Instant IP and Court Cases

Instant IP is a patented process that integrates Blockchain technology and smart contracts. Our founder, Kary Oberbrunner, received the invitation to present this to the USPTO in 2024.  Our solution was then presented to Congress in a special report.

One of the most common questions we receive is regarding Case Law for Blockchain and Smart Contracts. Below you’ll find a sample of Case Law. For more answers, you can visit our FAQ page.

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Blockchain Case Law

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Blockchain Case Law

Yuga Labs, Inc. v. Ripps

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 23 Jul 2025 | 144 F.4th 1137 | U.S. Federal

… associated with the NFT .”). The process by which NFT creators tokenize content is called “minting.” Bobek, supra , at 651-52 . When an NFT is minted, it is stored on a “blockchain.” Id. at 652 . A blockchain is a public digital leger “that keeps track of who owns what.” Michaels, supra , at 5 . “The block is a list of recorded transactions; the chain is transactions recorded with a hash that chains[,] or links, preceding blocks with new blocks.” Non-Fungible…

… appropriate software,” id. at 5-6, the blockchain “ledger is maintained across the computers of all blockchain users through a peer-to-peer network,” Dr. Thibault Schrepel, Collusion by Blockchain and Smart Contracts , 33 Harv. J.L. & Tech. 117 , 119 (2019) . For example, when one person transfers an NFT to another, a record of the transaction becomes permanently stored on the…

… blockchain. See Joseph B. Fazio, 1 Internet L. & Practice § 1:28 (Oct. 2024). In this way, a blockchain is a transparent cyberspace ledger between transacting parties. The minting, storage, and transfer of NFTs on a blockchain are accomplished through a “smart contract.” Edward Lee, NFTs As Decentralized Intellectual Property , 2023 U. Ill…

… Foundation (a digital, artist-centric NFT marketplace) to mint the RR / BAYC collection. The collection was ultimately hosted on (or digitally embedded into) an Ethereum blockchain smart contract that contains unique lines of code, including smart contract addresses (digital locations on the blockchain ledger), contract creators, metadata, and creation dates. When Ripps created the RR / BAYC NFT collection by embedding entries in the smart contract, he assigned…

… identification inputs cannot be changed; they are built into the NFTs themselves. The NFT metadata in smart contracts is “accessible to . . . anyone using a searchable blockchain explorer.” Kristen E. Busch, Cong. Rsch. Serv., R47189, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) 1, 4-5 (2022). One such tool is Etherscan. See id. at 3, 5 n.18. Etherscan publicly tracks NFTs, including sales, and produces reports detailing metadata information from Ethereum blockchain-based smart…

Friel v. Dapper Labs, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 22 Feb 2023 | 657 F. Supp. 3d 422 | U.S. Federal

… blockchain in the Flow [N]etwork. Any transfer of Moments occurs within the supporting blockchain in the Flow [N]etwork, and not on the App.”).) Either way, the question presents a factual issue not suited for resolution on a motion to dismiss….

… , Defendants’ motion is DENIED . I. BACKGROUND A. FACTUAL BACKGROUND Dapper Labs, founded by Gharegozlou, is a Vancouver, Canada-based corporation that develops blockchain technologies. In simplest terms, a “blockchain” is a decentralized digital ledger used to record and validate transactions. As discussed in more detail below, after a previous foray into developing blockchain-based assets on other blockchains, Dapper Labs created its own, the…

… as part of a larger so-called Flow Network , which would host applications that run atop and whose transactions are validated on the Flow Blockchain. 1. Blockchain Technology To better grasp Dapper Labs ‘s business-model, understanding the technical operation of a blockchain is necessary. As already mentioned, a “blockchain” is a decentralized digital ledger. Blockchains may be either public, like that underlying perhaps its most famous use-case, Bitcoin, or private, like Dapper…

… transparency as to ownership by being based on consensus as to the accuracy of the transactions consummated on the network. To reach consensus, embedded in each blockchain platform is a software protocol, or consensus mechanism, which provides governance standards over how information is added to the blockchain. Blockchain-based transactions are considered more secure and trustworthy than ledgers controlled by centralized authorities, like a…

… on a blockchain, validators (called “miners”) are provided incentives often in the form of cryptocurrency or cryptographic tokens, which may have additional functionality. Blockchain transactions are validated by miners through either “Proof of Work” or “Proof of Stake” methods. For example, Bitcoin operates a “Proof of Work” blockchain. To generate…

Blockchain Lux. S.A. v. Paymium

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 07 Aug 2019 | 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133897 | U.S. Federal

… leading providers of digital currency services.” (AC ¶ 16.) It claims ownership of all rights, title, and interest in five (5) common law word marks, including (1) BLOCKCHAIN , (2) BLOCKCHAIN.INFO , (3) BLOCKCHAIN.COM , (4) BLOCKCHAIN MERCHANT , and (5) BLOCKCHAIN PRINCIPAL STRATEGIES

(the “BLOCKCHAIN Word Marks”). ( Id. ¶ 26.) BLIC also owns a federal trademark registration for the design mark…

… services, (c) website services, and (d) suite services (collectively, the ” BLK Products”). ( Id. ¶¶ 18-19.) Specifically, BLK alleges use in the United States of the BLOCKCHAIN and BLOCKCHAIN. INFO word marks in connection with its digital wallet and website services since 2011, the BLOCKCHAIN and BLOCKCHAIN MERCHANT word marks in connection with its mobile app services since 2012, the BLOCKCHAIN. COM word…

… services not under its prior brands, but under the [word] mark BLOCKCHAIN.IO ” (the “BLOCKCHAIN.IO Word Mark”) and the design mark (the “BLOCKCHAIN.IO Design Mark”) (collectively, the “BLOCKCHAIN.IO Marks”). ( Id. ¶¶ 53, 55.) On September 27, 2018, Paymium launched an initial coin offering (“ICO”), also known as “token sale,” under its BLOCKCHAIN.IO Marks. ( Id. ¶¶ 62-65.) Plaintiff alleges, on information…

… AND UNFAIR COMPETITION CLAIMS IS DENIED Defendants’ motion to dismiss BLK ‘s federal trademark infringement and unfair competition claims is DENIED because BLK ‘s BLOCKCHAIN Marks are not inherently descriptive, and BLK properly alleges that its BLOCKCHAIN Marks have acquired distinctiveness and its BLOCKCHAIN Design Mark is substantially similar to Defendants’ BLOCKCHAIN.IO Design Mark. 1. The BLOCKCHAIN Marks…

… BLOCKCHAIN Marks are inherently descriptive because BLK was asked to disclaim the term “blockchain” when it applied for the BLOCKCHAIN Design Mark in March 2018, and the BLOCKCHAIN COMPASS FUND and BLOCKCHAIN ASCEND FUND word marks in August 2018. (Defs.’ Mem. of Law in Supp. of Their Mot. to Dismiss Pls.’ Am. Compl. (“Mem.”), ECF No. 29,…

United States SEC v. Kik Interactive Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 30 Sep 2020 | 492 F. Supp. 3d 169 | U.S. Federal

… (Board presentation laying out plan for Kin ). As planned by Kik, Kin was to be a cryptocurrency stored, transferred, and recorded on a digital ledger called a blockchain. Kik Ex. A, ECF No. 64-1 ¶¶ 10-11. On a blockchain, each transaction is recorded in a block, which is linked to a prior block through cryptographic code. Kik Ex. A, ECF No. 64-1 ¶ 12. This results in the chain of blocks making up the ledger, or blockchain. Id. Blockchains are…

… have access to their own digital wallets to store Kin , and to buy and sell Kin . Kik Ex. A, ECF No. 64-1 ¶

Kik planned to issue Kin using an already existing blockchain, the Ethereum blockchain. Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 68; Kik Ex. K, ECF No. 64-11, at 8. The Ethereum blockchain is an open source, decentralized platform that has been used to issue other custom digital assets. Kik Ex. A, ECF No. 64-1 ¶ 81; Kik Ex. K, ECF No. 64-11, at 8 Kik…

… :10-18. In the years that followed, 57 applications have offered opportunities to earn and/or spend Kin within their applications. Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 81. Based on blockchain activity excluding secondary market transactions, Kin currently ranks third among all cryptocurrencies. Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 86. III. The Absence of SEC Regulations for Cryptocurrencies Prior to Kik’s distribution of Kin , the SEC had not promulgated any rules to regulate issuances of cryptocurrencies. On July…

… tokens were securities, but no enforcement proceedings were initiated. 2017 WL 7184670, at *1, 8-12 . It “advise[d] those who would use . . . distributed ledger or blockchain-enabled means for capital raising, to take appropriate steps to ensure compliance with the U.S. federal securities laws.” Id. at *1 . IV. Procedural History The SEC filed the present suit on June 4, 2019. The SEC alleges violations of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act, 15 U.S.C. § 77e(a) , (c) ,…

Blockchain Mining Supply %26 Servs. v. Super Crypto Mining, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 08 Aug 2022 | 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140831 | U.S. Federal

… BLOCKCHAIN MINING SUPPLY AND SERVICES, LTD. , Plaintiff, -against- SUPER CRYPTO MINING, INC. N/K/A DIGITAL FARMS, INC. AND DPW HOLDINGS, INC. N/K/A AULT GLOBAL HOLDINGS INC. ,

Defendants. Blockchain Mining Supply & Servs. v. Super Crypto Mining, Inc. 18-CV-11099(ALC)(BCM) United States District Court for the Southern District of New York …

… Mineola, NY USA . ANDREW L. CARTER, JR. , United States District Judge. ANDREW L. CARTER, JR. OPINION & ORDER ANDREW L. CARTER, JR. , District Judge : Plaintiff Blockchain Mining Supply and Services, LTD. (” Blockchain “) brought suit against Super Crypto Mining, Inc. (” Super Crypto “) and DPW Holdings, Inc. (“DPW”) for breach of contract and promissory estoppel. Defendants now move to dismiss Plaintiff’s claims. For the reasons that follow, Defendants’ motion…

… facts are taken from Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint (“FAC”), ECF No. 35, and are presumed true. Blockchain alleges that on or about March 8, 2018, Blockchain entered into a purchase agreement with Defendant Super Crypto in which Super Crypto agreed to buy from Blockchain “a total of 1,100 Bitmain Antminer S9 model cryptocurrency mining machines and 1,100 power supply units” (“Machines”) for the total price of $3,272,500. FAC ¶ 16. The…

… appellants was an ‘alter ego’ of Global, a fact that, if established, would clearly support a finding of personal jurisdiction.”). Thus, if the Court finds that Blockchain alleged sufficient facts to establish that Super Crypto is an alter ego for DPW, then the jurisdictional challenge is resolved in favor of Blockchain . The Court concludes that Blockchain did so, and therefore this Court has jurisdiction over DPW. In order to establish…

… the final decision maker for the negotiations and deals under the agreement. Communications from Super Crypto show that Ault provided the final sign offs on payments, facilitated the wire payments, and directed Super Crypto ‘s interactions with Blockchain . Blockchain adduced facts showing…

Takata v. Riot Blockchain, Inc.

