With over $8.8B raised via Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) since 2014, and over 1,200 tokens in circulation with a combined market capitalization of over $300B, it’s not surprising that ICOs are an increasingly popular fundraising tool. In this post, we discuss eight key items …›
These days more and more companies are using virtual tokens to compensate and incentivize founders, directors, employees, and other service providers. For the most part, these token-based awards emulate traditional equity-based awards, but they differ from those awards in some important ways, particularly when it …›
Subject to certain exceptions, the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) makes it unlawful to enter into a transaction in any commodity with someone who meets the CEA’s definition of a “retail customer.” Nevertheless, many cryptocurrency platforms currently serve retail customers, relying on the CEA’s “actual …›
The Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Jay Clayton, urged market professionals who in any way participate in initial coin offerings (ICOs) to “act responsibly.” Having once stated that all the ICOs he’s seen have had “a sufficient number of hallmarks of …›
On January 18, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Investment Management broke its relative silence regarding the recent growth of cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency-related products. While signaling that registration of funds intending to invest substantially in cryptocurrency and related products is …›
In the coming year, start-up businesses and their investors should note the following areas, each of which can be boiled down to a single word that begins with the letter “C”: - the importance of having access to the best …›
Many consumers are knowledgeable enough about cryptocurrencies to be able to identify which tokens they want to purchase, but not tech-savvy enough to know how to purchase those tokens. Businesses that can provide better instruction on token purchasing or create more user-friendly interfaces are …›
Delaware, the state where more than half of all U.S. publicly traded companies are incorporated, has taken steps to facilitate a favorable legal and regulatory environment for the development of blockchain technology. The state’s initiatives are designed to, among other things, enable companies to precisely …›
In March 2017, the Corporate Counsel of the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association introduced a 43-page draft bill that would amend the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) to, among other things, facilitate Delaware corporations’ use of blockchain technology to keep …›
“A potential patent war looms over the blockchain,” according to a January 2017 piece in The Economist. That fight over patent rights to aspects of blockchain technology is a sign of the blockchain’s potential, according to Morrison & Foerster intellectual property partner Colette Reiner …›