J. Dax Hansen

Connect: Read more about J. Dax Hansen
Firm/Organization: Perkins Coie LLP
Blogs: The Fintech Report, Virtual Currency Report

Latest Articles

We can help. Perkins Coie has identified 34 factors in 5 overarching categories that shape the outcomes of successful enterprise consortia engagement efforts through its analysis of 71 consortia across 12 industries. Recently, Forbes published an article detailing the ways that large companies, including some of the best-known companies in tech, finance, manufacturing and retail, are forming or joining blockchain consortia or other proprietary blockchain projects. The Forbes article reflects an uptick in enterprise engagement…
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…
On October 18, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced the launch of the agency’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub).[1]  FinHub is a resource for industry engagement between financial technology companies (fintechs), market participants, the public, and the SEC.  This client update provides a high-level overview of the FinHub initiative and how the SEC envisions industry participation. FinHub is designed to serve as a focal point for the…
money coins
On October 11, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released an advisory (the Advisory) intended to help money services businesses (MSBs) and foreign financial institutions better understand how U.S. sanctions on Iran affect their compliance obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) rules and under the U.S.-Iran sanctions enforced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Controls (OFAC).[1] While Iran has historically…
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…
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…
We are pleased to release an updated edition of our smart contracts white paper, originally published in May 2017.   The updated white paper surveys the current academic and industry landscape related to smart contracts, and discusses the key legal issues surrounding smart contract applications. Authors of the white paper are Dax Hansen, Partner and Chair of the Blockchain and Digital Currency and Fintech industry groups, Carla Reyes, Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at the Stetson University College…
Just like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is actively policing the virtual currency market.  On January 24, 2018, the CFTC announced an enforcement action against two individuals and a company, My Big Coin Pay, Inc., for fraudulently offering the sale of a “fully functioning” virtual currency. Press Release, CFTC Charges Randall Crater, Mark Gillespie, and My Big Coin Pay, Inc. with Fraud and Misappropriation in Ongoing Virtual Currency Scam (Jan. 24,…
The SEC is targeting ICOs once again, but it is now adding more focus through its new Enforcement Division Cyber Unit. In its enforcement settlement with Munchee, Inc., the SEC looked past the utility of a “utility token” in its “securities” analysis and instead focused on aspects such as marketing and the existence of a secondary market for the tokens. SEC Chairman Jay Clayton issued a statement reinforcing that facts matter for each token sale,…
The SEC is targeting ICOs once again, but it is now adding more focus through its new Enforcement Division Cyber Unit. In its enforcement settlement with Munchee, Inc., the SEC looked past the utility of a “utility token” in its “securities” analysis and instead focused on aspects such as marketing and the existence of a secondary market for the tokens. SEC Chairman Jay Clayton issued a statement reinforcing that facts matter for each token sale,…