The Ninth Circuit ruled that NFTs are not just digital collectibles but legally recognized goods under the Lanham Act. Yuga Labs, Inc. v. Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen, Case No. 24-879 (9th Cir. July 23, 2025). NFTs are intangible, fully virtual,
FinTalk
FinTalk, published by Crowell & Moring LLP, focuses on legal developments and regulatory issues in financial services and related sectors. The blog covers topics such as management service organizations (MSOs) in law firms, third-party litigation funding and its regulatory frameworks in the US and UK, transparency and disclosure requirements for limited liability companies, and regulatory actions by financial authorities including FinCEN. It also addresses emerging areas like crypto-asset disputes and fintech regulatory challenges. The content includes analysis of legislative changes, compliance obligations, and enforcement actions affecting financial institutions, law firms, and investors.
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Personal Guarantees: When a “Formality” Becomes a $20 Million Reality
While it’s not common for a lender to require an individual guaranty in order to extend commercial credit to an operating business[1], when such a requirement arises, the individual providing a guaranty should not take such a requirement…
SEC’s Corporate Finance Staff Issues Statement That Meme Coins Are Not Securities
Key Takeaways
Key takeaway #1 — The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance (the Staff) announced that it will not consider “meme coins” – as described in the Staff’s statement – as “securities” under federal securities laws, and therefore not subject…
New UK Regulations Enhance Insolvency Practitioners’ Access to Data held by Companies House
The Information Sharing (Disclosure by the Registrar) Regulations 2024 (the “Regulations”) came into force in December 2024. The Regulations enhance insolvency practitioners (including the Official Receiver) (“IPs”) powers of investigation by providing them with greater access to information held by…
Bankruptcy and Restructuring in the US: A Snapshot of 2024
2024 brought a number of headline stories that will impact the bankruptcy and restructuring market in 2025 and beyond. A few of those are summarized below.
LMEs (Of course). Liability management exercises — sometimes referred to as “lender-on-lender violence” —…
DOJ’s First “Pure” Criminal Tax Charges in Bitcoin Case Signals Heightened Focus On Tax Reporting of Digital Asset Gains
As Bitcoin reaches prices not seen since November 2021, individuals and entities will undoubtedly consider selling – sometimes called “taking profit” on – Bitcoin and other digital assets to capture previously unrealized gains. But crypto market participants should be aware…
The Storm Continues: Federal Court Upholds Tornado Cash Sanctions and DOJ Files Criminal Charges Against Two Tornado Cash Cofounders
On August 17, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas granted summary judgment to the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) on all of the plaintiffs’ claims in the lawsuit challenging the Department’s Treasury’s Office of…
ISDA publishes whitepaper on digital asset custody
Bittrex: Regulatory Enforcement and Macroeconomic Headwinds Lead to Another Crypto Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy filings in the digital asset space continue, as cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on Monday, May 8, 2023. The Bankruptcy Docket can be found here. Desolation…
First Insider Trading Conviction Against NFT Insider
On May 3, 2023, Nathaniel Chastain, the former product manager of the NFT marketplace OpenSea, was convicted by a federal jury in the Southern District of New York for what is being called the first insider trading conviction in the…