Virtual Currency Report

THE LAW OF BLOCKCHAIN SOLUTIONS AND DIGITAL CURRENCIES

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By: Perkins Coie LLP

Blog Authors

Andrew P. Cross
Alexandra Kambouris Alberstadt
Alexander Olsson
Bryan S. Smith
Caroline Theodosiou
Charlyn Ho
Conor O'Hanlon
Carla L. Reyes
Christopher Sigmund
Perkins Coie
Claire Wilson
J. Dax Hansen
Dana Syracuse
Dsu-Wei Yuen
Eric Barber
Elan DiMaio
Elizabeth M. Renieris
Fred Fedynyshyn
Gary F. Eisenberg
George K. Fogg
Guest Author, Yuliana Poletaeva
Geoffrey Vance
Hillary Levun
Huijie Shao
Hailey You
Josh Boehm
Jean-Jacques (J) Cabou
Joseph P. Cutler
John Dixon
Jacob S. Farber
Jon D. Feldhammer
Jalina Joy Hudson
Jesse P. Kanach
John D. Penn
jrossiter
Keith Miller
Kendra Haar
Kristine E. Kruger
Kyle Wood
Laura T. Ewbank
Lowell D. Ness
Laurie Rosini
Michael S. Didiuk
Michael House
Michelle K. O'Connor
Mary C. (Molly) Moynihan
Michael Selig
Nicholas Bauer
Perkins Coie
Perkins Coie
Ryan Mrazik
Richard Oehler
Rocio Palomo
Richard E. Peterson
Sarah Todd (UK)
Sarah Hody
Sarah Howland
Steven D. Merriman
Sara Wang
Tim Froehle
Thomas Ahmadifar
Todd Kerr
Taylor Lindman
Thomas Newman
Todd P. Zerega
Valeria R. Bystrowicz-Liendo

Latest from Virtual Currency Report

This post originally appeared in The Derivatives and Repo Report, and can be accessed here.: This post is the second in a series that outlines key considerations for investment funds and their advisers regarding the application of the U.S. commodity laws to cryptocurrency derivatives.  In Part 1, we focused on the status of cryptocurrencies as commodities and how that status relates to the jurisdiction of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the…
The following summary is available in our sister blog, The Fintech Report. State Bank Regulators and NYDFS to renew litigation against OCC Blockchain Week in Review: Week of September 10-14, 2018 U.S. Developments Regulatory Updates U.S. Judge Says Initial Coin Offerings May Be Covered by Securities Law On September 11, U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie ruled that U.S. securities laws may cover an initial coin offering and stated that a reasonable jury should be…
This post originally appeared in The Derivatives and Repo Report, and can be accessed here.: In this multi-part posting, we outline key considerations for investment funds and their advisers regarding the application of the U.S commodity laws to cryptocurrency derivatives.   Part 1 focuses on the status of cryptocurrencies as commodities and how that status relates to the jurisdiction of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.  The full post is available at our sister…
Federal District Court Upholds Securities Indictment for ICOs but Defers Final Howey Determination in United States v. Zaslavskiy This week, liberal pleading standards were applied to uphold the indictment in United States v. Zaslavskiy, the first criminal case examining whether ICOs are securities under U.S. law. Analyzing virtual currencies and ICOs under the Supreme Court’s test for a security in Howey involves highly fact-based questions that courts may determine are “best left to the finder…
The following summary are available in our sister blog, The Fintech Report. Varo Bank Receives Preliminary Approval for a National Bank Charter Blockchain Week in Review: Week of September 3-7, 2018 U.S. Developments New Appointments to the SEC and CFTC Have Their Eyes on Virtual Currency The U.S. Senate voted this week to confirm Dawn Stump (R) and Dan Berkovitz (D) as commissioners of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), and Elad Roisman (R)…
On August 7, Judge Richard Seeborg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied in part a motion to dismiss (the “Order”) sought by the defendants in In Re Tezos Securities Litigation (the “Tezos Case”). Among other important insights, the Order’s reasoning illustrates the potentially broad reach of the U.S. federal securities laws to blockchain token sellers outside the United States. Factual and Procedural Background The Tezos Case arises out of…
For those of you who have been following along thus far, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets (“SEC Staff”) have been wrestling since December 2017 with whether to approve or disapprove exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) that invest in bitcoin futures contracts.  On August 22, 2018, the SEC Staff decided to reject three proposals that included a total of nine bitcoin futures ETFs, possibly.  Just one day later,…
The following summary are available in our sister blog, The Fintech Report. U.S. Chamber of Commerce Announces FinTech Innovation Initiative Blockchain in Review – Week of August 20 – 24, 2018 U.S. Developments Regulatory Updates SEC Rejects Nine Bitcoin ETF Proposals On August 22, 2018, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued three orders rejecting nine bitcoin exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) proposals, including the ProShares Bitcoin ETF and ProShares Short Bitcoin ETF; the Direxion …
“Why Blockchain Custody Is So Difficult—Paths Forward?” was recently posted on Perkins Coie’s Asset Management ADVocate blog. The blog post completes the analysis of the difficult question of how to comply with regulations requiring independent custody of cryptocurrency. This series focuses on the custody requirements for registered investment companies in an attempt to respond to important questions raised by the SEC’s Director of Investment Management. This installment discusses three possible approaches to trading…
U.S. Developments Regulatory Updates SEC Bars Perpetrator of Initial Coin Offering Fraud On August 14, 2018, the SEC obtained permanent officer-and-director and penny stocks bars against David T. Laurance of Tomahawk Exploration LLC (“Tomahawk”), who perpetrated a fraudulent ICO to fund oil exploration and drilling in California. According to the SEC’s order, Mr. Laurance and Tomahawk attempted to raise money through the sale of blockchain-based digital tokens called “Tomahawkcoins.” While the ICO failed to…