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey | 08 Apr 2022 | 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65498 | U.S. Federal

… 1 The separate motions to dismiss are as follows: ECF No. 192 by Riot Blockchain, Inc., Michael Beeghley, and John O’Rourke; ECF No. 193 by Michael Beeghley and John O’Rourke; ECF No. 194 by Mark Groussman; ECF No. 195 by Catherine DeFrancesco; ECF No. 197 by John Stetson; and ECF No. 198 by Barry Honig….

… 3 Plaintiff named the following individuals as defendants in the CCAC: Riot Blockchain, John O’Rourke, Jeffrey G. McGonegal, Barry Honig, Catherine DeFrancesco, Michael Beeghley, John Stetson, Mark Groussman, Andrew Kaplan, Mike Dai, Jason Les, and Eric So. In the Second Amended Complaint, the defendants are Riot Blockchain, Honig, DeFrancesco, Beeghley, Stetson, Groussman, Although there are inconsistencies between…

… Takata v. Riot Blockchain, Inc., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65498…

… CREIGHTON TAKATA, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. RIOT BLOCKCHAIN, INC. F/K/A BIOPTIX, INC. , JOHN O’ROURKE, JEFFREY G. MCGONEGAL, BARRY HONIG, CATHERINE DEFRANCESCO, MICHAEL BEEGHLEY, JOHN STETSON, MARK GROUSSMAN,

ANDREW KAPLAN, MIKE DAI, JASON LES, and ERIC SO, Defendants. Takata v. Riot Blockchain, Inc. Civil Action No. 18-02293 (ZNQ) (TJB) United States District Court for the District of …

… New Jersey 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65498 2022 WL 1058389 April 8, 2022 , Decided April 8, 2022 , Filed NOT FOR PUBLICATION Takata v. Riot Blockchain, Inc., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75924 , 2020 WL 2079375 (D.N.J., Apr. 30, 2020) For Pao Kue, Movant: DEBORAH R. GOUGH , LEAD ATTORNEY, The

Gough Law Firm , New York , NY . For Saroor Alam, Movant: JAMES E. CECCHI , LEAD ATTORNEY,

CARELLA BYRNE CECCHI OLSTEIN BRODY & AGNELLO, P.C. , ROSELAND, NJ . For Riot Investor

Group, Movant: MICHAEL…

SEC v. Terraform Labs Pte. Ltd.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 31 Jul 2023 | 684 F. Supp. 3d 170 | U.S. Federal

… 1 A blockchain is a digital public ledger on which transactions between parties — most often involving the exchange of cryptocurrencies — are permanently recorded and viewable to anyone. Blockchains and cryptocurrencies are both understood to be “decentralized,” in that no entity has power over who can view transactions on the blockchain and…

… of “crypto-assets.” The first of these was a version of the LUNA coin called ” wLUNA .” Id. ¶ 39. Where LUNA coins were available only for use on the Terraform blockchain (described below), the wLUNA version allowed holders of LUNA to use LUNA coins in transactions on other, non- Terraform blockchains. Id. ¶¶ 59-61. A second offering, mAssets, functioned as “security-based swaps” whose value “mirrored” the price of securities exchanged on stock exchanges. Id. ¶ 37. By rising…

… was a “MIR” token that allowed its holders to share in the fees generated by the “Mirror Protocol” (also described below). B. The Defendants Create the Terraform Blockchain and Related Crypto-Assets In April 2019, Terraform , Kwon, and another co-founder officially launched a blockchain to house transactions using the UST and LUNA coins, which they called the Terraform blockchain. On the same day, the defendants created one billion LUNA tokens…

… campaign, the defendants said that sales from purchases of all crypto-assets — no matter where the coins were purchased — would be fed back into the Terraform blockchain and would generate additional profits for all crypto-asset holders. These representations would presumably have reached individuals who purchased their crypto-assets on secondary markets — and, indeed, motivated those purchases — as much as it did institutional investors. Simply put, secondary-market purchasers had every bit …

… 347 , 356 (S.D.N.Y. 1996) . The SEC has met this burden: first, by asserting that the “Chai transactions” were processed in Korean Won and not on the Terraform blockchain, as the defendants claimed they were, see Amended Complaint ¶¶ 121, 134; and also second, by alleging that the defendants benefited from this allegedly false or misleading statement in the form of a $57 million investment in their company. Id. at ¶ 150 . The pleading requirements do not require that the SEC affirmatively prove …

SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 13 Jul 2023 | 682 F. Supp. 3d 308 | U.S. Federal

… 3 A blockchain is an electronically distributed database or ledger “shared among a computer network’s nodes.” See Adam Hayes, Blockchain Facts: What Is It, How It Works, and How It Can Be Used , Investopedia (updated Apr. 23, 2023), https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp/ . A blockchain is a system for recording information. Each…

… Phillip Goldstein , Amicuss: Avi Weitzman , Paul Hastings LLP , New York , NY . For SpendTheBits, Inc., Amicus: Joam Alisme, Alisme Law LLC, Brooklyn, NY . For Blockchain Association , Amicus: Jason P. Gottlieb , LEAD ATTORNEY, Morrison Cohen, LLP ( NY ), New York , NY . For Coinbase, Inc. , Amicus: Nola Breglio Heller , Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP , New York , NY . For Crypto Council for Innovation, Amicus: Robert Lee Boone , Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP , New…

… Founding of Ripple In 2011 and early 2012, Arthur Britto, Jed McCaleb, and David Schwartz developed the source code for a cryptographically secured ledger, or a “blockchain,” which is now known as the XRP Ledger. SEC 56.1 Resp. ¶ 11, ECF No. 842; see also ECF No. 668. They aimed to create a faster,

cheaper, and more energy-efficient alternative to the bitcoin blockchain, the first blockchain ledger which was introduced in 2009. Id. ¶¶ 4, 12….

… horizontal commonality where the digital token purchasers “possess an identical instrument, the value of which is entirely dependent on the success or failure of the TON Blockchain ” and “[t]he investors’ fortunes are directly tied to the success of the TON Blockchain as a whole”). The Court finds the existence of a common enterprise because the record demonstrates that there was a pooling of assets and that the fortunes of the Institutional Buyers were tied to…

… its “vocal . . . commitment to XRP ,” the announcement of a new business relationship, and “continu[ing] to sign up banks to commercially deploy its enterprise blockchain solution and join its global payments network”—may have had an impact on XRP ‘s price increase and “impressive” trading volume. Defs. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 421; ECF No. 839-4 at 9. The Q2 2017 XRP Markets Report highlights XRP ‘s “dramatic” and “stunning” price increase and notes that “[t]he market responded favorably…

In re Bibox Grp. Holdings Ltd. Sec. Litig.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 16 Apr 2021 | 534 F. Supp. 3d 326 | U.S. Federal

… of Crypto-Assets Crypto-assets, which are also called “cryptocurrency” or “tokens”, are decentralized digital commodities that rely on a technology called the “blockchain.” A blockchain is a decentralized electronic ledger that allows for secure and reliable tracking of the ownership and transfer of each individual unit of the crypto-asset. This tracking and validation process requires computer resources. In order to secure the requisite computer resources,…

… is built on a different blockchain from Bitcoin and has some additional features but otherwise functions similarly. Although crypto-assets originated as a medium of exchange, the continued development of blockchain technology has allowed for several other uses for crypto-assets. One such use for blockchain technology is the so-called “smart contract,” which essentially…

… crypto-assets to the appropriate party upon the satisfaction of the relevant conditions precedent defined in the smart contract. Crypto-assets based on the Ethereum blockchain, among others, are capable of smart contract functionality. Crypto-assets may also be used as “utility tokens,” which allow the holder to use or access a certain product or service. Finally, another use for crypto-assets is as speculative “security tokens.” Security tokens, like conventional securities,…

… not itself a crypto-asset but rather a platform for the creation of new tokens. ERC-20 allows for the creation of customizable tokens that operate on the Ethereum blockchain. Various properties of ERC-20 tokens are customizable. Since ERC-20 tokens rely on an existing blockchain and underlying technical architecture, new tokens can be created quickly by users with minimal technical expertise. But because all ERC-20 tokens operate on the Ethereum…

… also promised to use a portion of its profits to buy back BIX tokens, thereby raising the price and creating a return for early investors. While BIX was built on blockchain technology and operates on the Ethereum blockchain, BIX ‘s implementation of blockchain technology was different from the blockchain technology used in other crypto-assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The BIX tokens that Bibox offered to the public were…

Diamond Fortress Techs., Inc. v. EverID, Inc.

