As discussed in Part I of this series, state DAO LLC laws have been enacted in the last several years and have become one option for decentralized autonomous organizations (or DAOs) to create a so-called “legal wrapper” or real-world corporate entity to shield individual members from liability. In Part II we will look at some … Continue Reading
Little-known legal trivia: In 1977 Wyoming was the first state to pioneer the LLC, which is now a commonly applied legal innovation. Fast forward more than forty years…in July 2021, Wyoming again tried to be at the vanguard of new corporate formations and passed legislation that recognized decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, as legally distinct … Continue Reading
This blog post summarizes recent federal bills that have been introduced (but not yet passed), proposals by the Biden Administration, and guidance issued by the Internal Revenue Service with respect to the taxation of digital assets. Read the full post on our Tax Talks blog.… Continue Reading
Both the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and leader of the SEC agree that the crypto markets need regulating, and specific rules may help clarify which agency has authority to regulate various cryptocurrency activities. The client alert below discusses both CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam’s comments and SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s remarks during … Continue Reading
As we highlighted in our recent Practical Law Practice Note, Smart Contracts: Best Practices, various state lawmakers are paving the way for widespread use of blockchains and smart contracts in commerce. For example, on January 1, 2020, the Illinois Blockchain Technology Act (BTA) went into effect, resolving some legal uncertainties around the legal status of … Continue Reading
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
Utah’s governor recently signed into law H.B. 378, which created a sandbox program for companies providing “innovative financial products or services” in the state. The program, run by Utah’s Department of Commerce, requires companies to apply and meet certain requirements in order to participate in the sandbox. Importantly, H.B. 378 specifically includes “blockchain technology” within … Continue Reading
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
Following up on their recent introduction of the Token Taxonomy Act, Representatives Darren Soto (D-FL) and Warren Davidson (R-OH) have teamed up again to introduce a new slate of bipartisan bills related to virtual currency. The two new bills, H.R. 922 and H.R. 923, were introduced on January 30, 2019 and are cosponsored by Representatives … Continue Reading
On December 20, 2018, a bipartisan pair of Congressmen, Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Darren Soto (D-FL), introduced bill H.R. 7356 to enact the Token Taxonomy Act (the “Act”). The Act proposes several amendments to federal securities and tax laws that are intended to clarify how cryptoassets should be treated thereunder. Below, we discuss the key … 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
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
Blockchain and sports gambling seem to be a natural fit. Sports gambling has been at the forefront of the news cycle since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal statute that banned states from authorizing sports gambling in Murphy v. NCAA. Since then, New Jersey, Delaware, Mississippi and West Virginia have passed laws allowing … Continue Reading
Despite dealing in one of the most valuable asset classes in the world, the real estate industry largely relies on outdated real estate interest recording systems requiring paper-based filings with local government offices. The administrative burdens, inaccuracies and security issues raised by such systems are well known. Increasingly, both government actors and private parties have … Continue Reading
Last July, the Uniform Law Commission completed a uniform model state law, known as the Uniform Regulation of Virtual-Currency Businesses Act (“URVCBA” or the “Act”) (Steve Weise participated in the preparation of the Act). Currently, state regulation in the virtual currency space is carried out under a patchwork of laws that typically do not directly … Continue Reading
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
The Colorado Senate is considering a bill to utilize blockchain or other distributed ledger technology for a variety of purposes, including to improve the state government’s operations and cybersecurity. Senate Bill 18-086 (which was introduced on January 16, 2018) focuses on exploring a number of “transformative improvements” that distributed ledger technologies can offer to state … Continue Reading
New York Assemblyman Clyde Vanel has introduced proposals in the state legislature for four laws which, if passed, could transform how the State of New York interacts with and views blockchain technology. The first proposal, NY A08780, would amend the state’s technology law to allow for signatures obtained via blockchain technology to be recognized as valid … Continue Reading
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