concerning the defendants’ conduct with respect to an ICO and the manipulation of cryptocurrency. The order was part of a settlement between the defendants and the SEC. Reginald Middleton…
On October 31, 2019, the SEC issued an order instituting cease-and-desist proceedings pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21C of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, making findings, and imposing a cease-and-desist order with respect to XBT Corp. SARL (“XBT”) in connection with its…
On October 28, 2019, the SEC issued a no-action letter to Paxos Trust Company in connection with its proposal to settle equity securities trades on a blockchain platform for broker-dealers. The proposed “Paxos Settlement Service” is a private and permissioned distributed ledger system that records changes in the ownership of…
On October 11, 2019, the SEC filed an emergency action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Telegram Group Inc. and a wholly-owned subsidiary for violation of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act for the sale of unregistered securities. The SEC sought…
On September 30, 2019, the SEC issued an order instituting cease-and-desist proceedings pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act of 1933, making findings, and imposing a cease-and-desist order with respect to Block.one in connection with an ICO allegedly conducted in violation of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities…