Tagged: initial coin offerings

December 18, 2018 @ 11:17 am By Doug Ellenoff  |  

This summer, with little fanfare, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) announced some interesting and, in our view, directionally enlightened ideas on potential changes to state securities laws as they relate to secondary market trading. If you aren’t familiar with NASAA, it is a… Read More

December 14, 2018 @ 9:32 am By Onki Kwan  |  

Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been actively pursuing all players in the initial coin offering (ICO) space, including companies that have raised money with ICOs, an exchange, people promoting ICOs, and most recently, an ICO investment fund. The SEC’s recent actions are… Read More

December 8, 2018 @ 2:29 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC’s Division of  Enforcement, told an audience at Harvard Law School this week that, given the increasingly cross-border nature of ICO and securities fundraising, “Collaboration with international regulators and law enforcement is critical to the SEC’s civil law enforcement success.”… Read More

December 5, 2018 @ 12:00 pm By Scott Schirick  |  

November was a busy month for the SEC’s burgeoning regulation of digital assets. In the first action of its kind, the Commission brought enforcement proceedings against the founder of digital asset trading platform EtherDelta for operating as an unregistered securities “exchange.” Ten days later, the… Read More

December 3, 2018 @ 9:17 pm By Cali Haan  |  

At the end of a long speech about cultivating an honest and effective wealth management industry in China’s political and financial capital, Beijing, Huo Xuewen, nixed the idea ICOs (initial coin offerings) will be allowed to quickly morph into security tokens (STOs) anytime soon. According… Read More

December 3, 2018 @ 9:05 am By Charles Kaufman & Jor Law  |  

Those who have read the SEC settlements with AirFox (CarrierEQ.Inc.) and Paragon Coin, Inc. published on November 16, 2018, will note that the defendant ICO issuers agreed, among other things, to register their “coins” under the Exchange Act (the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) by filing… Read More

November 29, 2018 @ 6:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has settled charges against two high-profile initial coin offering (ICO) promoters.  Music producer DJ Khaled and boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. were cited for failing to disclose they were remunerated for promoting ICOs via their social media channels. The SEC… Read More

November 26, 2018 @ 10:46 am By JD Alois  |  

On November 16th, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its first enforcement actions against initial coin offerings (ICOs) that did not file for an appropriate securities exemption following the SEC’s DAO report. The SEC settled claims with both Paragon and AirFox with each ICO issuer… Read More

November 21, 2018 @ 6:35 pm By Cali Haan  |  

One of Asia’s largest stock exchanges is putting the breaks on any company already listed this is also looking to issue an ICO (initial coin offering). According to a recent blog post from the Singapore Exchange (SGX), companies already listing traditional equities on the SGX that… Read More

November 21, 2018 @ 5:56 am By Onki Kwan  |  

Last Friday, the SEC settled charges against two companies, CarrierEQ Inc. dba Airfox (“Airfox”) and Paragon Coin Inc. (“Paragon”), which raised money with initial coin offerings (“ICOs”).  The SEC found that both companies violated the registration provisions of the U.S. securities laws because neither company… Read More

November 19, 2018 @ 8:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced enforcement actions against two initial coin offerings (ICOs): Paragon (Paragon Coin Inc.) and AirFox (CarrierEQ Inc. dba Airfox). As the SEC recounted in their Administrative filing: Airfox: “Between August and October 2017, AirFox offered and then… Read More

November 16, 2018 @ 3:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a rare statement on the issuance of digital assets that are securities. The statement comes following the release of two initial coin offering (ICO) enforcement actions for issuers that raised money after the SEC published the landmark DAO… Read More

November 16, 2018 @ 3:24 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today, CI reported on the first enforcement actions taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pertaining to post-DAO initial coin offerings (ICOs). The case is precedent setting and sets a clear path for enforcement officials to proceed with other ICO issuers who raised… Read More

November 16, 2018 @ 12:04 pm By Cali Haan  |  

This has been a big week for digital asset / ICO law in America. Yesterday, Maksim Zaslavskiy pleaded guilty to fraud in a federal court in Brooklyn for selling the digital tokens RECoin and Diamond Reserve Coin, tokens he falsely claimed were backed by real-world… Read More

November 16, 2018 @ 11:35 am By JD Alois  |  

European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis has issued a comment on the regulation of initial coin offerings (ICOs) and virtual currencies. The statement is part of an ongoing discussion within the European Parliament and the Commission. Dombrovskis is the Commissioner in charge of Financial Stability, Financial… Read More

November 15, 2018 @ 9:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Autorité des Marches Financiers (AMF) the regulator that has oversight of securities in France, has published a report on initial coin offerings. Entitled ICO Françaises: Un Nouveau Mode de Financement? – the document is a follow up to a year ago launch to the… Read More

November 12, 2018 @ 11:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to approve the first initial coin offering (ICO) portal at some point this month, according to a report in the Bangkok Post. The approval follows a royal decree from last May that stipulated that the Thai… Read More

November 10, 2018 @ 3:52 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Colorado Securities Commissioner Gerald Rome has ordered four more issuers of initial coin offerings to stop selling unregistered securities in the Western American state. The latest round of cease and desist orders brings the total number of ICOs now sanctioned by Colorado to 12. Bitcoin… Read More

October 30, 2018 @ 12:00 pm By Samuel Guzik  |  

As a securities attorney, when I attend a conference in a rapidly developing area, I come with my own prejudices and beliefs, but with an open mind and open ears – to hear,  digest and discuss the latest developments and thinking.  The 2018 Crypto Invest… Read More

October 28, 2018 @ 8:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand issued a warning to investors pertaining to nine different initial coin offerings (ICOs) / tokens. The Thai SEC stated these offerings, which are typically promoted via social media platforms such as Facebook, have not been reviewed… Read More