Superior Court of Delaware, New Castle | 14 Apr 2022 | 274 A.3d 287 | Delaware

… and mentor for the integration and duration of its use of ONYX. Second, it required Diamond Fortress to grant EverID an exclusive license to ONYX for digital or blockchain wallets; that required Diamond Fortress to halt its then-active endeavors soliciting other opportunities in the blockchain industry. For the award of EverID’s exclusive ONYX software license, Diamond Fortress and Mr. Hatcher agreed to be compensated in EverID’s ID Tokens when EverID…

… occurs when a new species of cryptocurrency token is issued in exchange for fiat or already circulating virtual currencies to raise capital. Cryptocurrency relies on blockchain technology, a distributed ledger system, to ensure the security and integrity of the virtual currency. Blockchain technology is a peer-to-peer system that tracks and records digital transactions around the globe. To use a blockchain system, a user first creates a wallet,…

… and add it to the growing blockchain.” This authentication process is known as “mining,” or rather, the production of new coins or tokens. Bitcoin is a well-known name in the cryptocurrency world and is a type of digital currency that uses the blockchain technology. “Generally speaking, ‘Bitcoin’ in the capitalized singular refers to the cryptocurrency with the symbol…

… benefits are shared equally among the parties. Horizontal commonality has been found to exist both before and after the launch of a defendant’s cryptocurrency and blockchain platform. Where one initially “pools” his investors’ money in order to develop and launch a digital token and blockchain platform, he effectively renders his investors’ profits entirely dependent upon the blockchain‘s successful launch. If the launch is unsuccessful, the…

… Because the Plaintiffs could not be reimbursed until after EverID’s initial ICO , their expected profits “were directly tied to the failure or success” of EverID’s blockchain platform. Their dependence on EverID “to develop, launch, and support the [blockchain]” is sufficient to find that the Plaintiffs’ expectation of profits relied on the “essential efforts” of EverID. The economic reality of the parties’ entire transaction here establishes each Howey factor….

SEC v. Binance Holdings Ltd.

United States District Court for the District of Columbia | 28 Jun 2024 | 738 F. Supp. 3d 20 | U.S. Federal

… representations about profitability” and “there are ongoing representations about what they’re going to do,” and that the token’s “value derives solely from the blockchain” and “they have to maintain the blockchain,” id. at 93 , the complaint does not lay out enough of the facts and circumstances surrounding ongoing secondary sales to support to a plausible inference that the reasonable secondary buyer would expect Binance to use their investment to generate profits on the buyer’s behalf….

… mathematical problem. Compl . ¶ 68. The first miner to successfully solve the problem earns the right to update the blockchain and is rewarded with the blockchain‘s native crypto asset. Compl . ¶ 68. Proof of stake, used by the Ethereum blockchain, involves the selection of block validators from the crypto asset holders who have committed or “staked” a minimum number of crypto assets as part of the validation process. Compl . ¶ 68. Blockchain protocols…

… compensate those participants who validate transactions and add new blocks to the blockchain. Compl

. ¶¶ 67, 340. The compensation or “rewards” are usually paid in the form of new tokens, and they are funded by various sources, including fees charged to those engaged in transactions on the blockchain or through the blockchain‘s creation or “minting” of additional quantities of its native crypto asset. Compl . ¶¶ 67, 340…

… , 341; BAM Mot. at 6. Crypto assets “represented on” their own blockchain are considered “native” to that blockchain, although a blockchain may represent both native and non-native crypto assets. Compl .

¶ 64. Crypto assets are typically stored in a “crypto wallet” – software that enables owners to store and manage the cryptographic information necessary to identify and transfer their assets. Compl ….

… ‘s success in developing and launching the TON Blockchain. Telegram ‘s own fortunes were similarly dependent on the successful launch of the TON Blockchain as Telegram would suffer financial and reputational harm if the TON Blockchain failed prior to launch. Telegram I , 448 F. Supp. 3d at 369-70 (citations omitted). Given the dearth of circuit precedent concerning the vertical theory…

CFTC v. McDonnell

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York | 06 Mar 2018 | 287 F. Supp. 3d 213 | U.S. Federal

… * See generally Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani, The Truth About Blockchain , Harvard Business Review (Jan-Feb 2017), available at https://hbr.org/2017/01/the-truth-about-blockchain (for a general overview of how a public Blockchain works)….

… /risk-magazine/opinion/2422606/-smart-derivatives-can-cure-xva-headaches; see also Jeffrey Maxim, UBS Bank Is Experimenting with “Smart-Bonds” Using the Bitcoin Blockchain , Bitcoin Magazine, June 12, 2015, https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/ubs-bank-experimenting-smart-bonds-using-bitcoin-blockchain– 143414057 1 ; see also Pete Harris, UBS Exploring Smart Bonds on Block Chain , Block Chain Inside Out, June 15, 2015,…

… ; See generally Galen Stops, Blockchain: Getting Beyond the Buzz , Profit & Loss, Aug.—Sept. 2015, at 20, http://www.profit-loss.com/articles/analysis/technology-analysis/blockchain-getting-beyond-the-buzz….

… 28 Telis Demos, Bitcoin’s Blockchain Technology Proves Itself in Wall Street Test , Apr. 7, 2016, The Wall Street Journal , http://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoins-blockchain-technology-proves-itself-in-wall- street-test-146002142 1 ….

… 31 Frisco d’Anconia, IOTA Blockchain to Help Trace Families of Refugees During and After Conflicts , Cointelegraph.com, Aug. 8, 2017, https://cointelegraph.com/news/iota-blockchain-to-help-trace-families-of- refugees-during-and-after-conflicts….

Hermès Int’l v. Rothschild

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 02 Feb 2023 | 654 F. Supp. 3d 268 | U.S. Federal

… used NFTs to sell the digital images to individual buyers. NFTs are digital records of ownership, typically recorded on a publicly accessible ledger known as a “blockchain.” See Mot. Dismiss Order at 2. On the blockchain, an NFT functions as a sort of “digital deed” representing ownership in a physical or digital asset or assets. Here, each of the NFTs signified sole ownership of a particular “MetaBirkin,” that is, a unique digital image of a Birkin handbag…

… commissioned computer engineers to operationalize a “smart contract” for each of the NFTs. A “smart contract” refers to a computer code that is also stored on the blockchain and that, among other things, determines the name of each of the NFTs, constrains how they can be sold or transferred, and controls which digital files are associated with each of the NFTs. See Dkt. 78, Decl. of Kevin D. Mentzer (“Mentzer Decl.”), Ex. 1 at 9, 10, 16, 21 n.9, 24, 29. Importantly, the “smart…

… See id. at 11, 16-17 & 29. On December 2, 2021, Rothschild sold the rights to purchase the “MetaBirkin” NFTs before they were formally generated and placed on the blockchain — or “minted” — to one hundred purchasers through his website, https://metabirkins.com. Id. , Ex. 1 at 9. Customers who browsed the website before the NFTs were sold and minted would see that each NFT was associated with a particular “MetaBirkins” digital image. Id. However, at the time the minting rights…

… the “MetaBirkins” NFTs were formally minted and placed on the blockchain, a buyer viewing his purchase details on the MetaBirkins website would see that his NFT was now linked to a digital image of an object shrouded by a white cloth, not a unique “MetaBirkins” bag. Corrigan Decl., Ex. 21 at 227:16-228-3. Once the NFTs were minted on December 3, Rothschild — using the “smart contract” — replaced the…

SEC v. Coinbase, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 27 Mar 2024 | 726 F. Supp. 3d 260 | U.S. Federal

… would be worthless … [it has] no inherent value and will generate no profit absent an ecosystem that drives demand.”). These components typically include: (i) the blockchain, which provides the infrastructure that allows the ecosystem to function and also allows for the creation of a token to use as currency to access that ecosystem; (ii) the protocols, which govern the operation of the blockchain, or some subset of transactions on the…

… ownership and transfer of all tokens in that network. ( Id. ). Each blockchain has its own “native token,”

i.e. , a digital asset designed to interact directly with the blockchain and ensure the proper function of the blockchain‘s protocol. ( Id. ¶ 46). Critically important to a crypto-asset owner’s exercise of control over her crypto-assets are the “public key” and “private key” associated with a crypto-asset…

… factual allegations regarding two of the exemplar Crypto-Assets in this case: SOL and CHZ. a. SOL “SOL” is a Crypto-Asset that is the native token of the Solana blockchain. (Compl. ¶ 127). The Solana blockchain was created by Solana Labs, Inc. (” Solana Labs “), a Delaware corporation founded in 2018 and headquartered in San Francisco . ( Id. ). According to Solana ‘s website, the Solana blockchain “is a network upon which decentralized apps (‘dApps’) can be built, and is comprised of a platform …
… publicly that it would pool proceeds from its private and public SOL sales to “fund the development, operations, and marketing efforts with respect to the Solana blockchain in order to attract more users to that blockchain.” (Compl. ¶ 134). Solana Labs has publicized their promotional efforts to increase participation in its network — and thus demand for SOL — by, among other things, creating a Solana podcast that frequently features interviews with Solana…

… tokens were made available for trading on the secondary market. ( See, e.g. , Compl. ¶¶ 139 (alleging that Solana Labs touted its technical expertise in developing blockchain networks and described the efforts it would take to develop the blockchain and attract users to the technology), 160 (alleging that Polygon founders promoted MATIC tokens by stating that the team had “a very hands on approach” and was “working around the clock” to scale the platform))….

