Initial Coin Offerings are well known by most to provide funding to a blockchain project before it is viable or at least before it is operational, while a reverse ICO is defined as the integration of a blockchain protocol into…
The Howey test involves an analysis of a given token offering to assess whether or not it should be treated as a ‘security’ under US securities laws and sold only to a certain pool of high net worth investors, or…
William Hinman head of the Division of Corporate Finance at the SEC has today announced that the SEC does not consider Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETC) to be securities subject to US securities laws. The reasoning provided by the SEC…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has taken an unprecedented step in creating a fake website which purports to raise funds for a hypothetical Initial Coin Offering venture. Apparently, it is designed to educate the ignorant masses regarding ICO scams; however,…
The unfortunate reality is that the crypto space is inundated with shady people, hype, empty promises, and dishonest marketing. This Firm deals regularly with due diligence reviews of various coin offerings and drafting of opinions regarding crypto projects, to include…
A great deal of confusion exists as to the gauntlet of US securities laws with respect to alt-coins or crypto tokens issued through initial coin or token offerings. At its most basic a utility token may be described as a…
AriseBank’s $600 million ICO has been taken down by the SEC which has now formed an intra-agency unit devoted exclusively to researching and shutting down ICOs which violate US securities laws. Tether is a now a high risk token which…
Mr. Belenky would like to extend a heartfelt “thank you” to all who came out to Miami this week to participate in the forum for knowledge and the burgeoning token market place, which will hopefully continue to grow at and…
Section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933 defines “securities” as: “any note, stock, treasury stock, security future, security-based swap, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, certificate of interest or participation in any profit-sharing agreement… investment contract… or, in general, any…
During the first week of September, China issued its ban on new “Initial Coin Offerings” which raise funds for start-ups by receiving either bitcoin or the ether coin in exchange for a new currency with the idea that the value…