Tag archives: cryptocurrency

Another nail in PlexCoin’s crypto-coffer: TMF decision affirmed on appeal

By Caroline Larouche and Saam Pousht-Mashhad on May 6, 2020 Posted in Securities regulatory decisions

As discussed in our previous post, the Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal (TMF) had provided clarity in the application of the “investment contract” criteria, first enunciated in Pacific Coast Coin Exchange v. Ontario Securities Commission and codified under article 1 of the Quebec Securities Act, CQLR c V-1.1 (QSA), by finding that PlexCorps’ project was an … Continue reading

Not ready yet: OSC rejects bitcoin fund prospectus

By Andrew McCoomb on April 23, 2019 Posted in Securities regulatory decisions

On February 15, 2019, the Ontario Securities Commission issued a decision in which it refused to issue a receipt for a prospectus filing made by 3iQ Corp. (3iQ) in respect of The Bitcoin Fund (the Fund). The decision highlights the challenges faced by issuers seeking to do business in cryptocurrency markets, which regulators continue to … Continue reading

From boom to busted: TMF deems PlexCoins as investment contracts

By Saam Pousht-Mashhad on October 16, 2018 Posted in Other developments, Securities regulatory decisions

The legal noose is tightening around the necks of rogue cryptocurrency issuers in Quebec. PlexCorps’s legal troubles, as covered in our previous post, have deepened. In Autorité des marchés financiers c. PlexCorps, 2018 QCTMF 91, the Tribunal des Marchés Financier (TMF) qualified PlexCoin as an investment contract within the meaning of Quebec’s Securities Act. This … Continue reading

Federal court holds that CFTC can regulate virtual currencies as commodities

By Robert A. Schwinger on March 16, 2018 Posted in Cross border issues, Other developments, Securities regulatory decisions

On March 6, 2018, in a fraud proceeding involving a virtual currency product, a New York federal court held that virtual currencies can be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as commodities. Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. McDonnell (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 6, 2018).[1] This ruling marks the first federal judicial endorsement of the CFTC’s … Continue reading

Canadian Securities Administrators to regulate Cryptocurrency Offerings and Crypto-Investment Funds

By Kristine Spence on September 1, 2017 Posted in Other developments, Securities regulatory decisions

2017 has been an extraordinary year for cryptocurrencies.[1] The recent increase in the number of cryptocurrency offerings reflects a dramatic shift in investor-attitudes towards the crypto-economy. However, the increased popularity of initial coin offerings (ICO), initial token offerings (ITO) and cryptocurrency investment funds has triggered a wave of regulatory responses, from the USA to Singapore … Continue reading

SEC ruling on The DAO signals increased acceptance of blockchain-based securities

By Andrew McCoomb on August 11, 2017 Posted in Securities regulatory decisions

On July 25, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a statement on the regulatory significance of offers and sales of digital assets carried out using distributed ledger or blockchain technology. That statement followed the SEC’s Report of Investigation into The DAO, an unincorporated organization designed to issue tokens administered on a distributed ledger … Continue reading