Blockchain law: Crypto, the SEC and a tale of two judges

What if you had been waiting years to get judicial clarity on a legal issue, only to receive contradictory rulings from two different judges in the same court just weeks apart? This ironic outcome is what befell the crypto industry in two high-profile challenges to SEC enforcement actions regarding sales of crypto tokens.

In mid-July 2023, the crypto industry finally saw at least some judicial success in its long-running debate with SEC enforcement authorities over whether federal securities laws applied to sales of crypto tokens. In a mixed decision in SEC v. Ripple Labs, 2023 WL 4507900 (S.D.N.Y. July 13, 2023) (Torres, J.), the court held that the securities laws applied to some, but not all, sales of Ripple’s XRP token.

Robert A. Schwinger explores recent developments in this edition of his New York Law Journal Blockchain law column.

Download the full New York Law Journal article, "Crypto, the SEC and a tale of two judges."