By: Rob Lamb
On March 1, 2023, the Utah Legislature passed HB 357, the “Utah Decentralized Autonomous Organizations” Act (the “Utah DAO Act”). This was a combined effort of the Utah Legislature’s Blockchain and Digital Innovation Task Force, under the leadership of, Co-Chairs, Senator Kirk Cullimore and Representative Jordan Teuscher. Why DAOs and…
By: Daniel L. McAvoy, Stephen A. Rutenberg and Jonathan E. SchmalfeldOn February 9, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) charged Kraken with offering and selling Kraken’s Staking Program – its staking-as-a-service product – as an unregistered security. Kraken, more formally known as Payward Ventures Inc. and Payward Trading Ltd is…
By: Laila S. Wolfgram and Hope E. Hughes On February 8, 2023, a federal jury awarded Hermès International and Hermès of Paris, Inc. (“Hermès”) $133,000 in its trademark lawsuit against designer Mason Rothschild. Hermès sued Rothschild for selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of METABIRKINS in the metaverse, thereby infringing and diluting Hermès’ BIRKIN mark that is…
By: Jonathan Schmalfeld and Stephen RutenbergIn July of 2022, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) each alleged insider trading violations against a former Coinbase employee Ishan Wahi (“Ishan”), his brother Nikhil Wahi (“Nikhil”) (collectively the “Wahi Defendants”), and another alleged acquaintance Sameer Ramani (“Sameer”). For background…
By: Stephen Rutenberg, Jonathan Schmalfeld and Tanya Behnam As Celsius Network LLC, et al., Case Number: 22-10964 (MG), proceeds in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”), the highly anticipated examiner report was released on January 31st. Shoba Pillay, a former prosecutor, was appointed by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge…
By: Stephen Rutenberg and Tanya BehnamCourt rules that Earn Account Cryptocurrency is owned by Debtors and will not be returned In our latest Bitblog update regarding the Celsius Network LLC, et al. (the “Debtors”) bankruptcy proceeding (Case No. Number: 22-10964 (MG), in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”)), …
By: Stephen Rutenberg and Tanya BehnamAs discussed in the prior Bitblog update regarding the Celsius Network LLC, et al., (the “Debtor”) bankruptcy proceeding (Case No. 22-10964 (MG) in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”)), the last date for non-governmental creditors to file a proof of claims was set…
By: Stephen Rutenberg and Tanya BehnamAs Celsius Network LLC, et al., Case Number: 22-10964 (MG), proceeds in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”), recent case updates relating to the approaching claims bar date:As discussed in a previous Bitblog entry, the last date to file a proof of…
In conjunction with the publication of the Multilaw FinTech Guide, Stephen A. Rutenberg, Co-Chair of Polsinelli’s FinTech and Blockchain practice, spoke at a Multilaw Webinar on November 10th. Cryptocurrency & Blockchain: When do the benefits outweigh the risks? Featuring Polsinelli’s Shareholder Stephen RutenbergThe panel discussion gathered experts from across the network to discuss…
By: Stephen Rutenberg and Tanya Behnam As Celsius Network LLC, et al., Case Number: 22-10964 (MG), proceeds in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”), the following summarizes two important case updates as of November 18, 2022:Setting of Bar Date for Filing Proofs of Claim: On November 16, 2022, the…
