Category Archives: Blockchain

The Second U.S. NFT Property Is Ready To be Auctioned

By Gabriel Khoury and Jared Wachtler on April 11, 2022 Posted in Blockchain, NFTs

Propy has announced that the second U.S. NFT-backed property (see our blog about the first NFT sale here in which we discussed blockchain technology, and specifically how the sale works) is set to be auctioned, with a starting price of 185,000 USDC. USDC is a stablecoin backed by the United States Dollar (we previously discussed … Continue Reading

US Crypto Regulatory Enforcement Ramps Up – NFTs Now More in Focus

By James Gatto on March 3, 2022 Posted in Blockchain, Cryptocurrency

For the past decade the crypto space has been described as the wild west. The crypto cowboys and cowgirls have innovated and moved the industry forward, despite some regulatory uncertainty. Innovation always leads regulatory clarity. There’s a new sheriff in crypto town – the US government and its various regulatory agencies. They seem intent on … Continue Reading

SEC Targets NFTs

By James Gatto on March 3, 2022 Posted in Blockchain, NFTs, SEC

For some time now we have cautioned companies to seek legal advice for certain business models relating to NFTs. According to a recent report, the SEC is now targeting certain NFT uses. According to the report, the SEC is probing whether NFTs are being utilized to raise money like traditional securities. The SEC has reportedly … Continue Reading

Money Laundering and High-Value Art: Treasury’s Study Discusses Financial Crimes and NFTs

By Gabriel Khoury, Fatema Merchant, Sarah Aberg, Reid Whitten, Yunlai Zha and Mario Torrico on March 2, 2022 Posted in Art, Blockchain, NFTs

With the advent of blockchain technology, vendors are increasingly accepting payments of goods, including artwork, with digital currency. The decentralized nature of digital currency makes it attractive for a lot of reasons, but it also makes legal oversight a challenge. Add to that the emerging (or already emerged) high-value market for digital art. For example, … Continue Reading

Are You Ready for Web3.0 and the Legal Issues it Will Bring?

By James Gatto, Gabriel Khoury and Townsend Bourne on February 25, 2022 Posted in Blockchain, Metaverse, NFTs

The next evolution of the internet is quickly taking the world by storm. Web3.0 technologies, including NFTs and metaverses, will see increasing adoption by businesses, governments, and all types of users. For companies or other entities becoming involved in the space, it is important to understand the array of legal issues that can arise. This … Continue Reading

Blockchain Technology Is Changing The Real Estate Industry

By Gabriel Khoury and Jared Wachtler on February 24, 2022 Posted in Blockchain, NFTs

On February 10, 2022, the first NFT-based property was bought through an auction on Propy, a blockchain-focused real estate company. The Florida home was sold for $653,163 worth of Ether, and the home’s property rights were minted as an NFT on the blockchain as a digital representation of ownership over the physical real estate. (See … Continue Reading

Tokenization: Opportunity and Regulation, Finding a Balance

By William Kane, Zachary Golda and William de Sierra-Pambley on October 15, 2021 Posted in Blockchain, CFTC, Cryptocurrency, SEC

Tokenization Tokenization limits the exposure of sensitive information and makes digital transactions more secure. Whether people realize it or not, millions of Americans already use tokenization technology on a daily basis. Recent developments in blockchain systems and decentralized finance create new uses for tokenization, raising legal questions as to how existing regulatory frameworks will apply … Continue Reading

Wyoming Takes the Lead With Decentralized Autonomous Organizations

By William Kane, Zachary Golda and William de Sierra-Pambley on May 25, 2021 Posted in Blockchain, DAO

It is called the Cowboy state for a reason. With varied terrain and a hearty population Wyoming has long been a haven for independent thinkers and doers – pioneers. The Wyoming legislature recently underscored that truth with the first state law addressing governance issues for decentralized autonomous organizations or “DAO(s).” We are not talking self-driving … Continue Reading

Distinguish “Smart Contract” From Abstract Idea To Pass Blockchain Patentability Scrutiny

By Yunlai Zha and Will Chen on April 5, 2021 Posted in Blockchain, Patents

The Situation Smart contracts are often mentioned in blockchain-themed patent applications and recited in claims. However, Examiners without a thorough understanding of this concept or unfamiliar with blockchain technology often equate smart contracts with legal or commercial contracts stored on blockchains. As a result, the Examiners may find claims directed to merely applying the blockchain … Continue Reading

Blockchain Patentability Through The Lens Of A Recent PTAB Decision

By Yunlai Zha and Will Chen on March 3, 2021 Posted in Blockchain, Patents

Blockchain patent applications may be divided into two types: underlying technologies of blockchain, such as consensus methods, security, etc., and applications of blockchain in, e.g., fintech, legal, and other industries. In patent examination, the first type, because it recites underlying technology improvement, rarely elicits subject matter rejections. The second type, applications of blockchain, are often … Continue Reading

Regulatory Approaches to the Tokenisation of Assets

By James Gatto on January 27, 2021 Posted in Blockchain, Digital Assets, Regulatory

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published a report on Regulatory Approaches to the Tokenisation of Assets (Jan. 2021). The report notes that: “Policy makers in different jurisdictions have approached tokenisation in different ways, either by applying existing financial regulations to tokenised assets; by introducing new tailor-made regulatory frameworks or by adapting existing … Continue Reading

Blockchain and EU Competition Law

By Jacques Derenne, Michael Hofmann and Ciara Barbu O'Connor on January 8, 2021 Posted in Blockchain

There are a number of uses of blockchain technology which may give rise to competition concerns. As a distributed ledger where transactions are recorded in real time and are accessible to everyone within that network, blockchain makes at least some transaction information accessible to users within the network. The available information can provide insights on … Continue Reading

