Jonathan Mollod
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In what appears to be an issue of first impression, a California district court ruled that various defendants allegedly holding governance tokens to the bZx DAO (or “Decentralized Autonomous Organization”), a protocol for tokenized margin trading and lending, could be deemed to be members of a “general partnership” under California law under the facts outlined … Continue Reading
The organizers of an initial coin offering (ICO) recently won dismissal of an investor’s fraud claims by establishing that their public risk disclosures negated the investor’s claims of reliance on alleged misstatements. The project, a video service provider’s ICO, was governed by a purchase agreement called a “Simple Agreement for Future Tokens” (“SAFT”). The plaintiff … Continue Reading
This past month, a California district court granted a motion to compel arbitration of various claims by customers of cryptocurrency exchange platform, Coinbase Global, Inc. (“Coinbase”), finding that Coinbase’s User Agreement, which contains a broad arbitration provision, including a delegation clause that delegates questions of arbitrability to the arbitrator. (Donovan v. Coinbase Global, Inc., No. … Continue Reading
Customer lists held by providers and the personal information users enter to obtain digital wallets or set up crypto exchange accounts are enviable targets for hackers. Such data can be used to launch targeted phishing schemes and related scams to trick holders into divulging their private keys or else unknowingly transferring anonymized crypto assets to … Continue Reading
On November 30, 2022, amidst the tumult roiling the cryptocurrency industry following the latest collapse of a major crypto exchange and its reverberations throughout the crypto economy, European Central Bank (ECB) Director General Ulrich Bindseil and Adviser Jürgen Schaaf published a post on the ECB Blog, “Bitcoin’s last stand,” declaiming that Bitcoin “has never been … Continue Reading
In late October, a New York district court refused to dismiss the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) indictment against defendant Nathaniel Chastain, who was charged with wire fraud and money laundering relating to his using insider knowledge to purchase non-fungible tokens (NFTs) prior to them being featured on OpenSea, an online NFT marketplace, and later selling … Continue Reading
Advances in blockchain distributed ledger technology have led to dramatic growth in the role of digital assets in finance. This has resulted in new applications and technological developments involving financial services and blockchain. Read the full article at Financier Worldwide.… Continue Reading
In what is the New York Department of Financial Services’ (NYDFS) first enforcement action against a NYDFS-licensed “virtual currency business,” on August 1, 2022, the agency announced $30 million settlement with cryptocurrency investing platform Robinhood Crypto, LLC (“RHC”). The settlement addressed charges stemming from what the NYDFS cited as various deficiencies during 2019-20 of RHC’s … Continue Reading
There have been a number of developments swirling around stablecoins in the past month, including, earlier this week, the recent introduction in the U.S. Senate of a bill (the “Responsible Financial Innovation Act”) that would put in place a regulatory framework for digital assets and enact certain requirements and consumer protections surrounding stablecoins. The topic … Continue Reading
Web 3.0 and the promise of the metaverse has generated excitement about new markets for businesses large and small. But as with any technological frontier, legal uncertainties cause new risks to emerge alongside the opportunities. One area currently full of legal questions is trademark law. We will examine what we see as three of the … Continue Reading
In a speech given this week at Columbia University by Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), he decried the entire “crypto gamble,” seeing crypto-assets as “bringing about instability and insecurity – the exact opposite of what they promised” and calling for tighter regulation in the EU (and coordination … Continue Reading
On March 9, 2022, the President issued an Executive Order (the “E.O.”) that articulates a high-level, wide-ranging national strategy for regulating and fostering innovation in the burgeoning digital assets space. The strategy is intended to encourage innovation yet still provide adequate oversight to control systemic risks and the attendant investor, business, consumer and environmental concerns. … Continue Reading
The concept of the “metaverse” has garnered much press coverage of late, addressing such topics as the new appetite for metaverse investment opportunities, a recent virtual land boom, or just the promise of it all, where “crypto, gaming and capitalism collide.” The term “metaverse,” which comes from Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel “Snow Crash,” is generally used … Continue Reading
Gary Gensler, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), attracted a lot of attention following his remarks at the Aspen Security Forum earlier this month, asking Congress for more authority “to write rules for and attach guardrails to crypto trading and lending” and opining that for the “volatile” industry to truly prosper it needs … Continue Reading
On February 1, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had brought charges against several individuals involved in an alleged scheme to induce investors to transfer more than $11 million to buy into an unregistered initial coin offering (ICO) of B2G tokens, which the SEC claimed was merely an elaborate sham. … Continue Reading
Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies were already exploring the promise of blockchain to modernize certain aspects of their supply chains. Traditional supply chains can be inefficient, data intensive and costly, often characterized by burdensome paperwork, conflicting records and delays resulting from manual reconciliation processes involving a series of transactions and document exchanges … Continue Reading
In late May, the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN), a consortium of ocean carriers and terminal operators, filed a petition with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to obtain an antitrust exemption under the U.S. Shipping Act of 1984. The Act seeks to promote efficient ocean commerce and industry response to international shipping practices by, among … Continue Reading