Founder Starcoin, Inc. v. Launch Labs, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of California | 09 Jul 2018 | 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113737 | U.S. Federal

… 3 Plaintiff provides a definition of blockchain technology, which the Court finds useful in understanding the underlying technology: Blockchain technology consists of a publicly-distributed ledger that records transactions between multiple parties by containing a cryptographic hash of the previous transaction, a timestamp, and transaction data. These transactions are distributed…

… company that focuses its business in the “cryptocollectibles” market. (“Compl.,” ECF No. 1, ¶¶ 1, 6.) Cryptocollectibles are unique, digital assets created using blockchain technology. ( Id. ) Defendant Launch Labs, doing business as Axiom Zen, is a Canada corporation that also conducts business in the cryptocollectible market. ( Id. ¶¶ 2, 8.) In August 2017, Defendant began developing “CryptoKitties, a game built on the Ethereum blockchain that allows users to…

… it was the first to monetize or use the concept does not make it also true that such an idea was a trade secret. Marrying the concept of celebrity licensing with blockchain technology appears, on its face, to be unremarkable, obvious, and general knowledge. Nearly every industry attempts to gain celebrity endorsements for products. While the Court does not discount that there could be a trade secret embedded in this general idea, the Court finds that Plaintiff has not carried…

… how its trade secret is unique to the blockchain industry. But, the larger issue is this. Plaintiff’s slide deck and follow up email do not support its legal position that Plaintiff’s trade secret is licensing celebrities in the digital collectible industry. The information sent to Defendant does not readily disclose Plaintiff’s business model or trade secret. Instead, the slides…

… blockchain industry is a secret. The Court finds that Plaintiff has not carried its burden to establish that it had a valid trade secret. It follows that Plaintiff has not established a likelihood of success on the merits concerning the first element of a trade secret misappropriation claim. B. Whether Defendant Acquired, Disclosed or Used…

SEC v. Terraform Labs Pte. Ltd.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 28 Dec 2023 | 708 F. Supp. 3d 450 | U.S. Federal

… blockchain to process transactions. In a May 26, 2020 email, a Chai employee explained that Chai would “process transaction[s] outside [the] blockchain” and then “write a record on the Terra blockchain in parallel.” Id. ¶ 185. In a May 9, 2019 message, Kwon told Shin that he would “do fake transactions on the mainnet to generate staking returns…

… ,” Dr. Edman concluded that the “primary functionality” of the LP Server software “was to replicate purported Chai user and merchant transactions onto the Terra blockchain.” Id. ¶ 11. Moreover, his review revealed, “[t]he purported Chai user transactions occurred within a ‘closed system’ of Terra blockchain wallet addresses, and so the purported Chai transactions on the Terra blockchain represented transfers between wallet addresses controlled…

… generated by the LP Server.'” Id. ¶ 11. The Court grants the SEC ‘s motion to exclude Mr. Unny’s testimony because he has not demonstrated sufficient expertise in blockchain analysis to opine on Dr. Edman ‘s conclusions and, by contrast with Dr. Hendershott’s brief excursion into blockchain description to provide context, Mr. Unny’s blockchain analysis is central to his opinions here offered. At his deposition, Mr. Unny could not name any…

… review blockchain transactions and, even more strikingly, admitted that he did not personally analyze the Terraform blockchain data in this case. See Unny Dep. 9:10-11:6, 11:16-20, 23:23-24:9, 57:11-19. Rather, the analysis discussed in Mr. Unny’s report was performed by employees of the consulting firm Cornerstone Research , whose qualifications…

… even mention — the testimony of Dr. Mathew Edman , its computer science expert who concluded based on a review of the source code of a Terraform server that the blockchain was merely replicating purported Chai transactions that did not occur on the blockchain itself. Defendants assert that Chai did use Terraform ‘s blockchain and contend that the SEC ‘s circumstantial evidence does not show otherwise.

The evidence, which consists mainly of…

Zamfir v. Casperlabs, LLC

United States District Court for the Southern District of California | 26 Mar 2021 | 528 F. Supp. 3d 1136 | U.S. Federal

… HOLDINGS: [1]-A researcher of proof-of-stake blockchain protocols was denied a TRO in his Lanham Act § 43(a) false designation of origin case to enjoin a collaborator and competitor from further unauthorized use of a mark in connection with the marketing and sale of competitor’s blockchain network because the researcher would only be likely to succeed on his claim were he to overcome…

… , 2021, the Court held a hearing on the Motion. ECF No. 26. II. Factual Background This Motion revolves around the use of the name ” Casper ” in connection with blockchain technologies. A blockchain is a distributed protocol that stores transactional records as a chain of “blocks,” and each block cannot be retroactively altered without leaving evidence of the alteration. ECF No. 2-3 (“Zamfir Decl.”) ¶ 2.

Blockchain technology is therefore used…

… known as “proof-of-stake” (“PoS”) protocols, which use digital resources to protect the blockchain network and thus would “eliminate the computational waste inherent to PoW” protocols. Id. ¶ 5. Plaintiff is a researcher in the field of cryptoeconomics and distributed systems. Id. ¶ 6. Plaintiff and Vitalik Buterin are the two lead researchers of the PoS blockchain protocols known as Casper . Id. Around 2014, Plaintiff and Buterin…

… Defendant started calling the product “CasperLabs Highway Protocol” and later “Casper Highway Protocol.” Id. By August 2020, Defendant had begun referring to its blockchain protocol and token as ” Casper .” Id. ¶ 33. Defendant asserts that it had been using the name ” Casper ” before August 2020. Manohar Decl. at 5. On August 31, 2020, Defendant announced its network launch and token sale planned for the first quarter of 2021 as “[t]he Casper public network and token sale” and…

… preliminary injunction enjoining Defendant “from further unauthorized use of the mark ‘ CASPER ‘ (and related terms ‘ Casper network,’ ‘ Casper protocol,’ ‘ Casper blockchain,’ and ‘CSPR’) in connection with the marketing, advertising, promotion, offering for sale, and/or sale of Defendant’s proof-of-stake blockchain network.” ECF No. 2-1 at 4. Defendant argues that Plaintiff is not likely to succeed on the merits and has otherwise not met the requirements for…

Mangrove Partners Master Fund, Ltd. v. Overstock.com, Inc. (In re Overstock Sec. Litig.)

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit | 15 Oct 2024 | 119 F.4th 787 | U.S. Federal

… 6 A “blockchain” is a shared ledger of transactions between parties in a network, not controlled by a single central authority….

… Overstock’s trading volume, the negative rebate, and the average days outstanding of each short position. Then, in 2014, Overstock launched Medici Ventures , a blockchain-based research and investment company. Through Medici , Overstock planned to create an alternative trading platform, called tZero, where the investing public could buy and trade blockchain-based securities. As Plaintiff alleges, Overstock sought to create a new marketplace where Byrne could…

… Overstock’s struggles. Overstock poured vast sums into tZero to achieve Byrne’s vision. Despite Overstock’s blockchain ventures, however, Overstock’s core retail business continued to generate nearly all of Overstock’s revenue. But in the years just before the class period, Overstock’s retail sales declined sharply. Overstock cut prices and increased advertising spending to regain market share from “arch- competitor” Wayfair . But Overstock’s financial…

… short sellers, artificially inflating Overstock’s share price, making Byrne millions. Overstock announced it would issue Digital Voting Series A-1 Preferred Stock—a blockchain-based digital security token.

Blockchain is the technology that powers most cryptocurrencies. Overstock also announced that the record date for the dividend would be September 23, 2019. On that date, for each 10 shares of Overstock common stock, Series A-1, or Voting Series B Preferred…

… record date of September 23, and the distribution date of November 15. Overstock also announced that the dividend shares would be tradeable only on Overstock’s blockchain-based ATS. And importantly, Overstock disclosed that the dividend shares would not be registered under the Exchange Act—thus not available for resale for a period after distribution. On these disclosures, we conclude that the market received notice that short sellers might buy Overstock stock to cover their positions before the…

Williams v. Binance

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit | 08 Mar 2024 | 96 F.4th 129 | U.S. Federal

… operated in Malta . . . There are misconceptions some people have on how the world must work . . . you must have offices, HQ, etc. But there is a new world with blockchain now . . . Binance.com has always operated in a decentralized manner as we reach out to our users across more than 180 nations worldwide. App’x at 171-72 ¶¶ 27-28. One of those nations is the United States , where Binance now has a substantial presence, with servers, employees, and customers throughout the…
… territory of residence: Texas , Nevada , New York , Florida , California , and Puerto Rico. As with most crypto-assets, ownership of the Tokens is tracked on a blockchain, a decentralized ledger that records each transaction. Just as banks settle and clear transactions moving between traditional currency accounts, blockchains track transactions in crypto-assets. A critical difference is that blockchains typically operate through a decentralized process: every computer running…

… tracks and clears transactions to validate the crypto-asset’s ownership. Blockchains therefore allow for increased security, because the decentralized nature of a blockchain means that any data recorded on the ledger cannot be altered. Plaintiffs allege that the Tokens are a type of crypto-asset called “security tokens.” Binance does not dispute—at least for the purposes of this appeal—that the tokens at issue are properly classified as “securities” as the term is used in the…

… have some present tangible use beyond their potential to appreciate. The Tokens at issue here are “ERC-20 tokens,” meaning they were all designed on the Ethereum blockchain with a programming language called the ERC-20 protocol. Between 2017 and 2018, many ERC-20 tokens were created and sold by third party issuers in initial coin offerings (ICOs), which collectively raised nearly $20 billion.

Typically, each ICO was accompanied by a “whitepaper,” which included both advertising…

… Plaintiffs allege that they purchased and sold securities over an electronic exchange, though here these transactions were subsequently recorded on the Ethereum blockchain, which has no centralized location. Consistent with our reasoning in Choi , the parties here agree that at least one time at which irrevocable liability attaches is at the time when transactions are “matched.” See Reply Br. at 5; Appellees’ Br. at 4, 32; see also Choi , 890 F.3d at 67 (“[I]n the classic…

LCX AG v. 1.274M U.S. Dollar Coin

Supreme Court of New York, New York County | 21 Aug 2022 | 2022 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 5852 | New York

… 6 For a primer on blockchain and cryptocurrency, see Virtual Currencies and Blockchain Technologies

, 10 BUS. & COM. LITIG. FED. CTS. § 111:2 (5th ed.)….

