States have long been “laboratories of democracy” where policymakers can try out certain innovative policies on a local or regional level that could eventually, if successful, become national programs. On the tech side, some states have sought to establish themselves as laboratories of blockchain. For example, this past week Vermont announced that it will work with vendors to launch a pilot program permitting new captive insurance companies to register with the Vermont Secretary of…

On December 10th, 2018, a U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey denied Latium Network, Inc. (“Latium”) and its co-founders’ motion to dismiss a class action alleging violations of Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Act”) for offering and selling unregistered securities in the form of Latium X (“LATX”) tokens.…

Proskauer authored a Practice Note published by Practical Law, which provides an overview of the use of blockchain and smart contracts in the supply chain context, including the legal issues, concerns, benefits and risks associated with its use. It includes, among other topics, information on key distinctions between public and private blockchains and important considerations regarding the use of blockchain consortia. The full text of our Practice Note is available here: Practice Note: Blockchain and Supply Chain Management…

On November 16, the SEC announced that it settled charges against CarrierEQ, Inc. (“Airfox”) and Paragon Coin, Inc. (“Paragon”) for securities offering registration violations in connection with their respective initial coin offerings (“ICOs”). The settlement orders represent the first time the SEC has imposed civil penalties against ICO issuers solely for securities offering registration violations (i.e., without any allegations of fraud or misrepresentation) and notably, require Airfox and Paragon to make…

The SEC recently announced its settlement of charges against boxer Floyd Mayweather and producer DJ Khaled for their failure to disclose payments they received for promoting Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) on their social media accounts. The federal securities laws contain an “anti-touting provision,” which regulates paid promotions of securities offerings. Specifically, Section 17(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 makes it unlawful for a person to “publish, give publicity to, or circulate any notice…or communication which, though…

Uncertainty regarding the compatibility of blockchain technology and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has often been highlighted as a potential obstacle to the development and widespread implementation of blockchain systems involving personal data. To address tensions between blockchain technology and the GDPR, Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), the French data protection regulator, published an initial report analyzing certain fundamental questions regarding the interaction between blockchain technology and the GDPR’s…