Category Archives: Jurisdiction

Smart Contracts: Best Practices

Proskauer authored an in-depth Practice Note published by Practical Law, which details best practices for the use of smart contracts on blockchains. It discusses functional and legal considerations for both standalone smart contracts and smart contracts used in conjunction with traditional written contracts (hybrid smart contracts) and explores the extent to which smart contracts can independently be legally binding. The full text … Continue Reading

Cover Article: Practical Law – The Journal, June/July Issue | “Supply Chain Management – Implementing Blockchain Technology”

By Wai Choy and Jeffrey Neuburger on June 18, 2019 Posted in Consortium, Cybersecurity, Enterprise Solutions, Force Majeure, GDPR, Industry Standards, Intellectual Property, International, Jurisdiction, Legislation, Open Source, Privacy, Smart Contracts, Supply Chain, UCC

We are happy to report that our recent in-depth Practice Note on Blockchain as applied to Supply Chain Management was selected to appear as the cover story for the June/July issue of Practical Law – The Journal. Read the full text here.… Continue Reading

Blockchain Digital Assets in Virtual Reality, Video Games and eSports – Ready Lawyer One?

By Wai Choy on March 28, 2018 Posted in Cryptoassets, Cryptocurrencies, Cybersecurity, Ethereum, Hacks and Vulnerabilities, Industry Standards, Initial Coin Offerings, Intellectual Property, International, Jurisdiction, Securities, Smart Contracts

Virtual worlds similar to the OASIS in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film Ready Player One may be closer than we think – and provably scarce, blockchain-based digital assets could provide the leap forward that gets us there. Already, developers are testing early implementations. Since CryptoKitties launched at the end of 2017, promptly causing a traffic jam … Continue Reading

Federal Court Grants Preliminary Injunction, Affirms CFTC Jurisdiction over Virtual Currencies

By Brett Schwab on March 27, 2018 Posted in CFTC, Cryptocurrencies, Enforcement Action, Jurisdiction

Earlier this month, Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a preliminary injunction order against Patrick McDonnell and his company, CabbageTech, Corp. (together, the “Defendants”). In a landmark ruling, the order upheld the CFTC’s position that “virtual currencies” are commodities subject to CFTC jurisdiction under … Continue Reading

SEC and CFTC Chairmen Testify before Senate on Cryptoasset Regulation

By Trevor Dodge on March 22, 2018 Posted in CFTC, Cryptocurrencies, Exchanges, Government, Initial Coin Offerings, Jurisdiction, Regulation, SEC, Securities

Last month, SEC chairman Jay Clayton and CFTC chairman Christopher Giancarlo testified before the Senate Banking Committee on their agencies’ regulatory efforts with respect to cryptoassets and ICOs. The written testimonies of chairmen Clayton and Giancarlo, as well as their verbal statements at the hearing itself, shed light on various issues including: how tokens might … Continue Reading

State-Level Legislation Anticipates Wide-Spread Business Use of Blockchain

By Brett Schwab on February 9, 2018 Posted in AML/KYC, Government, Jurisdiction, Legislation, Smart Contracts, Tax

On a daily basis, companies are announcing new developments on the adoption of blockchain in core business operations. However, many of these use cases present unique legal issues. In order to provide some clarity on some of these issues, and perhaps to offer a blockchain-friendly environment for the operation of blockchain companies, state legislatures around … Continue Reading