A recent rulemaking petition to the SEC requests that the agency issue a concept release on nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. The petition is hopeful that an SEC rulemaking paired with an opportunity for public input will resolve regulatory uncertainty for parties looking to create NFTs and facilitate their sale.
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Digital Asset
The Nonfungible Token
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Regulatory
A recent Bloomberg article reported that average prices for nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, are down approximately 70 percent from recent highs. A wide range of NFTs have begun to enter the marketplace over the past several months. A digital work of art represented by an NFT recently sold at auction for over $69 million, and even a professional sports league has begun to issue NFTs. A fascinating debate about the social and economic utility of NFTs has emerged, but what are some of the legal issues associated with this new digital asset class?
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New York Attorney General Announces Settlement with Bitfinex
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Crypto Exchanges, Regulatory
As we previously reported, the New York Attorney General has been in protracted litigation with crypto exchange Bitfinex and affiliated stablecoin-issuer Tether. On February 23, 2021, the Attorney General announced a definitive settlement of the matter. The settlement cements the New York Attorney General’s intention aggressively to police the virtual currency marketplace using the expansive anti-fraud authority granted under the Martin Act…
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SEC Determines Digital Asset, VCOIN, Not a Security
By Mayme Beth Donohue on
Posted in Regulatory
On November 19, 2020, IMVU, Inc. received no-action relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission confirming that the Division of Corporate Finance will not recommend enforcement action against IMVU for selling its digital asset, VCOIN.
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Wyoming Issues Second Crypto Bank Charter
By Patrick J. Boot & Marysia Laskowski on
Posted in Crypto Exchanges, Regulatory
Wyoming recently awarded its second special-purpose depository institution charter to Avanti Bank. Kraken was the first institution to receive the newly created SPDI charter in September. As Wyoming had likely hoped when it passed a flurry of blockchain legislation, it appears that it is starting to take hold as a digital-asset-friendly banking state.
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Congress Considers “Keep Big Tech Out of Finance Act”
By Scott H. Kimpel on
Posted in Cryptocurrencies
Amid a series of hearings on cryptocurrency scheduled this week in the House of Representatives and Senate, a discussion draft of a bill entitled the “Keep Big Tech Out of Finance Act” has begun to circulate online. The bill appears intended to prohibit several large, well-known technology firms from engaging in various cryptocurrency-related businesses in the United States.
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