Last month, the UK Law Commission (the “Commission”) launched a consultation paper as part of its latest project to address any uncertainty as to the formalities around the electronic execution of documents. Specifically, the consultation seeks views on the electronic execution of documents where legislation prescribes that a document must be signed or executed as a deed. In England and Wales there is a fair amount of flexibility when it comes to executing documents and…
On September 27, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed charges against an international securities dealer and its Austria-based CEO for allegedly violating the federal securities laws in connection with security-based swaps funded with Bitcoins. According to the SEC’s Complaint, 1pool Ltd. a/k/a 1Broker, registered in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and its CEO Patrick Brunner, solicited investors from the United States and around the world to buy and sell security-based swaps. Investors…
Switzerland often ranks among the most friendly and accommodating countries for blockchain-based companies to conduct their initial coin or token offering (“ICO”). Indeed, recent estimates are that more than 530 blockchain companies established in the Swiss cantons of Zurich and Zug have raised more than US$540 million through ICOs. Despite these facts, these companies often face significant difficulties in opening a bank account in Switzerland to hold the fiat currency proceeds of their ICOs. Swiss…
It is well known that, among the biggest problems with public blockchains, such as the one behind Bitcoin, are the amount of time it takes to process a transaction and the enormous amount of energy it consumes. According to blockchain.com, for example, Bitcoin processes only three to seven transactions per second and, in August, had an average confirmation time for a transaction of 10-30 minutes, though that number had been as high as 50 hours…
In February 2018, the UK Treasury Committee launched an inquiry into digital currencies. In the course of its inquiry the Committee received oral and written evidence from a number of key players in the crypto space, including representatives from Ripple, CryptoUK and Blockchain, together with evidence from the FCA (the UK financial services regulator), the Bank of England and HM Treasury. Earlier than expected, the Treasury Committee published its crypto-assets report and conclusions and recommendations…
Texas has been one of the more active US states in combating fraudulent ICOs and cryptocurrency scams. Earlier this week it took three separate actions. According to the Emergency Cease and Desist Order, Coins Miner Investment Ltd. manipulates its email solicitations to make them appear as if they came from Coinbase, a well-known San Francisco-based online cryptocurrency platform. Ana Julia Lara, a person affiliated with Coins Miner, falsely claims to work at Coinbase as a cryptocurrency…
Last week we reported that FINRA brought its first-ever disciplinary action in the cryptocurrency space. But there were also two other first-of-their-kind enforcement actions last week by the U.S. SEC. On September 11, the SEC announced its first-ever enforcement action finding an investment company registration violation by a hedge fund manager based on its investments in digital assets. The SEC entered an Order finding that Crypto Asset Management LP (“CAM”) offered a fund that operated…
On Tuesday, September 11, a New York Federal Judge rejected a defendant’s argument that he cannot be prosecuted because the digital coins he sold were not securities. Maksim Zaslavskiy is accused of making materially false and fraudulent representations in connection with two investment schemes and ICOs for REcoin Group Foundation, LLC (“REcoin”) and DRC World, Inc. (“Diamond”). Zaslavskiy claimed that REcoin and Diamond did not involve securities and were therefore beyond the reach of the…
On Tuesday, September 11, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) took its first disciplinary action against an industry professional, charging a broker, Timothy Tilton Ayre, with securities fraud and the unlawful distribution of an unregistered cryptocurrency security, HempCoin. FINRA’s complaint alleges that Ayre attempted to lure public investment in his public company, Rocky Mountain Ayre, Inc., by issuing and selling HempCoin. Ayre made a host of fraudulent statements about his company’s business and finances, as…
Australia’s corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released its 2018-2019 to 2021-2022 corporate plan (the Plan), articulating the regulator’s short and medium term strategic vision and focus. Cryptocurrencies, ICOs and blockchain featured as part of the Plan, reflecting their growing relevance for ASIC in protecting investors and markets. In summary, the Plan: acknowledges the significant impact that blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLT) are likely to have on Australia’s financial services…