Props for the “Reg A” Reality: A lesson in digital asset securities offerings
It pains me to say it, but Open Props’ recent announcement of the coming termination of its ongoing Regulation A (“Reg A”) digital asset securities (Props) offering and the cessation of support for its Props Loyalty Program leads me to one stark conclusion.
Ketsal Partner Peter Luce is Quoted in Bloomberg Law Article on Crypto Custody
“State-chartered banks, particularly “challenger banks” that have positioned themselves as service providers to the fintech industry, are likely to ask the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to take similar action as the OCC, said Peter Luce, partner at Ketsal PLLC, based in Washington. Without the FDIC’s blessing, smaller banks are reluctant to deal with the uncertainty that comes with supporting crypto custody and wallet services, Luce said.
Unclaimed Property Laws And Virtual Currency Custodians: Part One
Companies with untouched virtual currencies in inactive accounts may find themselves in violation of state law and subject to, surprisingly, private actions. Part One of this series lays the foundation for why these laws matter to custodians, including some virtual currency exchanges, operating in the U.S.
Hindsight from 2020: Notable Regulatory Events for Blockchain in 2019
Ketsal’s team of lawyers put our heads together in early January to reflect on the prior year and what it means for the one to come. Regulators really did step it up this year. There’s a lot to digest.
The Reg A Gambit
The term “decentralization” can mean many things to many people. For securities lawyers, the subsets of architectural decentralization and political decentralization (distinguished in this article) carry the most weight. Essentially, is the network built so that no small group of nodes can shut it down? Is it built so that no small group of individuals has control over key governance decisions?
![How We [sic] Failed and Could Do Better](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62bdea2faf413c5a8cc725c7/1680818609643-6G93VCS4MIMJIHS4HP0M/Screen+Shot+2023-04-06+at+6.03.25+PM.png)
How We [sic] Failed and Could Do Better
Securities law practitioners learn early that there is a distinction between a “security” and a “transaction in a security.” In fact, the first substantive thing the Securities Act of 1933 does is define the term “security” before going on to describe how it regulates the offer and sale of (i.e., transactions in) securities.
Howey, Staking as a Service, and Technological Nuance
Innovations in blockchain often act as a building block for new businesses. Consider the original innovation, Bitcoin’s proof-of-work consensus mechanism: a new business model sprang up to take advantage of the opportunity to pool processing power to generate revenue in the form of bitcoin rewards.