Posts by: Daniel Nathan

In the Matter of Tomahawk Exploration LLC: No Such Thing as a Free Launch

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The issuance of digital tokens in exchange for services rather than money still can constitute an offering of securities, according to findings recently made by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a settled enforcement action, In the Matter of Tomahawk Exploration LLC and David Thompson Laurance, Securities Act Rel. No. 33-10530, Exchange Act Rel. No. 34-83839, Admin. Proc. File No. 3-18641 (Aug. 14, 2018). Tomahawk Exploration LLC offered and distributed digital assets in the form of tokens called “Tomahawkcoins,” or “TOM tokens” through an initial coin offering (“ICO“). The company offered a “Bounty Program,” whereby Tomahawk dedicated 200,000 TOM tokens to pay third parties, offering between 10 and 4,000 TOM tokens in exchange for the following activities:

  • marketing efforts;
  • making requests to list TOM tokens on token trading platforms;
  • promoting TOM tokens on blogs and online forums such as Twitter or Facebook;
  • creating professional picture file designs;
  • YouTube videos, other promotional materials; and
  • online promotional efforts that targeted potential investors and directed them to Tomahawk’s offering materials.

Read the full Orrick-published article here.

A Big Week on the Blockchain: Recent Enforcement and Regulatory Developments

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Technology evolves and events unfold at a dizzying pace in the blockchain world, but even by those standards this past week was tough to keep up with. Every day seemed to bring a new first for the industry – from new enforcement actions, key court decisions and the approval of two new stablecoins. This post summarizes the most notable actions that occurred in recent weeks.

Read the full Orrick-published article here.