Conor O'Hanlon

Blogs: Asset Management ADVocate, Consumer Protection Review, The Fintech Report, Virtual Currency Report

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Blockchain Week in Review: Week of September 6, 2019

By Conor O'Hanlon on September 12, 2019

U.S. Developments VanEck and SolidX to Offer Bitcoin ETF to Qualified Institutional Buyers On September 3, 2019, VanEck Securities Corp. and SolidX Management LLC announced that they are seeking to use Rule 144A of the Securities Act to issue shares in the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust to qualified institutional buyers. According to a joint statement by the companies, the shares would be the first Bitcoin product for institutional investors that are cleared and would feature…

Virtual Currency Report

SEC’s FinHub Publishes Framework for Digital Assets and SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance Grants First No-Action Relief to Token Sponsor

By Val Dahiya, Michael S. Didiuk, Jens Fischer, Lowell D. Ness, J. Dax Hansen, Keith Miller, Conor O'Hanlon & Taylor Lindman on April 12, 2019

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub) published a framework on April 3, 2019, for analyzing whether a digital asset is offered and sold as a security under the federal securities laws. The framework includes “common sense guidance” that provides greater detail and clarity regarding the application of the federal securities laws to digital assets and is intended to be “an analytical tool to help market participants…

Virtual Currency Report

Update: The SEC and Digital Assets—A Busy Year End

By Michael S. Didiuk, Keith Miller, Val Dahiya, Conor O'Hanlon & Anna C. Mourlam on December 19, 2018

Through their recent actions and statements, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has further clarified their position with respect to digital assets and ICOs. Following on from earlier enforcement efforts throughout 2017 and 2018, the SEC Enforcement Division settled cases with AirFox and Paragon, two issuers of unregistered securities in tokenized form, in addition to a settlement with the founder of a purported decentralized exchange, EtherDelta. The SEC Policy Divisions released a rare joint statement…

Virtual Currency Report

EtherDelta Founder Sanctioned for Operating an Unregistered Securities Exchange

By Michael S. Didiuk & Conor O'Hanlon on November 12, 2018

The following was posted on the Perkins Coie’s Asset Management ADVocate, to read the full post, please click here. EtherDelta Founder Sanctioned for Operating an Unregistered Securities Exchange By Michael S. Didiuk and Conor O’Hanlon on November 9, 2018 Posted in Compliance In this post we discuss how on November 8, the SEC announced an enforcement action charging the founder of a digital “token” trading platform for operating as an unregistered national securities…

Asset Management ADVocate

EtherDelta Founder Sanctioned for Operating an Unregistered Securities Exchange

By Michael S. Didiuk & Conor O'Hanlon on November 9, 2018

On November 8, the SEC announced an enforcement action charging the founder of a digital “token” trading platform for operating as an unregistered national securities exchange. The SEC has previously brought enforcement actions relating to unregistered broker-dealers and unregistered ICOs, including some of the tokens traded on EtherDelta. Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, commented that “EtherDelta had both the user interface and underlying functionality of an online national securities exchange and was…

Consumer Protection Review

Facebook Creates a Process of Review for Previously-Banned Cryptocurrency Ads

By Amanda J. Beane, Priscilla E. Hampton & Conor O'Hanlon on June 28, 2018

Facebook has implemented a new policy regarding ads related to cryptocurrency. While Facebook previously banned all such ads, under the revised policy effective June 26, advertisers of cryptocurrency content may apply online for approval of their advertisement. “Cryptocurrency content” is considered by Facebook to include “any advertisements or content in any way related to cryptocurrency”. In the application, advertisers are asked about their relevant licenses, whether their company is traded on a public stock exchange,…

Virtual Currency Report

Senior SEC Officials Provide Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets

By Michael S. Didiuk, J. Dax Hansen, Jesse P. Kanach, Keith Miller, Lowell D. Ness, Thomas Ahmadifar, Conor O'Hanlon & Michael Selig on June 21, 2018

From Uncertainty toward Regulatory Clarity: Senior SEC Officials Provide Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets Summary is below, please click here for the full alert narrative. On June 14, 2018, the Director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission delivered a speech outlining the framework used by the SEC Staff in evaluating whether a given token sale qualifies as a securities offering. The Director clarified that a token sale may qualify…

Virtual Currency Report

Senior SEC Officials Provide Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets

By Michael S. Didiuk, J. Dax Hansen, Jesse P. Kanach, Keith Miller, Lowell D. Ness, Thomas Ahmadifar, Conor O'Hanlon & Michael Selig on June 21, 2018

Virtual Currency Report

SEC Continues to Take Action Against Alleged ICO Fraud

By Conor O'Hanlon & Keith Miller on April 3, 2018

On Monday, April 2, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged two co-founders of Centra Tech, Inc. (Centra), a purported financial services company headquartered in Florida, with conducting a fraudulent unregistered initial coin offering (ICO) that raised more than $32 million from thousands of investors from July to October 2017. In a parallel action, the two co-founders were separately charged and arrested by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New…

Virtual Currency Report

FinCEN Is Watching ICOs for BSA Violations

By Sarah Hody, Jean-Jacques (J) Cabou & Conor O'Hanlon on March 13, 2018

In a recently published letter to the Senate Finance Committee, FinCEN confirmed that when an ICO token is a “convertible virtual currency,” administrators or exchangers of the token would be “money transmitters” under existing FinCEN regulations and interpretations. Under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), a money transmitter must register with FinCEN as a money services business (MSB) and implement a risk-based anti-money-laundering (AML) compliance program. Pursuant to the BSA and its implementing regulations, an appropriate…

Conor O'Hanlon

Blockchain Week in Review: Week of September 6, 2019

SEC’s FinHub Publishes Framework for Digital Assets and SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance Grants First No-Action Relief to Token Sponsor

Update: The SEC and Digital Assets—A Busy Year End

EtherDelta Founder Sanctioned for Operating an Unregistered Securities Exchange

EtherDelta Founder Sanctioned for Operating an Unregistered Securities Exchange

Facebook Creates a Process of Review for Previously-Banned Cryptocurrency Ads

Senior SEC Officials Provide Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets

Senior SEC Officials Provide Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets

SEC Continues to Take Action Against Alleged ICO Fraud

FinCEN Is Watching ICOs for BSA Violations

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