… Plaintiff LCX AG (LCX), a virtual asset service provider in Liechtenstein , alleges that approximately $8 million worth of virtual assets, all based on the Ethereum blockchain, were wrongfully taken from plaintiff on January 8, 2022. (NYSCEF Doc. No. [NYSCEF] 2, Complaint ¶ 11) This case was initiated when the stolen funds, stored in Ethereum Wallets 0x29875 and 0x5C41 since January 2022, were swapped on May 9, 2022 into US Dollar Coin at wallet 02×29875 maintained by Centre…

… ¶ 5.) Plaintiff’s contention is supported by defendants’ expert Paul Sibenik who explains: “17. Tornado cash is a mixing protocol that operates on the Ethereum blockchain (in addition to other blockchains) with the alleged aim of enhancing privacy for those who use it. 18. It’s express purpose is to allow a user to obfuscate the source of their funds, from the destination, essentially making the funds ‘untraceabic’ since one would normally not be inherently abic to determine…

… of cryptocurrency to send their illgotten gains to mixing services, of which Tornado cash is by far the largest and most well-known mixmg service on the Ethercum blockchain. 21. Tornado cash operates by allowing a user to deposit select amount of cryptocurrency into a pool of assets via a smart control.

Tornado cash often operates multiple pools on cach blockchain it is operating on. In the case of Ethereum (by far the most common for Tornado cash usage), there…

… effectively the digital terrain favored by the Doe Defendants. ( See Hollow , 193 Misc 2d at 696 [email favored communication method of defendant].) Indeed, using a blockchain transaction to communicate with the Doe Defendants is the only available manner of communication. Here, the court finds that plaintiff has sufficiently authenticated the method of communication. ( Cf Qaza v Alshalabi , 54 Misc 3d 691 , 696 , 43 N.Y.S.3d 713 [Sup Ct, Kings County, 2016] [counsel’s…

United Am. Corp. v. Bitmain, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | 31 Mar 2021 | 530 F. Supp. 3d 1241 | U.S. Federal

… Cryptocurrencies are a “permissionless” system that rely on a network of decentralized encrypted public ledgers that document all digital transactions, known as a “blockchain“. ( Id. ¶¶ 28-29). The blockchain is a series of blocks, which are units of accounting that record new transactions in cryptocurrency. ( Id. ¶ 42). Confidence and trust in the accuracy of the transactions in the blockchain is possible because the decentralized ledgers are…

… hard fork refers to a change to the protocol of a blockchain network whereby nodes that mine the newest version of the blockchain follow a new rules set, while nodes that mine the older version continue to follow the prior rules set. ( Id. ¶ 45). Because the two rules sets are not compatible, two different chains of the blockchain are formed, with the new version branching off. ( Id. ). …

… the Bitcoin Cash blockchain going forward. ( Id. ). The “losing” rules set would be forced to create a new and distinct blockchain. ( Id. ¶ 52). Bitcoin ABC , led by Ver and supported by Bitmain Technologies and Wu, sought to preserve Bitcoin Cash’s basic structure, to include a limited block size of 32 MB and to prevent major developments in the future. …

… Powell decided that Kraken would maintain the Bitcoin Cash ticker ( BCH ) for the Bitcoin ABC chain, which “effectively recognized” Bitcoin ABC as the official blockchain of Bitcoin Cash and the winner of the upgrade. ( Id. ). Bitcoin SV branched off the blockchain and became a distinct blockchain. See ( id. ¶ 52). As a result, “the value of the cryptocurrency that [ UAC ] mines in its BlockchainDomes has fallen significantly.” ( Id. ¶ 97)….

… other Defendants. UAC alleges no facts about how developers (specifically Chancellor and Cox) operate in this industry or what the purpose of a checkpoint on a blockchain is, other than the conclusion that it will allow “anyone with 51% hashing power to quickly cement control of the blockchain ledger.” (FAC ¶ 90). It may be equally plausible that checkpoints serve another purpose, instead of centralizing a cryptocurrency market, such as providing security for the blockchain, or as an efficiency …

United States v. 89.9270303 Bitcoins

United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division | 11 Feb 2022 | 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24668 | U.S. Federal

… 1 The following definition of blockchain is derived from U.S. v. Gratkowski , 964 F.3d 307 , 313 n.2 (5th Cir. 2020) . Blockchain is a technological advancement that permits members in a shared network to “record a history of transactions on an immutable ledger.” See Ashley N. Longman, Note, The Future of Blockchain: As Technology Spreads, It May Warrant More Privacy …

… Protection for Information Stored with Blockchain , 23 N.C. BANKING INST. 111, 118-19 (2019) (citing Brittany Manchisi, What is Blockchain Technology ?, BLOCKCHAIN PULSE: IBM BLOCKCHAIN BLOG (July 31, 2018), https://www.ibm.com/blogs/blockchain/2018/07/what-is-blockchain-tech-nology/)….

… private key. ECF No. 69-1 at 24 (Clark Affidavit). These blockchains are “shared transaction logs” and have “non-editable history and built-in security.” Id. “Each blockchain is separate, unique, and operates independently of any other Blockchain.” Id. The crux of Claimants’ argument regarding the Ethereum is that they owned it prior to any conspiracy to which Mr. Clark pleaded guilty, and Mr. Lara withdrew the same Ethereum they owned before the criminal…

Burton v. Adams

Supreme Court of New York, Kings County | 20 May 2022 | 2022 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3655 | New York

… tokens are cryptocurrency that “may be used to pay for goods or services[] or held for investment.” Cryptocurrencies operate via a record-keeping technology called “blockchain,” which conspicuously ( i.e. , viewable by anyone) and permanently stores every transaction. The blockchain mechanism allows for the use of crypto-assets as secure stores of value and media of exchange that do not rely on a centralized government or singular control. Cryptocurrency…

… is an example of a ciypto-asset that serves primarily as a medium of exchange. Ether,” another popular crypto-asset. “operates on Ethereum . which is a different blockchain from Bitcoin, and has some additional features, but otherwise functions similarly. B. Factual Background As the Court is bound to accept the facts alleged by the non-moving party as true, for purposes of the CPLR § 3211 dismissal motion ( JF Capital Advisors, LLC v Lightstone Group, LLC , 25 N.Y.3d 759 , 762…

… .2d 972 , 84 N.Y.2d 83 , 638 N.E.2d 511 [1994] ), Plaintiff Burton is a software developer, designer and entrepreneur, and the founder of “Balance,” an Ethereum blockchain wallet startup. Defendant Adams is founder and CEO of “Uniswap,” a DEX software that “improves the functionality” of trading on the Ethereum blockchain‘s platform. While Uniswap is currently the largest DEX on Ethereum , when the parties met in 2018, Uniswap was “little more than an idea.”…

… found a “lead investor to set the terms and price the deal.” Burton thereafter financed Adams’s flight to San Francisco to “pitch Uniswap to Paradigm,” a well-known blockchain-focused venture capital firm.

Paradigm went on to seed $1 million into Adams’s then-still-unincorporated enterprise, now Universal , which, at the time of briefing, was valued at $10 million. Since then, Uniswap has seen a major increase in trading, processing over $110 billion in volume, and “increasing…

Blocktree Props., LLC v. Pub. Util. Dist. No. 2 of Grant Cty. Wash.

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington | 12 Mar 2020 | 447 F. Supp. 3d 1030 | U.S. Federal

… internet; it is unregulated and unmanaged by third parties, such as banks or governments. ECF No. 81 at 7-8. Cryptocurrency is made possible by a technology called blockchain. Id. Blockchain is the technology through which cryptocurrency transactions are verified and tracked across networks of computers, working as a digital ledger. Id. Blockchain, functioning as a ledger, records every transaction in which each particular crypto coin has been…

… , the transactions must be verified by independent blockchain participators. ECF No. 81 at 7-8. These blockchain participants, also known as cryptocurrency miners, verify cryptocurrency transactions, essentially by solving complicated mathematical problems. ECF No. 81 at 8-9. The first miner to solve the problem, verifying the transaction on the blockchain (ledger), is rewarded, often in …

… Plaintiffs argue: “If utilities outside Grant County adopted rate structures similar to Rate Schedule 17, interstate and international commerce using cryptocurrency and blockchain technology would be destroyed. Rate Schedule 17 therefore imposes undue burdens on interstate and international commerce” that violate the Dormant Commerce Clause . ECF No. 1 at 38. Plaintiffs’ argument does not support a Dormant Commerce Clause claim because it does not demonstrate a burden on…

Hermès Int’l v. Rothschild

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 18 May 2022 | 603 F. Supp. 3d 98 | U.S. Federal

… Hermes and Birkin marks as well as trade dress rights in the Birkin handbag design . Id. ¶¶ 34-36. NFTs, or “non-fungible tokens,” are units of data stored on a blockchain that are created to transfer ownership of either physical things or digital media. Id. ¶ 4. When NFTs are created, or “minted,” they are listed on an NFT marketplace where NFTs can be sold, traded, etc., in accordance with “smart contracts” that govern the transfers. Id. ¶¶ 61, 63. Because NFTs can be easily…

… a transaction history securely stored on the blockchain, NFTs can function as investments that can store value and increase value over time. Id. ¶ 69. When an NFT is linked to digital media, the NFT and corresponding smart contract are stored on the blockchain and are linked to digital media files (e.g. , JPEG images, .mp4 video files, or .mp3 music files) to create a uniquely identifiable…

… digital media file. Id. ¶ 60. The NFTs and smart contracts are stored on the blockchain (so that they can be traced), but the digital media files to which the NFTs point are stored separately, usually on either a single central server or a decentralized network. Id. ¶ 62. Fashion brands are beginning to create and offer digital replicas of their real-life products to put in digital fashion shows or otherwise use in…

Merkamerica Inc. v. Glover

United States District Court for the Central District of California | 03 Dec 2019 | 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231519 | U.S. Federal

… investment regarding the Kowala project at a January 19, 2018 meeting. See id. ¶¶ 88-96. For instance, Defendant Glover allegedly told Plaintiff that “he had a working blockchain that was ready to launch,” that “[w]e are a live working blockchain that can hold the kUSD stable, and you can make mining rewards from the mUSD,” and that “[w]e are preparing to launch in February,” and that they had “solved the stability issue that Basecoin could not.” See id….

