How the Automated Restructuring of Tokenized Securities Can Lower the Cost of Capital

By Michael Schillig, Christoph Kletzer and Andrei Balcau February 8, 2024 by renholding

In a recent paper, we make the case for a smart contract-based automated restructuring framework that can be used by any firm that issues equity and debt securities in tokenized form. The paper is the basis for an actual smart-contract …

How Crypto Fraud Affects Investor Behavior

By Ben Lourie, Alex Nekrasov, Phong Truong and Chenqi Zhu January 8, 2024 by renholding

In the world of financial markets, fraud poses a significant threat, undermining investor trust and leading to misallocation of resources. Cryptocurrency markets present heightened risks of fraud, which draws the attention of regulators, legal experts, and investors. The Securities and …

Ripping the Ripple Opinion

By Ilya Beylin July 18, 2023 by ilyabeylin

Last Thursday’s split summary-judgment decision in the case that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought against Ripple Labs, Inc. (Ripple) and certain of its senior leaders is bonkers. In partly holding for the defendants, the opinion ignores well established …

SEC v. Ripple: Everyone Loses

By Edwin Hu July 18, 2023 by renholding

On July 13, Judge Analisa Torres handed down a long-awaited decision in SEC v. Ripple. Crypto enthusiasts immediately began celebrating the opinion as holding that XRP, the Ripple token, was not a security. Others welcomed the finding that certain …

Stocks, Memes, or Miles? A New Crypto Taxonomy and Regulatory Paradigm

By Lev Breydo June 14, 2023 by renholding

Crypto is at a crossroads. After a cascade of bankruptcies – including FTX’s implosion – millions of defrauded customers, and trillions of dollars in value destruction, many are wondering whether the sector has a future. Amidst the wreckage, after years …

Wachtell Lipton Discusses Emerging Issues in Decentralized Governance and the Lessons of Corporate Governance

By Kevin S. Schwartz, David M. Adlerstein, David E. Kirk and I. Andrew Mun June 6, 2022 by renholding

While recent gyrations in cryptoasset markets have focused attention on the future contours of stablecoins, market-making, and impending regulation, another feature of the blockchain landscape is also confronting noteworthy challenges. Specifically, a new breed of business organization has emerged …

How Disclosure and Information Intermediaries Strengthen the Credibility of Initial Coin Offerings

By Thomas Bourveau, Atif Ellahie, Emmanuel T. De George and Daniele Macciocchi April 27, 2022 by renholding

The crypto-tokens market has recently emerged as an alternative source of financing for entrepreneurial ventures, with approximately $27 billion raised globally through March 2022.[1] These ventures issue blockchain-based digital “crypto-tokens” to raise external capital through an initial coin offering …

A Tokenized Future: Regulatory Lessons from Crowdfunding and Standard Form Contracts

By Darian Ibrahim April 13, 2022 by renholding

Cryptocurrencies and other digital assets (“crypto”) are surging in popularity. If cryptos are securities (“investment contracts” under the Howey test), they must be sold in accordance with the federal securities laws. This likely requires registration with the Securities and Exchange …

SEC Chair Gensler Speaks on Crypto Markets

By Gary Gensler April 5, 2022 by renholding

Thank you. It’s great to be with you all at this event, particularly as the University of Pennsylvania is my alma mater. I was over at Wharton, and what I knew of the law school is that the library stacks

…

The Economics of Crypto Funds

By Paul P. Momtaz September 15, 2021 by renholding

Crypto funds are a new financial intermediary that trade in cryptographically protected digital assets, known as coins or tokens. Both the number of crypto funds and investments in crypto funds are soaring. As of the second quarter of 2021, more …

SEC Chair Gensler Discusses Crypto Regulation

By Gary Gensler August 4, 2021 by renholding

Some might wonder: What does the SEC have to do with crypto?

Further, why did an organization like the Aspen Security Forum ask me to speak about crypto’s intersection with national security?

As is customary, I’d like to note that …

Why We Need to Verify and Unmask the Identity of Cryptocurrency Users

By Hadar Y. Jabotinsky and Michal Lavi July 23, 2021 by renholding

Cryptocurrencies are by now widely known as electronically generated and stored currencies that enable users to trade tokens. The tokens are exchanged anonymously through a decentralized payment system: the blockchain. To further anonymity, the parties to cryptocurrency transactions are identified …

Latham & Watkins Looks Back at Digital Asset Regulation in 2020

By Stephen P. Wink, Todd Beauchamp, Yvette D. Valdez, Eric S. Volkman, Adam Bruce Fovent and Deric Behar February 5, 2021 by renholding

Last year, Latham & Watkins sounded a hopeful note that 2020 would provide a clearer vision than 2019 for the regulation of digital assets in the US. In the wake of the emergence of COVID-19, priorities changed, along with forecasts …

Why the Proposed Blockchain Token Safe Harbor Makes Sense

By Lee A. Schneider April 24, 2020 by renholding

The application of the U.S. securities laws to blockchain tokens has been a controversial subject, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) taking an aggressive posture. On February 6, 2020, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce proposed a non-exclusive safe harbor from …

What Law and Economics Has to Say About Property Rights in Cryptocurrencies

By Roee Sarel April 2, 2020 by renholding

Technological advancements of recent years have given birth to a strange and interesting creature: cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ether, and Facebook’s upcoming Libra. Many of the advantages offered by these tokens stem from their underlying technology – a decentralized ledger, which …

SEC Commissioner Peirce Offers Proposal to Fill Gap Between Regulation and Decentralization

By Hester M. Peirce February 11, 2020 by renholding

I appreciate the opportunity to be with all of you today. Before beginning, I have to remind you that the views I express are my own and do not necessarily represent those of the Securities and Exchange Commission or my

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Blockchain Will Not Solve the Proxy Voting Problem

By Park Bramhall July 31, 2019 by renholding

The U.S. proxy voting process is widely viewed as inefficient, opaque, and frequently inaccurate. The conventional wisdom is that voting inaccuracy has arisen largely as a result of decisions made in the 1960s to transition to a system of share …

Regulatory Arbitrage, Unclear Terminologies: A Challenge to Global Cryptoasset Regulations

By Apolline Blandin, Michel Rauchs and Hatim Hussain May 29, 2019 by renholding

Few innovations in finance have emerged in recent years that are as controversial or present as many challenges to regulators and policymakers as cryptoassets. A key question for regulators and market participants is the extent to which the difference between …

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 …

The Role of Disclosure in the Unregulated Crypto Market

By Thomas Bourveau, Atif Ellahie, Emmanuel T. De George and Daniele Macciocchi July 10, 2018 by renholding

Our new research paper studies the issuers of unregulated crypto-tokens such as EOS and Tether. We examine two dimensions: the success of the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) process, and the capital market patterns following the listing of the tokens on …

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