Google Partners with Theta Labs as Validator Node

By James Gatto on June 2, 2020 Posted in Blockchain

As part of a multi-faceted deal, Google will become a validator node for Theta’s Mainnet 2.0. As part of the deal, Google Cloud will become Theta’s preferred cloud provider. Theta also plans to further collaborate with Google’s artificial intelligence, machine-learning and big-data initiatives. Another big draw for Theta is that Google owns YouTube. According to … Continue Reading

Powered by Blockchain

By James Gatto on March 19, 2020 Posted in Blockchain

A recent report indicates the use of blockchain technology in the energy sector is continuing to grow. According to the report, the global market for this use of blockchain technology is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 52.9% during the forecast period 2018-2026. One of the big drivers of this growth is that some … Continue Reading

Azure Heroes – Microsoft Partners With Enjin to Offer Crypto Collectible Rewards

By James Gatto on December 10, 2019 Posted in Blockchain, Blockchain Games

Microsoft has announced a partnership with Enjin to offer a blockchain based recognition program. Azure Heroes aims to reward individuals for verifiable acts of impact such as coaching, creating demos, building sample code, blogging about Azure or completing certain challenges. Community members that have demonstrated their contributions will be recognized with badges across a number of categories. … Continue Reading

Blockchain Technology Continues to Support a Flourishing Music Industry

By Sheppard Mullin on October 25, 2019 Posted in Blockchain, Cryptocurrency

For the first time since 2007, the Recording Industry Association of America is reporting that the United States retail music market is on its way to becoming a $10 billion market. Streaming royalties account for a majority of this growth along with new use cases entering the marketplace. New technologies and content offerings have and continue … Continue Reading

Blockchain Continues to Make Headway in the Energy Industry

By Mark Patrick, William Rappolt and Kenneth Wiseman on July 30, 2019 Posted in Blockchain

Recent developments in the energy sector indicate that blockchain technology is being embraced to address a range of issues including network security and improved integration of renewable generation and demand response resources. This emerging technology continues to have the potential to become a disrupter in the energy industry.… Continue Reading

FinCEN – We Will Identify Where Compliance Is Not Taking Place And Take Appropriate Action

By James Gatto on May 14, 2019 Posted in Bitcoin, Blockchain, CryptoAssets, Cryptocurrency, FinCEN, Initial Coin Offerings, Regulatory, Virtual Currency

Last week we reported that FinCEN had issued new guidance addressing cryptocurrency and other convertible virtual currency. The need for compliance was reinforced this week. In a speech by Sigal Mandelker, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, during blockchain week in NY, a stern warning was issued. The message was clear. Regulatory compliance is … Continue Reading

FinCEN Updates Guidance on Crypto

By James Gatto on May 10, 2019 Posted in Bitcoin, Blockchain, CryptoAssets, Cryptocurrency, FinCEN, Initial Coin Offerings, Regulatory, Virtual Currency

FinCEN has issued 2 new guidance documents addressing cryptocurrency and other convertible virtual currency (CVC). The guidance does not establish any new regulatory expectations. Rather, it consolidates current FinCEN regulations, guidance and administrative rulings that relate to money transmission involving virtual currency, and applies the same interpretive criteria to other common business models involving CVC. … Continue Reading

Blockchain Games and Collectibles – Patents and Other Legal Issues

By James Gatto on March 19, 2019 Posted in Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, SEC

The use of blockchain (or distributed ledger) technology for games (a.k.a blockchain games) and token-based digital collectibles is on the rise. The overnight popularity of CryptoKitties was as significant to raising the awareness of digital collectibles as Pokémon Go was to location-based AR games. However, the ecosystem extends well beyond CryptoKitties, and is growing rapidly. … Continue Reading

How Blockchain Technology Brings Value to Healthcare

By James Gatto on February 8, 2019 Posted in Blockchain, Healthcare

Blockchain applications for healthcare have garnered significant attention recently. For example, as we recently blogged, five major healthcare companies – Humana, MultiPlan, Optum, Quest Diagnostics, and UnitedHealthcare – formed the Synaptic Health Alliance (the “Alliance”) to explore how blockchain technology could resolve current healthcare issues.… Continue Reading

The Synaptic Health Alliance: A Look at how Blockchain Technology Could Improve Provider Data Quality

By John Tilton, James Gatto and Samuel Gilkeson on February 1, 2019 Posted in Blockchain, Healthcare

In 2018, five major healthcare companies – Humana, MultiPlan, Optum, Quest Diagnostics, and UnitedHealthcare – formed the Synaptic Health Alliance (the “Alliance”) to explore how blockchain technology could resolve current healthcare issues. The Alliance launched its first pilot program in April 2018 to focus on specific ways that “blockchain technology can help ensure the most … Continue Reading

Security Tokens — A Superior Platform for Securities Holding and Trading

By James Mercer and James Thompson on November 30, 2018 Posted in Blockchain, CryptoAssets, Cryptocurrency, SEC

The use of digital securities or security tokens has coincided with the explosion of crypto-currencies and efforts to establish Internet-traded coins or tokens with utility as a form of currency. Lost amidst the enthusiasm over the revolutionary implications of crypto-currencies is the simple fact that security tokens which use block-chain technology and smart contracts have … Continue Reading

Smart Contract Developers – Beware and Lawyer Up!

By James Gatto on November 27, 2018 Posted in Blockchain

Smart contracts, also referred to as chaincode in the Hyperledger world, are one of the most powerful aspects of blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). This “self-executing” code can receive various inputs and, based on “if-then” logic encoded therein, can take various actions and update the ledger state. Based on recent actions by U.S. regulators, … Continue Reading