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Cadwalader’s corporate, regulatory, intellectual property, enforcement and tax attorneys have advised clients on the full range of issues facing the evolving cryptocurrency, digital assets and fintech industry. These matters include: jurisdictional issues (CFTC, SEC, bank and State regulators), regulatory compliance related to custody and delivery, trading and clearing, U.S. and non-U.S. securities and commodities laws. Many transactions in crypto and digital assets involve complex derivatives, investment and financing, intellectual property, data protection and usage, taxation and litigation and enforcement.
Our experience includes representing:
Trading Platforms and Regulated Activity
- The founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Celsius Network, a leading cryptocurrency lending platform, in connection with the company’s ongoing, high-profile Chapter 11 case and related legal proceedings
- San Francisco Open Exchange (SFOX), an independent digital asset prime dealer, in the development of policies and procedures associated with being a service provider for or counterparty to IRAs and ERISA accounts and on financial regulatory matters related to its role as a counterparty for the trading of spot crypto and custodian for such crypto accounts
- A UK- based trading platform on US implications of offering NFTs on currencies
- An agricultural commodity grower on legal implications of offering NFT contracts allowing purchase of cannabis products
- Gemini in connection with its qualification as a futures commission merchant (FCM) and qualifying its clearing program
- A cryptocurrency exchange on interactions with FinCEN, as well as on money transmission licensing strategy and remediation
- Ophelix, Inc. in connection with:
- matters related to In re Tether and Bitfinex Crypto Asset Litigation (1:19-cv-09236), a class action brought before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (S.D.N.Y.) against various crypto-exchange companies by a group of individual investors alleging a wide-ranging conspiracy to artificially inflate the price of crypto-commodities
- a dispute related to the acquisition and subsequent sale of Poloniex LLC, a crypto exchange business, by Circle Internet Financial Ltd., a cryptocurrency operator that issues and maintains the USD Coin stablecoin
- A cryptocurrency trader in connection with tax issues related to cryptocurrency trading
Corporate Transactions and Financing involving Digital Assets
- Anchorage Digital in its $100 million secured debt facility from Neuberger Berman Specialty Finance Group used to offer institutions secure crypto-collateralized loans
- A fintech company in connection with the development of the first commercial loan available that was secured solely by cryptocurrency holdings
- Forbes Media in connection with a $200 million strategic investment from Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world based on daily trading volume
- Venture fund SVK Crypto in connection with investments in cryptocurrency-related businesses
- LP investors in connection with investments in cryptocurrency funds, as well as in investments in cryptocurrency-related companies
Development and Documentation of New Products (other than NFTs)
- FalconX, an institutional crypto trading platform, in the development of documentation for cryptocurrency derivatives
- A fintech company in the development of a blockchain and distributed ledger technology-based network that facilitates improved documentation and communication for commercial financial services transactions
NFTs
- VaynerX Media regarding their issuance of NFTs and on-going NFT strategy
- Museum of Modern Art regarding how MOMA should think about their digital art strategy, including how, when and whether to collect art-based NFTs
- Several professional sports leagues regarding issuance of NFTs and the viability of using NFT as a ticketing option
- Several major advertising brands regarding issuance of NFTs and their on-going NFT and metaverse strategies.
- Collaborated with the in-house digital assets team of a credit card network to write a whitepaper regarding the NFT ecosystem, as well as to negotiate the purchase and licensed use of an NFT for their own marketing purposes
- A California-based promoter with respect to various NFT matters
- Defending a client that has issued NFTs against an inquiry from the SEC
