Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that it has obtained no-action relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission Staff that clears the way for its client IMVU Inc., to sell VCOIN, a blockchain-based digital asset, as a transferable non-security to its users worldwide.

IMVU is the world’s largest avatar-based social platform with a global network

Weekly Focus

  • CFTC and DOJ Actions Involving BitMEX
  • SEC Settlement with Salt Lending
  • CFTC Action Against PaxForex
  • Summary Judgment Granted in SEC Action Against Kik
  • FinCEN and OFAC Issue Advisories on Ransomware
  • FinCEN Director Blanco Speech at ACAMS AML Conference
  • French Authorities Investigate Use of Virtual Currency to Fund Terrorism

Continue Reading Blockchain Week in Review: Week of October 2, 2020

Weekly Focus:

  • New York’s Financial Services Regulator Announces New Virtual Currency Initiatives
  • Proposed Consent Judgment Filed in Telegram Lawsuit
  • SEC Charges Offerors of AML BitCoin with Fraud
  • Judgment Entered in Shopin Lawsuit
  • Singapore Begins to Enforce Prohibition on Unlicensed Bitcoin Sales
  • Lawmakers in Spain Propose Amendment to the Country’s AML/CFT Laws

Continue Reading Blockchain Week in Review: Week of June 26, 2020

Part 3: An Overview of the Guidance

In the final part of our three-part update series covering the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) guidance on what constitutes the “actual delivery” of a digital asset in the context of a retail commodity transaction, we offer a detailed overview of the Guidance with our analysis.

Part

Part 2: CFTC Finalizes Guidance on Digital Assets in the Context of Retail Commodity Transactions

This is the second part of a three-part update series in order to provide the industry with a critical analysis of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) finalized long-awaited interpretive guidance regarding what constitutes the “actual delivery” of a

Part 1: Commentary on the Significance of the Guidance for the Industry

On March 24, 2020, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) finalized long-awaited interpretive guidance regarding what constitutes the “actual delivery” of a digital asset in the context of a retail commodity transaction under the Commodity Exchange Act.

This interpretive guidance is noteworthy

U.S. Legislation

U.S. House Bill Seeks Classification of “Managed Stablecoins” as “Securities”

Texas Representative Sylvia Garcia introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would amend the definition of a “security” within the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (collectively, the “Securities Laws”) to include “managed stablecoins.”

The definition of security in the Securities Laws currently includes, among other things, stocks, bonds, and “investment contracts.”  While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Division of Corporation Finance recently provided no-action relief to Paxos Trust Company in connection with its U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, the Paxos Standard, the regulatory status of other stablecoin products under the Securities Laws remains unclear.  For example, at this year’s SXSW conference, SEC Senior Advisor for Digital Assets Valerie Sczepanik noted that some stablecoins, in particular those with a central authority responsible for maintaining the digital asset’s stable value, may constitute securities. 
Continue Reading Blockchain Week in Review: Week of December 6, 2019

U.S. Regulatory

Kik Files Answer to SEC Complaint

On August 7, Canadian messaging company Kik Interactive Inc. (“Kik”) filed its answer to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) complaint filed in the Southern District of New York.  In its 131-page answer, Kik argues for a narrow reading of the Howey test and maintains that the SEC has taken quotes out of context and misrepresented documents and testimony in its treatment of the facts in the complaint.

Kik responds to each of the allegations asserted by the SEC in its complaint, in turn, denying those that support the view that Kin tokens constitute securities under the Howey test and that Kik violated the securities laws in any way.  Kik maintains that, although the Howey test is a “flexible” standard, it is “far from limitless” and should not be broadly interpreted by the court.  In addition, Kik argues that the DAO Report should not be considered fair warning to Kik as a digital currency issuer because the facts are meaningfully distinguishable as a community currency.
Continue Reading Blockchain Week in Review: Week of August 9, 2019

U.S. Developments

Regulatory Updates

SEC Settles Enforcement Action with Gladius Network

On February 20, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced the settlement of charges against Gladius Network LLC (“Gladius”) for conducting an unregistered securities offering.  Gladius conducted a presale and public sale of digital tokens called “GLA” in late 2017, raising approximately $12.7 million to finance the development of a network where peers would rent out to other peers spare computer bandwidth and storage space on their computers and servers to defend against cyberattacks and to increase content delivery speed in exchange for GLA.  Gladius did not register its sale of GLA or sell the tokens under an exemption from registration requirements. 
Continue Reading Blockchain Week in Review: Week of February 18-22, 2019

The Ethereum Classic blockchain was the victim of a 51% attack (often called a majority or Sybil attack) last month that reorganized portions of the blockchain and allowed the attackers to double-spend 219,500 ETC ($1.1 million). As a result of this attack, and similar majority attacks over the past year, the concept of immutability within