For years, the SEC has been painted as the cop on the beat when it comes to crypto, more likely to file an enforcement action than to roll out the welcome mat. But SEC Chairman Paul Atkins’ announcement this summer of a new “Project Crypto” initiative is the latest and clearest signal that there’s a
According to crypto platform Kraken, the aggregate market cap for all meme coins is over $70 billion. Five meme coins would be considered unicorns (market cap over $1 billion) if they were startups. Dogecoin’s market cap is $35 billion. Social media influencers, celebrities and high-profile politicians have either launched their own meme coin or endorsed others, including Caitlyn Jenner (JENNER), Iggy Azalea (MOTHER) and Donald Trump (MAGA). Meme coins are not backed by any real-world assets, not even virtual assets. In fact, many meme coins originate as internet jokes.
Meme coins lack any inherent utility and function primarily as speculative gambling vehicles. Given the speculative nature of meme coins, they tend to experience significant market price volatility.
But are they securities? The answer is generally no, according to a staff statement released by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance on February 27, 2025. Continue Reading Crypto Collectibles: Meme Coins Deemed Not Securities by SEC Staff
Judge Analisa Torres’ greatly anticipated Order in the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple is a split decision. The Order basically finds that Ripple’s digital token XRP is a security when sold privately to individuals and institutional investors pursuant to purchase agreements, but is not a security when sold on a digital asset exchange where sellers don’t know who’s buying and buyers don’t know who’s selling.[1] Although the Order should be perceived as at least a partial victory for crypto, it perversely upends a fundamental tenet of the securities laws which is that the laws are designed to protect those who cannot fend for themselves. Moreover, the finding that digital tokens sold anonymously on digital asset exchanges is not a security also seems to contradict the “fraud on the market” theory of securities liability.Continue Reading Parting the Crypto Sea: Ripple’s XRP Ruled to be a Security When Sold to Private Investors, But Not When Sold on an Exchange
Background: Crypto Catch 22
Followers of the SEC’s efforts to regulate digital tokens will recall former SEC Corp Fin
Director William Hinman’s speech at the June 14, 2018 Yahoo Finance Conference in which he introduced the now generally accepted proposition that a digital asset could originally be deemed a security while its network is being