The leading Italian news agency, Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA), which represents 24 major Italian newspapers and distributes over 3,000 news articles daily, announced in early April that it has begun using a blockchain-based solution run on the Ethereum public blockchain to verify the origin of news stories that appear on ANSA platforms or are … Continue Reading
In remarks made at the Yahoo! All Markets Summit in New York, Heath Tarbert, Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said that he believed the Ether cryptocurrency was a “commodity” and should be regulated under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). This statement follows the agency’s December 2018 announcement that it was seeking … Continue Reading
States have long been “laboratories of democracy” where policymakers can try out certain innovative policies on a local or regional level that could eventually, if successful, become national programs. On the tech side, some states have sought to establish themselves as laboratories of blockchain. For example, this past week Vermont announced that it will work … Continue Reading
Proskauer authored a Practice Note published by Practical Law, which provides an overview of the use of blockchain and smart contracts in the supply chain context, including the legal issues, concerns, benefits and risks associated with its use. It includes, among other topics, information on key distinctions between public and private blockchains and important considerations regarding the use of … Continue Reading
This past summer, Ohio adopted legislation (SB220) that primarily provides for a legal safe harbor from certain data-breach related tort claims to covered entities that implement a specified cybersecurity program that “reasonably conforms” to a recognized cybersecurity framework for the protection of personal information and “restricted information” or comply with certain industry-specific federal privacy laws. … Continue Reading
In a notable ruling, a Massachusetts district court declined to dismiss a complaint filed by the Commodity Future Trading Commission (“CFTC”) against an entity over an alleged fraudulent virtual currency offering, ruling that cryptocurrencies fall under the definition of “commodity” under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) and therefore may be duly regulated by the CFTC. (CFTC … Continue Reading
On June 14, 2018, the New York State Department of Financial Services (the “DFS”) announced that the agency granted a virtual currency license (or “BitLicense”) to bitcoin wallet and vault provider Xapo, Inc., and authorized the blockchain financial services company Paxos Trust Company LLC to expand their business to offer exchange and custodial services to … Continue Reading
DAO Deemed ‘General Partnership’ in Negligence Suit over Crypto Hack, Prompting Decentralized Orgs to Rethink Corporate Formation
Fraud Claims Against Token Issuer Dismissed Based on Disclosures to Accredited Investor
Crypto Exchange Obtains Favorable Ruling in Arbitration of Claims over Alleged Trading Losses
Consumer Law Claims against French Crypto Asset Wallet Provider May Proceed in California Court
By Jonathan Mollod on Posted in Cryptocurrencies, Cybersecurity, Digital Assets, Litigation: Civil
European Central Bank Director General Proclaims ‘Bitcoin’s Last Stand’
By Jonathan Mollod on Posted in Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies, EU, SEC
District Court Declines to Dismiss NFT “Insider Trading” Indictment against Former OpenSea Employee
By Joshua M. Newville and Jonathan Mollod on Posted in AML/KYC, Digital Assets, Enforcement Action, Litigation: Criminal, NFTs
The Outsized Impact of Blockchain on Finance
New York Financial Regulator Brings First AML and Cybersecurity Enforcement Action against Licensed Crypto Trading Entity
By Seetha Ramachandran and Jonathan Mollod on Posted in AML/KYC, Cryptocurrencies, Cybersecurity, Enforcement Action, NYDFS
New York Financial Regulator Publishes Stablecoin Guidance
By Jonathan Mollod on Posted in Cryptocurrencies, DeFi & Financial Services, Digital Assets, NYDFS
Three Questions Brands Must Ask about Trademarks and the Metaverse
By Peter Cramer, Wai Choy and Jonathan Mollod on Posted in Metaverse, NFTs, Trademarks
European Central Bank Executive Board Member Decries “Crypto Gamble” and Echoing SEC Chair Gensler, Calls for Regulation of the “New Wild West” of Crypto-Assets
By Jonathan Mollod on Posted in Cryptocurrencies, Digital Assets, EU, SEC
President Biden Issues Executive Order Detailing National Policy Objectives for Digital Assets
By Jeffrey Neuburger and Jonathan Mollod on Posted in Digital Assets, Exchanges, Government, Regulation: Federal, SEC
In the Coming ‘Metaverse’, There May Be Excitement but There Certainly Will Be Legal Issues
SEC Chair’s Remarks Suggest Crypto is the “Wild West,” Signaling Future Enforcement and Desire for Enhanced Regulatory Authority
By Karen J. Garnett and Jonathan Mollod on Posted in AML/KYC, Digital Assets, SEC, Securities
SEC Brings Charges against Individuals Behind Allegedly Fraudulent Unregistered Digital Asset Securities Offering
Traditional Supply Chain Challenges During COVID-19 Spur Innovation in Blockchain Applications
By Wai Choy and Jonathan Mollod on Posted in Blockchain Governance, Enterprise Solutions, Healthcare, Supply Chain
Another Blockchain Supply Chain Shipping Consortium Files for Federal Antitrust Exemption
By Jonathan Mollod and Jeffrey Neuburger on Posted in Antitrust, Government, Regulation: Federal, Supply Chain
Major Italian News Agency Uses Blockchain-Based Label to Verify the Origin of Its Articles
By Jonathan Mollod on Posted in Supply Chain
CFTC Chairman States Ether is a Commodity
By Jonathan Mollod on Posted in Bitcoin, CFTC, Cryptocurrencies, Ethereum, Government
Wyoming Legislature Advances Blockchain-Related Bills
By Jonathan Mollod on Posted in Government, Legislation
Practice Note: Blockchain and Supply Chain Management
By Jonathan Mollod, Jeffrey Neuburger and Wai Choy on Posted in Enterprise Solutions, Smart Contracts, Supply Chain
Ohio and California Join Other States in Passing Blockchain-Friendly Legislation
By Jonathan Mollod on Posted in Government, Legislation, Regulation: State
Virtual Currencies Can Be Regulated by CFTC as a “Commodity”
By Jonathan Mollod on Posted in CFTC, Cryptocurrencies
New York State Department of Financial Services Eases Backlog and Approves More BitLicense Applications
By Jonathan Mollod on Posted in Digital Assets, Government, NYDFS, Regulation: State