… , neither [Defendants] nor anyone at Endian had the belief or expectation that the kCoin algorithm would work in practice, that the software code for the Kowala blockchain would work in practice, that the software code for the Kowala blockchain would work as promised, or that the price of the kCoin would ever by stabilized as promised.” Id. ¶ 139. The algorithm was “purely theoretical, no code had ever been written to make the algorithm work.” Id. In addition,…

… tokens. The White Paper states that purchasers of mining tokens will be able to “reap[] mining rewards consistently,” that the kCoin will be a “proof of control” blockchain which “assign[s] the transaction to only one token holder” who “reap[s] the mining reward,” and that token purchasers “will receive rewards for confirming transactions.” Id. ¶¶ 40, 47. In addition, the Website stated that “mUSD mining tokens do the work of the blockchain and earn mining…

… two “self-defeating internal inconsistencies.” See Mot. 16:17-17:12. These are: (1) that Plaintiff complains that Defendants misrepresented that it had a working blockchain, see Compl. ¶¶ 88, 133, 152, 246-47; but Plaintiff was told and understood that funds would be used to develop the blockchain and that it was not yet launched, see id. ¶¶ 96, 103, 49, 73; and (2) that Plaintiff stated that it “felt pressured” to invest, see id.

¶¶ 97, but Plaintiff’s actions…

… let it invest more, see id. ¶¶ 89, 108, 117, 119. See Mot . 16:17-17:12. Plaintiff responds that (1) a “working blockchain” indicates that Defendants could create kCoins with stable values as represented in the White Paper, even if launch had not yet occurred and it was still being developed; and (2) that the emotions felt in the process of making the investment decision are plausible. See Opp . 24:24-25:11. The Court agrees with Plaintiff that the…

CFTC v. Doe

United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division | 28 Jun 2019 | 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144400 | U.S. Federal

… other document was an image of a certificate, dated May 24, 2016, stating that “First Options Trading” had completed an “examination and training administered by Blockchain Council” to become a “Certified CryptoCurrency Expert.” The certificate was purportedly signed by Toshendra Sharma, identified as Executive Director of Blockchain Council. (Compl. ¶ 98.) 85. The Blockchain Council is, according to its website, “an authoritative group of…

… was thus not a “trading license” for First Options and was fake and did not reflect anyone actually having completed an “examination and training administered by Blockchain Council” (an organization of which Toshendra Sharma has never served as “Executive Director”). (Compl. ¶ 99.) 86. D.P. used CoinSpot to transfer approximately two Bitcoins (worth approximately $15,000 at the time) to Hecroft to invest in the diamond trading investment offer. (Compl. ¶ 100.) 87. On or about…

… and assuring D.P. that “FirstOptions is based and regulated in the Us [sic],” that binary options are “strictly regulated by various bodies like SEC, CFTC, [and] Blockchain Council,” and that “FirstOptions is regulated by the aforementioned bodies including Blockchain Council.” These statements were knowingly false because, among other things, as noted above, Blockchain Council is not a regulator of binary options or anything else. (Compl. ¶…

BDI Capital, LLC v. Bulbul Invs. LLC 

United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division | 11 Mar 2020 | 446 F. Supp. 3d 1127 | U.S. Federal

… that bitcoins could be the subject of a conversion action, because in “regards to the bitcoin’s specificity and identity, Plaintiffs have alleged that the bitcoin blockchain is a giant ledger that tracks the ownership and transfer of every bitcoin in existence and that every bitcoin wallet and the number of bitcoin inside that particular wallet can be identified on the blockchain by referring to its public key.” 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 216417, 2018 WL 6812914, at…

… during which CampBX admits to having possession of BDI’s 14.86155791 Bitcoin” (Doc. 48 at 3). Specifically: On August 1, 2017, Bitcoin forked at block 478558 (in the Blockchain) resulting in the creation of Bitcoin Cash. For each Bitcoin held on that date, an equal number of Bitcoin Cash was created which BDI contends became tied or linked to the respective Bitcoin owner’s wallet; On October 24, 2017, Bitcoin forked at block 491407 (in the Blockchain) resulting…

… was created which BDI contends became tied or linked to the respective Bitcoin owner’s wallet; and On February 18, 2018, Bitcoin forked at block 511346 (in the Blockchain) resulting in the creation of Bitcoin Private. For each Bitcoin held on that date, an equal number of Bitcoin Private was created which BDI contends became tied or linked to the respective Bitcoin owner’s wallet. (Doc. 3 at 4-5). Pending the resolution of this suit, Plaintiff counsel is holding $8,128.98 representing the value …

… of these “forked currencies” as of November 12, 2018. A bitcoin “fork” is the creation of a new virtual currency based on the blockchain ledger of an existing virtual currency. Kleiman contains a discussion on Bitcoin forks (based on allegations made in that plaintiff’s complaint): Since its beginning, Bitcoin has inspired the creation of over one thousand other digital currencies. These new currencies often borrow from the initial Bitcoin program but make changes…

… , Bitcoin has been modified by individuals in a way they believed would improve the Bitcoin itself, such as by allowing more transactions into a single block of blockchain. In these situations, the supporters of the new Bitcoin, have created a “fork” through which the original Bitcoin blockchain/ledger is divided into two distinct, but identical, copies, (i) the original Bitcoin, and (ii) the new Bitcoin. The result is that any individual who owned the original…

United States SEC v. Balina

United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division | 22 May 2024 | 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91557 | U.S. Federal

… world tour, Balina emceed a “Shark Tank like event” in Amsterdam (the “Event”) as part of this World Tour. ( Id. ) During the Event, Balina introduced himself as a “blockchain angel investor . . . trying to find the next big ICO[,]” and held a cryptocurrency pitch contest for ICO investment opportunities. (App. 351). Throughout the Event, Sparkster ‘s CEO, Sajjad Daya, pitched the Sparkster platform and the SPRK Token

. (App. 354.) Essentially, Daya explained that there are…

… . First, there is the product that allows users to “build software without writing any code.” (App. 356.) Daya stated that this product was “finished” and “blockchain integrated.” ( Id. ) The other part is the blockchain that runs on people’s computers as a decentralized cloud and can “earn tokens.” (App. 357.) Daya continued that Sparkster was “going to hopefully run a public demonstration of [its] network” the following month. (App. 363.) Daya pitched that Sparkster ‘s decentralized cloud …

… 276-78). For the next few days, subscribers discussed the sale, and Balina periodically chimed in. ( Id. ) The PrimaBlock pool address was located on the Ethereum blockchain. (App. 280). The address contains a smart contract that provides the ability for Balina to direct administrative and operational activities of the pool. ( Id. ) On May 26, 2018, Balina posted on Telegram : “Sending funds soon. Those that want to pull please do so asap. We won’t wait long.” (App. 237-39.) He…

… 369 (S.D.N.Y. 2020) (finding a common enterprise where “[t]he ability to each Initial Purchaser to profit was entirely dependent on the successful launch” of the blockchain). Other facts indicate that Sparkster was seeking purchasers of tokens much like a company would seek investors before an I.P.O. Sparkster highlighted the company’s current and upcoming partnerships. (App. 400.) The Whitepaper contained eight pages of biographies of executives and other employees,…

… collective reliance on the promoter’s expertise.” Id. Here, the investors relied on Sparkster ‘s expertise and technical skill to develop the underlying software and blockchain technology, engaging in a common enterprise that correlated with the success of the promoter. This is evidenced by Sparkster ‘s promotion of the credentials of its management and constant assurance that the underlying software technology was in the process of improving, and even capable of changing the…

Honig v. Riot Blockchain, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 20 Nov 2020 | 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 218053 | U.S. Federal

… Honig v. Riot Blockchain, Inc., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 218053…

… BARRY C. HONIG, and GRQ CONSULTANTS, INC., Plaintiffs, – against – RIOT BLOCKCHAIN, INC.,

Defendant. Honig v. Riot Blockchain, Inc. 20 Civ. 2808 (NRB) United States District Court for the Southern District of New York 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 218053 2020 WL 6825695 November 20, 2020 , Decided November 20, 2020 , Filed Takata v. Riot Blockchain, Inc., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189585 , 2018 WL 5801379 (D.N.J., Nov. 6…

… STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Plaintiffs Barry C. Honig (“Honig”) and GRQ Consultants, Inc. (together with Honig, “plaintiffs”) bring this action against defendant Riot Blockchain, Inc. (“Riot”), and asserting a claim for breach of contract and seeking declaratory relief. Plaintiffs allege that Riot violated its contractual obligations by refusing to indemnify plaintiffs for the costs of defending against certain legal proceedings brought by third parties against Honig. Before the Court is Riot’s motion …

SEC v. NAC Found., LLC

United States District Court for the Northern District of California | 08 Jan 2021 | 512 F. Supp. 3d 988 | U.S. Federal

… extrinsic evidence. Specifically, defendants urge attention be paid to (i) the “Terms and Conditions” to which every ABTC purchaser purportedly agreed, and (ii) various blockchain-related patents sought by Andrade prior to the ICO , and granted to him by the USPTO thereafter. See generally infra Part IV.A….

