With the dueling summary judgment motions filed by Ripple and the SEC in SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc., et al, Case No. 20-CV-10832 (S.D.N.Y. ), it is time once again to revisit the hot topic of the Howey test and its application to digital assets. There has been lots of talk of what constitutes “sufficientContinue reading “Wakanda Test for Digital Asset Classifications”
Tag Archives: Law
Notes from Senate Hearing Regarding Proposed Bill Which Would Give CFTC Oversight on the Digital Asset Commodities Industry
On Thursday, September 15, 2022 the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (the “Ag. Committee”) held a hearing to discuss Senate Bill 4760, titled the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act of 2022 which was introduced by Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and John Boozman (R-AR). Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. Cory BookerContinue reading “Notes from Senate Hearing Regarding Proposed Bill Which Would Give CFTC Oversight on the Digital Asset Commodities Industry”
What The Hell is NIL?
When people hear about name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) many focus on its impact on college athletes and the associated antitrust litigation which took place as college athletes fought to prevent universities from profiting off those athletes’ NIL without sharing that profit with the athletes. However, the underlying legal issues surrounding a person’s right toContinue reading “What The Hell is NIL?”
GM (Good Morning) It’s Time to Talk NFT TM (Trademarks)
Some news has been hitting my timeline recently about Yuga Labs and their seemingly aggressive trademark related legal actions against other NFT creators. This is as good of a time as any to give some background on trademark law generally, what Yuga is doing, and what it means for the space going forward. Just asContinue reading “GM (Good Morning) It’s Time to Talk NFT TM (Trademarks)”
Personal News: I’m Taking My Talents to South Beach (Figuratively)
It’s time to take a break from the regularly scheduled legal content to share some personal news. I have already informed my friends, family, and clients, but now that it is official I can tell the public: I am switching firms to focus almost exclusively on Web3/Blockchain legal work! I have officially joined Polsinelli’s TechContinue reading “Personal News: I’m Taking My Talents to South Beach (Figuratively)”
Let’s Talk About Bots, Baby
A Twitter thread went semi-viral recently (and has been since deleted) where an apparent 15-year old computing wizard earned over $17 million through the use of automated computer programs (“bots”) to game recently hyped NFT drops (Murakami Flowers and Otherside land). While we are in a space where technological innovation is celebrated, the use ofContinue reading “Let’s Talk About Bots, Baby”
NFT Project Start-Up Checklist
Everybody early to NFTs at least considers starting their own project. I’m a big fan! One of the coolest aspects of NFTs is their ability to turn somebody’s passion into a legitimate business. Will many of these project fail? Sure. Most small businesses fail, too. But Web3 removes the barrier of entry, which is aContinue reading “NFT Project Start-Up Checklist”
Let Them Eat Caked Apes
It’s time for another NFT lawsuit breakdown, and this one is juicy. Similar to the attorneys in the Coolman Universe lawsuit I broke down, the attorneys on opposing sides of the Caked Ape lawsuits came out swinging. But what are the claims being made, and how should Caked Ape holders handle this fight between theContinue reading “Let Them Eat Caked Apes”
Breaching Contracts? Not Cool, Man.
I recently wrote about the importance of contracts in NFT dealings. What I probably should have included was a note on the importance of not breaching those contracts. Today, in one of my NFT group chats, a lawsuit alleging breach of contract against the artist known as Coolman CoffeeDan (“CoffeDan”) was sent around. It hasContinue reading “Breaching Contracts? Not Cool, Man.”
Check Your Privilege- Legally
For anybody not following along with the SEC vs. Ripple ($XRP) litigation, there was a semi-recent ruling requiring production of potentially privileged advice from Ripple’s legal counsel regarding securities issues central to the case. This was a huge ruling, and could be very harmful to Ripple depending on what is in those documents. There haveContinue reading “Check Your Privilege- Legally”
The NFTtorney 