Perspectives on Crypto & Blockchain Bankruptcy

On May 5, 2023, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a landmark bill — the Crypto Regulation, Protection, Transparency, and Oversight (CRPTO) Act — that, if passed, would dramatically tighten regulation on digital assets issuers, brokers, advisors, and marketplaces operating in New York

Valuation is a key element in bankruptcies. Generally, a higher valuation of a bankrupt firm means larger creditor recoveries, and a higher valuation of pre-petition collateral means a smaller “adequate protection” package for prepetition secured lenders.

Courts across the United States are grappling with the application of traditional legal principles to "Web3” technologies and tools, such as blockchain, NFTs, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).

Four days after FTX, once the world’s third-largest crypto exchange, filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy, former FTX investors filed a class action against 11 athletes and celebrities who promoted FTX in advertisements and on social media.

What will happen in the environmental and energy space in 2023? The last year saw transformative changes in the environmental and energy space in the form of historic spending through the federal Inflation Reduction Act, a major court decision involving hot-button topics.

The crypto winter is starting to look more like a crypto ice age. In addition to hundreds of billions of dollars in lost market value, the crypto industry has seen major industry players seek protection in bankruptcy court.

ArentFox Schiff is pleased to announce that its office in the Metaverse is now open for business, becoming the first major US law firm to build and launch an office in this new virtual world.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed an enforcement action against crypto influencer Ian Balina in the Western District of Texas alleging that he promoted unregistered securities in connection with the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) of Sparkster, Ltd.’s Sparkster tokens (SPRK).

The Biden Administration, after ordering a series of reports on the risks and potential benefits of cryptocurrency and digital assets in its March 9, 2022, Executive Order (EO), has now published the “Comprehensive Framework for Responsible Development of Digital Assets,” (Framework).

The Metaverse stands to disrupt nearly every industry – fashion, media and entertainment, real estate, sports, the list goes on – presenting immense possibilities and potential risks. We have created the ArentFox Schiff Industry Guide to the Metaverse to answer questions and anticipate concerns.