… vertical commonality” where each ICO participant’s “anticipated profits were directly dependent on [defendants’] success in developing and launching” the underlying blockchain project. 448 F.Supp.3d 352 , 370 (S.D.N.Y. 2020) . So too here. Moreover, whereas the Telegram defendants had pledged eventually to relinquish control of all tokens they had retained during the ICO process, no such pledge has been made here. Id. In this respect, defendants’ “financial fortunes” are, in…

… entitled “White Paper of AML BitCoin (AMLBit) and its Business Model” (the “White Paper”). There, defendants stated ” AML BitCoin rests on a privately regulated public blockchain that facilitates . . . anti- money laundering [and] ‘know your customer’ [] compliance and identifies criminals associated with illicit transactions, while maintaining and strengthening the privacy protections for legitimate users.” “[A]s a result,” the White Paper went on, AML BitCoin “is compliant…

… Foundation website—made three additional pertinent points about AML BitCoin. First, it explained that because certain aspects of the “privately regulated public blockchain” upon which AML BitCoin would operate were still under development, ICO participants would not be issued actual AML BitCoin tokens, but rather stand-in ” ABTC tokens.” These latter tokens could be exchanged on a one-for-one basis with AML BitCoin once AML BitCoin (or, more accurately, its complementary…

… Evidence Defendants’ motion advances two types of extrinsic evidence: the “Terms and Conditions” to which ABTC purchasers purportedly agreed, and certain of Andrade’s blockchain-related patents.

Regarding the latter, the language of a patent—either as it is applied for, or as it is granted—”can be accurately and readily determined” by reference to USPTO filings, and is therefore, as the SEC agrees, subject to judicial notice. Khoja , 899 F.3d at 998 (citing Fed. R. Evid….

Sirer v. Aksoy

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | 28 Apr 2023 | 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74945 | U.S. Federal

… York has explained, Crypto-assets, which are also called “cryptocurrency” or “tokens”, are decentralized digital commodities that rely on a technology called the “blockchain.” A blockchain is a decentralized electronic ledger that allows for secure and reliable tracking of the ownership and transfer of each individual unit of the crypto-asset. In re Bibox Grp. Holdings Ltd. Sec. Litig. , 534 F. Supp. 3d 326 , 329-30 (S.D.N.Y. 2021) ….

… entrepreneur. February 13, 2023 Hearing Transcript (“Tr.”) at 11:21, 12:10-12, ECF No. [97]. Plaintiff is the co-founder and CEO of AVA Labs, Inc. (” Ava Labs “), a “blockchain software” development company. Tr. at 12:16-18, 13:4-5. Ava Labs develops a variety of blockchain software products, including a blockchain software-based development platform called “Avalanche.” Id. at 13:7. The Avalanche platform has a native “cryptocurrency token”…

… the blockchain, and may also serve as a store of value. Id. at 16:22-17:9. Prior to founding Ava Labs , Plaintiff was a professor of computer science at Cornell University for nearly 20 years. Id. at 11:19-12:8. Defendant holds himself out as a “product marketing expert” and “crypto thought leader.” Compl. ¶ 16.

Defendant promotes various cryptocurrency…

… defamatory statements until approximately three months after their publication. Tr. at 59:22-60:3. Unni then identified five competitor tokens issued by competing blockchain platforms, which he selected by choosing platforms which sought to provide similar technical benefits to those provided by the Avalanche platform—i.e., platforms that, like Avalanche, “can host decentralized finance applications and that employ proof-of-stake” mechanisms to validate new transactions. Tr. at…

… deliberately spread the defamatory and dangerous falsehood that the Plaintiff was a member of a terrorist organization as part of his campaign to promote a competing blockchain token. Those falsehoods placed Plaintiff and his family at an increased risk of surveillance, arrest, and indefinite detainment when he was visiting Turkey . In fact, these statements significant harmed Plaintiff’s personal reputation. For those reasons, the Court assesses an award of $2,000,000 in…

Zakinov v. Ripple Labs, Inc.

United States District Court for the Northern District of California | 02 Oct 2020 | 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 183326 | U.S. Federal

… claims. Third — On April 26, 2017, Ripple published a tweet linking to an article on its website stating that “#Ripple welcomes 10 additional customers to our #blockchain #payments network.” CFAC ¶ 66. Plaintiff argues that this tweet was misleading “because it did not specify that the additional customers referenced were xCurrent customers—not XRP customers. Nor did the article specify that the additional customers were xCurrent customers rather than XRP customers.” Dkt. 105…

… with plaintiff’s explanation for how this statement is misleading. Again, this statement does not make any explicit reference to XRP and its use of the terms “#blockchain” and “#payments network” is vague. In a vacuum, the “#blockchain” reference might suggest that the statement implicitly referenced XRP . However, the reasonableness of any such suggestion is belied by plaintiff’s immediately preceding allegation, which shows that defendants previously used “#XRP” in their tweets when referring …

… see also id. ¶¶ 69, 91, 119-20 (post-April 26, 2017 “#XRP” references). Moreover, as plaintiff himself cedes, the tweeted article refers to ” Ripple ‘s enterprise blockchain solution” mid-way through the article. Dkt. 105 at 16 (emphasis added). Such a reference, which a reasonable investor or consumer would identify when reading the referenced article, further undermines plaintiff’s assertion that this statement is misleading. Accordingly, it may not serve as a basis for the…

… tweet including a link to a tweet by a third-party, Motley Fool . Id. ¶ 71. In its tweet, Motley Fool stated that ” AmEx and Banco Santander will use Ripple ‘s blockchain network for instant intl. fund transfers. Could be a big deal for Ripple ‘s XRP cryptocurrency. $AXP $SAN.” Id. In his tweet, Garlinghouse stated

that ” Ripple & $ XRP are giving businesses ‘what they want in a #blockchain.'” Id. Plaintiff argues that Ripple ‘s tweet “treated Ripple (and its…

… use of such network ” could be a big deal for Ripple ‘s XRP cryptocurrency.” CFAC ¶ 71 (emphasis added). That statement implies a distinction between Ripple ‘s blockchain and XRP because, if the two operated as a common unit, then the banks’ use of the network presumably would be a “big deal” for XRP . To further clarify that distinction, the article linked to in the Motley Fool tweet expressly states that “the partnership [between Ripple and the two banks] may open the door…

Telegram Messenger, Inc. v. Lantah, LLC

United States District Court for the Northern District of California | 08 Aug 2018 | 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133908 | U.S. Federal

… scalable, slowing down as users and transactions increase. Id. ¶ 7. Telegram is developing a new distributed ledger platform, the Telegram Open Network or ” TON ” Blockchain, which seeks to improve upon the existing systems. Id. ¶¶ 6, 8. Telegram intends for the “native cryptocurrency” on the TON Blockchain to be the GRAM. Id. And it intends to launch in the fourth quarter of 2018. Id. ¶ 6. Telegram adopted the name GRAM sometime in 2017. Id. at 9 . In December…

… Telegram’s efforts to develop the TON Blockchain and GRAM cryptocurrency. See Hammon Decl. (dkt. 16-1) ¶ 2, Ex. A (articles from December 22, 2017 and December 27, 2017 reporting on development of TON Blockchain; “Cointelegraph learned that the currency of TON will be called ‘Gram’ and the platform will be natively integrated with many of the most popular messaging apps.”). Those…

… those persons and firms paid U.S. dollars or Euros in exchange for the right to receive an agreed upon number of GRAMs following the successful launch of the TON Blockchain. Perekopsky Decl. ¶ 10. On February 13, 2018, Telegram made a public filing with the SEC , disclosing that it had entered into purchase agreements totaling $850 million, with the first purchase agreement executed in January 29, 2018. Hammon Decl. ¶ 3, Ex. B (stating that 81 persons or firms were in an…

… , stated that the securities offered were “Purchase Agreements for Cryptocurrency,” and referenced the TON Blockchain. Id. Telegram has not filed a trademark application for GRAM in the United States .

Apparently, it did, in April 2018, file an application to register GRAM in the European Union , which Lantah is opposing. Thompson Decl. (dkt. 20-2) ¶¶ 10, 11, Exs. G, H, I, J. B. Lantah’s Actions Lantah is a small company, started by 23-year old…

… of a cryptocurrency for use on the TON Blockchain, including providing purchase agreements in respect to of this cryptocurrency, and its development of software to provide access to financial products and services for customers on the TON Blockchain.”). Lantah did not respond to this point in its opposition brief, or point to evidence of its own efforts. And there is no evidence…

SEC v. Coinbase, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 07 Jan 2025 | 761 F. Supp. 3d 702 | U.S. Federal

… 6 The Court also takes note of amicus Blockchain Association ‘s argument that the offer and sale of crypto-assets cannot be distinguished from that of commodities or collectibles based on the former’s lack of inherent value ( see Dkt. #120 at 3-8), and its position that this view of crypto-assets could expand the SEC ‘s regulatory reach to other industry players ( see id. at …

… Jenner & Block LLP , Jenner & Block LLP , New York , NY ; Sarah Ann Purtill , Jenner & Block LLP , New York , NY ; William F. Ryan , Jenner & Block LLP , London. For Blockchain Association , Amicus: Donald B. Verrilli , Jr. , LEAD ATTORNEY, Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP , Washington, DC ; C. Harker Rhodes , IV , Clement & Murphy PLLC , Alexandria, VA . For Crypto Council for Innovation, Chamber of Progress, Consumer Technology Association , Amicus: C. Harker Rhodes , IV , Clement…

… crypto-assets, were filed in support of Coinbase ‘s motion. ( See Dkt. #117 (Brief of John Deaton , on Behalf of 4,701 Coinbase Customers); Dkt. #120 (Brief of Blockchain Association )). Additionally, Coinbase filed a notice of supplemental authority on July 1, 2024 (Dkt. #134), to which the SEC responded on July 3, 2024 (Dkt. # 135). Finally, on October 4, 2024, Coinbase filed a letter advising the Court of the SEC ‘s appeal in SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc. , No. 20 Civ. 10832 (AT) (S.D.N.Y.). (Dkt….

