Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses Custody of Digital Assets

By Kenneth J. Berman, Byungkwon Lim and Gary E. Murphy January 8, 2019 by renholding

Interest in cryptocurrencies and other digital assets on blockchains or distributed ledgers[1] has increased exponentially in recent years. The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets on blockchains increased from slightly more than $17.5 billion in January …

Cryptocurrency Pump-and-Dump Schemes

By Tao Li, Baolian Wang and Donghwa Shin January 7, 2019 by renholding

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) have recently emerged as a popular method of financing blockchain-related startups. In an ICO, a startup creates and distributes its digital tokens, typically in exchange for Bitcoin, Ethereum, or fiat currencies such as U.S. dollars to …

How the Regulation of Initial Coin Offerings Shifted from Inactivity to Full Enforcement

By Marco Dell’Erba December 5, 2018 by renholding

In recent years, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have emerged as a disruptive tool in entrepreneurial finance. ICOs involve the sale of a stake in a project with the aim of raising funds at an early stage of development. Although ICOs …

How Bankruptcy Law Affects Digital Assets

By Renato Mangano December 3, 2018 by renholding

In the last few years, an increasing number of digital platforms have launched initial coin offerings (ICOs). ICOs are primarily studied from the perspective of securities laws. In a new paper, however, I examine how bankruptcy law applies to entities …

SEC Divisions Set Forth Views on Issuing and Trading Digital Asset Securities

By Securities and Exchange Commission November 21, 2018 by renholding

In recent years, we have seen significant advances in technologies – including blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies – that impact our securities markets. This statement[1] highlights several recent Commission enforcement actions involving the intersection of long-standing applications of …

Will Swing Pricing Save Sedentary Shareholders?

By Anne M. Tucker and Holly van den Toorn June 26, 2018 by renholding

Starting in November 2018, U.S. public, open-ended mutual funds will have the option to adjust the daily pricing of the fund—the net asset value or NAV—to account for and recoup large transaction costs. Currently, the fund, and therefore its remaining …

Arnold & Porter Discusses Regulators’ Clamp-Down on ICOs, Virtual Currencies, and Blockchain Firms

By Andrew Joseph Shipe, Lawton M. Camp, Michael D. Trager, Christopher L. Allen and Anthony Raglani April 30, 2018 by renholding

If there was ever a regulatory grace period for virtual currencies and blockchain technology, it is officially over. Five federal regulators—The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the US Treasury Department (FinCEN), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures …

SEC Commissioner Talks Old Law and New Frontiers at RegTech Summit

By Michael S. Piwowar March 9, 2018 by renholding

Questions of FinTech and RegTech have been paramount in my mind and, I think it is safe to say, the minds of my fellow Commissioners in recent months.[1]

Old Fields and New Corn

On the paneled walls of the

…

Debevoise on Blockchain Tokens and Initial Coin Offerings: New Year, New Perspective

By Byungkwon Lim, Morgan J. Hayes and Gary E. Murphy February 15, 2018 by Carly Goeman

Sales of blockchain tokens in so-called initial coin offerings (“ICOs”)[1] exploded in 2017. According to CoinSchedule, a website that tracks ICO (or digital token sale) data, the total amount raised in ICOs in 2017 was $3,700,682,293, which compares to …

Clifford Chance on France’s Pioneering Blockchain Legal Framework for Unlisted Securities

By Frédérick Lacroix, Sébastien Praicheux and Pierre d'Ormesson January 29, 2018 by Carly Goeman

While blockchain, legally referred to as distributed ledger technology (DLT), or dispositif d’enregistrement électronique partagé (DEEP) in French, was first developed for the creation of virtual currencies such as bitcoin, it is also a technology that allows for …

SEC Chair Talks Blockchain Scrutiny, Dodd-Frank Rulemaking, and Expectations for Gatekeepers

By Jay Clayton January 23, 2018 by renholding

Thank you for that warm welcome.[1] I am delighted to join you today by videoconference. I know Meredith [Cross] has prepared questions. I look forward to answering those, as well as questions from this distinguished audience. When I was

…

Smart Contracts and the Cost of Inflexibility

By Jeremy M. Sklaroff January 4, 2018 by renholding

The blockchain revolution is upon us. In a seemingly endless wave of coverage focusing on everything from financial services to healthcare to supply chain management, commenters are predicting fundamental changes to technology and business models.

Smart contracts – electronic …

Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses Developments in the Enforcement of Token Sales

By Morgan J. Hayes, Steven J. Slutzky, Kevin R. Grondahl, Taylor Lindman and Naeha Prakash November 30, 2017 by Carly Goeman

Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Chairman Jay Clayton recently discussed the uncertainties surrounding token offerings and other forms of distributed ledger-based financing.^[1] Mr. Clayton cautioned that the lack of information regarding online platforms that list and trade virtual coins …

Clifford Chance Discusses Blockchain, Trade Finance, and Sanctions

By Paul Landless, Ali Burney, Michael Lyons, Brian Harley and Ashley McDermott November 22, 2017 by charlesbluesky

Blockchain is the technology that underpins digital currencies such as Bitcoin – but it has far wider applications and is being used in a growing number of areas. The blockchain has the potential drastically to alter the global financial system. …

Morrison & Foerster Discusses Blockchain and Avoiding a Kodak-Like Downfall

By F. Dario de Martino and Spencer D. Klein September 26, 2017 by renholding

For most of the 20^th Century, Eastman Kodak Company (often referred to simply as Kodak) was one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Founded in 1888, Kodak dominated the film and camera markets — in 1976, Kodak …

Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses SEC View of Blockchain Tokens as Securities

By Lee A. Schneider, Steven J. Slutzky Samuel E. Proctor and Lilya Tessler August 2, 2017 by renholding

On July 25, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Division of Enforcement issued a report of investigation under Section 21(a) (the “Report”) concluding that blockchain tokens sold by The DAO (“DAO Tokens”) were securities as defined under relevant law. …

Proskauer Rose Discusses the Promise of Blockchain

By Jeffrey Neuburger April 4, 2017 by Jeff Himelson

The blockchain protocol (a form of a ‘distributed ledger system’) was originally designed as a platform to process Bitcoin transactions. The protocol enables peer-to-peer transactions and eliminates the need for a trusted intermediary to verify and process the transactions.

The …

Morrison & Foerster Explains How Delaware Paves the Way for Blockchain Technology

By Spencer D. Klein and F. Dario de Martino March 31, 2017 by renholding

Following last May’s announcement of the “Delaware Blockchain Initiative” by former Delaware Governor Jack Markell[1], on March 13, 2017, the Corporate Council of the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association released groundbreaking draft legislation proposing …

Companies Face Risk and Opportunity with Distributed Governance Structures

By Carla L. Reyes, Nizan Geslevich Packin and Benjamin P. Edwards January 19, 2017 by renholding

In 2016, enterprising software developers sought to create a business entity with a unique governance structure: a leaderless, decentralized venture capital firm that would allow investors to vote on and collectively fund proposals. The Distributed Autonomous Organization (DAO) attracted more …

Morrison & Foerster Covers the Highlights of World Economic Forum’s Blockchain Report

By Joshua Ashley Klayman, F. Dario de Martino and Alisha J. Turak September 19, 2016 by renholding

The World Economic Forum threw a knockout punch last month when it released its report, “The Future of Infrastructure: An Ambitious Look at How Blockchain Can Reshape Financial Services.”[1] When Giancarlo Bruno, the World Economic Forum’s Head …

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The CLS Blue Sky Blog

Columbia Law School's Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets

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