The U.S. SEC, in recent months, repeatedly put cryptocurrency companies and their advisers on notice about what officials said were violations of securities rules designed to protect investors. see posts of 1-3; 1-23; 2-6. And SEC chairman Clayton said he had instructed his staff to be on high alert for approaches to ICOs that may be contrary to the spirit of those laws. According to a Wall Street Journal report, those warnings have now been followed by dozens of subpoenas and information requests to technology companies and advisers involved in cryptocurrencies. The article also mentions a soon-to-be published MIT study of the ICO market which estimates that $270 million to $317 million of the money raised by coin offerings has “likely gone to fraud or scams.” It also states that the SEC reported that at least a dozen companies have put their offerings on hold after the agency raised questions.
SEC Investigates Cryptocurrency Companies
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David Zaslowsky is partner in the Litigation Department of Baker McKenzie's New York office. He helps companies solve complex commercial disputes in arbitration and litigation, especially those involving cross-border issues and Section 1782 discovery. David has a degree in computer science and, as a result, has worked on numerous technology-related disputes, including, most recently, those involving blockchain and artificial intelligence. In April 2025, Attorney Intel named David one of the top 25 blockchain lawyers in the country. He is the editor of the Firm's blockchain blog and co-editor of the firm's International Litigation & Arbitration Newsletter. David has been included for a number of years in the Chambers USA Guide and Chambers Global Guide for his expertise in international arbitration. He also sits as an arbitrator and is on the roster of arbitrators for a number of arbitral institutions. David sits on the Board and chairs the governance committee of the New York International Arbitration Center, and is a founding member of the International Arbitration Club of New York. For over 35 years, he has written and spoken often on the subjects of arbitration and international litigation.