… token can exist.” ( Id. at 59-60 (citing Balestra , 380 F. Supp. 3d at 357 (finding that there would be no market for a certain crypto-asset without the related blockchain, thus distinguishing it from a precious metal); Friel v. Dapper Labs, Inc. , 657 F. Supp. 3d 422 , 439 (S.D.N.Y. 2023) (rejecting a comparison of non-fungible token transactions to collectibles))). The significance of a crypto-asset’s digital ecosystem to the Howey analysis, particularly as a point of…

United States v. Sterlingov

United States District Court for the District of Columbia | 10 Nov 2021 | 573 F. Supp. 3d 28 | U.S. Federal

… identity of a Bitcoin address owner is generally anonymous,” although “law enforcement can often identify the owner of a particular Bitcoin address by analyzing the blockchain,” which “is essentially a distributed public ledger that keeps track of all Bitcoin transactions, incoming and outgoing, and . . . records every address that has ever received a bitcoin and maintains records of every transaction.” Id. at 3 & n.3. As explained in the affidavit of Devon Beckett, a Special…

… substantial portion of that sum, Special Agent Beckett attests, has been linked to online marketplaces known to facilitate unlawful conduct. Federal law enforcement used blockchain analysis to “identify bitcoins sent directly to [Bitcoin Fog] from known darknet markets and bitcoins sent from [Bitcoin Fog] to known darknet markets,” which “primarily traffic in illegal narcotics and other illegal goods and services.” Id. at 4. One such darknet market, Silk Road, has been…

… contentions, including evidence that Sterlingov knew “he was in the business of money laundering.” Dkt. 17 at 14. According to the Beckett affidavit, the government’s blockchain analysis has traced “$78 million in transactions” that Bitcoin Fog sent or received to “known darknet markets,” Dkt. 1-1 at 4, and Bitcoin Fog actively directed its users to the darknet marketplace Agora, Dkt. 19 at 8-9 (Figure 7). Perhaps the best evidence that Bitcoin Fog (and, thus, arguably…

… requirements. See Dkt. 19 at 38-39 & n.13 (collecting cases). As for the money laundering charge against Sterlingov, the government has introduced the results of blockchain analysis by its cyber analysts tracing tens of millions of dollars from darknet marketplaces, known for the exchange of illegal goods and services, to and from Bitcoin Fog. See Dkt. 1-1 at 4. Although the evidence before the Court is undoubtedly incomplete at this early stage of the proceeding, the Court is…

United States v. Chastain

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 21 Oct 2022 | 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192508 | U.S. Federal

… The Government further alleges that, to conceal his involvement in buying and selling the featured NFTs

, Chastain transferred funds through anonymous Ethereum blockchain accounts and new Ethereum accounts without any prior history and, in so doing, committed money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i) . Indictment ¶ 15. Chastain now moves, pursuant to Rule 12(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure , to dismiss the Indictment on the ground that it…

… had exclusive use of the . . . information, considered that information to be confidential, and . . . treated it as such”). Additionally, given that the Ethereum blockchain is public, the Government may have trouble proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the transactions at issue were “designed in whole or in part . . . to conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds.” 18

U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i) ; see, e.g. , Regaldo…

SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 03 Oct 2023 | 697 F. Supp. 3d 126 | U.S. Federal

… States District Court for the Southern District of New York 697 F. Supp. 3d 126 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178300 October 3, 2023 , Decided October 3, 2023 , Filed For Blockchain Association , Amicus: Jason P. Gottlieb , LEAD ATTORNEY, Morrison Cohen LLP ( NY ), New York , NY . For Bradley Garlinghouse, Defendant: Alexander Javad Janghorbani , Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP , New York , NY ; Andrew

Ceresney , Debevoise & Plimpton LLP , New York , NY ; Bradley E Oppenheimer…

… DENIED. BACKGROUND This case involves Defendants’ offer and sale of XRP . XRP is the native digital token of the XRP Ledger, a cryptographically secured ledger, or “blockchain.” Order at 2. The SEC alleges that Ripple engaged in three categories of unregistered XRP offers and sales: (1) Institutional Sales under written contracts for which it received $728 million; (2) Programmatic Sales on digital asset exchanges for which it received $757 million; and (3) Other Distributions…

… investors’ coins”; and “the defendants said that sales from purchases of all crypto-assets—no matter where the coins were purchased—would be fed back into the . . . blockchain and would generate additional profits for all crypto-asset holders.” 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 132046, [WL] at *15 (emphasis in original). The Terraform court then presumed that the defendants’ representations would “have reached individuals who purchased their crypto-assets on secondary markets . . . [and]…

In re Celsius Network LLC

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York | 09 Nov 2023 | 655 B.R. 301 | U.S. Federal

… cryptographic token[] whose primary purpose is to allow users to consume the platform’s (smart contract) services.” (CEL Token Brief ¶ 25, citing Samuel Häfner, Blockchain Platform Design under Market Frictions: Decentralization, Service Provision, and Block Rewards (September 4, 2023).) The CEL Token provided its owners with various benefits on the Celsius network, most notably discounts on loan interest rates and increased rewards in Celsius’ Earn Program. (CEL Token Brief ¶…

… at $0.30/Token. ( Id. ) Though its rewards and utilities were tied to the Celsius Network, it was an “ERC- 20” token, meaning it could be deployed on the Ethereum blockchain and thus sent to any address, wallet, exchange, or other software compatible with this form of token. (Initial Galka Declaration ¶ 32.) Users could thus buy and sell CEL Tokens via decentralized exchanges, which faciliate direct peer-to-peer transactions; centralized exchanges, where an entity (similar to a…

… Although Mr. Faraj does not have formal degrees, he has years of experience in preparing research and development documents regarding various cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies and was able to speak knowledgably on these topics. ( See October 17, 2023 Hr’g Tr. 40:4-19; ; id. at 41:20-25.) The Court finds that Faraj has demonstrated sufficient knowledge in the field of cryptocurrency for the Court to consider his opinion. Notably, on all the relevant questions before…

… CEL at any given time reflected (1) the value it possessed by virtue of any utility it offered its user, (2) the speculative value that any crypto asset on the blockchain possesses, and (3) the influence of market fluctuations, whether from intentional price manipulation or other forces. Upon the event of the Pause—

rendering Account Holders unable to make use of any of CEL’s utilities—any utility value evaporated. Thus, only speculative value remained, buffeted by the chaotic…

Coronavirus Reporter; CALID, Inc. v. Apple, Inc.

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 03 Nov 2023 | 85 F.4th 948 | U.S. Federal

… apps related to COVID-19 be submitted by a recognized health entity such as a government organization or medical institution. Apple rejected Bitcoin Lottery, a blockchain app, under its policy “generally block[ing] blockchain apps.” Plaintiffs-Appellants brought claims against Apple for antitrust violations pursuant to Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act , breach of contract, racketeering, and fraud, challenging Apple ‘s allegedly monopolist operation of the…

Hermès Int’l v. Rothschild

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 23 Jun 2023 | 678 F. Supp. 3d 475 | U.S. Federal

… 6 As the Court explained in its summary judgment order, see Dkt. 140 at 5, a “smart contract” refers to a computer code that is also stored on the blockchain and that, among other things, determines the name of each of the NFTs, constrains how they can be sold or transferred, and controls which digital files are associated with each of the NFTs. Since the contract is distinct from the NFT with which it is associated, the contract and the NFT can therefore be owned by two unrelated people…

H&R Block, Inc. v. Block, Inc.

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit | 24 Jan 2023 | 58 F.4th 939 | U.S. Federal

… 2 Block, Inc. ‘s businesses also include TIDAL (a music streaming service), Spiral (a business to promote the adoption blockchain-based currency Bitcoin), and TBD (a decentralized finance platform in development, which is also based on blockchain technology)….

… , including its association with “building blocks, neighborhood blocks and their local businesses, communities coming together at block parties full of music, a blockchain, a section of code, and obstacles to overcome[,]” and in connection with the adoption of a “House of Brands ” marketing architecture, which involves separating the corporate identity from the names of the businesses or products the business owns. Block, Inc. ‘s chief executive officer publicized the name…

In re Celsius Network LLC

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York | 27 Dec 2023 | 656 B.R. 327 | U.S. Federal

… P.A. , New York , NY ; By: Joyce A. Kuhns , Esq., Timonium, Maryland . For Ignat Tuganov: By: Jeffrey

Sabin , Esq., VENABLE LLP , New York , New York . For the Blockchain Recovery Investment Consortium: By: Brian S. Lennon , Esq., Yara Kass-Gergi , Esq., WILLKIE FARR & GALLAGHER LLP , New York , NY . For Simon Dixon and BNK to the Future: By: Chase Stone , Esq., ERVIN COHEN & JESSUP LLP , Beverly Hills , CA . Anne Yeilding, Creditor, Pro se. Cathy Lau, Creditor, Pro se….

… the Debtors filed a Notice of Successful Bidder and Backup Bidder (ECF Doc. # 2713), identifying Fahrenheit LLC (” Fahrenheit “) as the successful bidder and the Blockchain Recovery Investment Consortium (the ” BRIC “) as the backup bidder. ( Id. ¶ 18.) B. Plan Confirmation and the SEC Pre- clearance Denial On November 9, 2023, the Court entered an order confirming the Debtors’ chapter 11 plan (the “Confirmation Order,” ECF Doc. # 3972, and the chapter 11 plan, the “Plan,”…

Pogodin v. Cryptorion Inc.

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York | 05 May 2019 | 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 228766 | U.S. Federal

… use of specialized computer hardware to verify the transactions in a particular cryptocurrency and add them to its cryptographically secured digital ledger, or “blockchain,” in exchange for payment in the form of newly-minted units of the cryptocurrency….

SEC v. PlexCorps

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York | 14 Dec 2017 | 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 206145 | U.S. Federal

… doom.lacroix@hotmail.com Stripe Account with owner email address sabrina.paradis@hotmail.fr Stripe Account with owner email address account@plexcoin.com Ethereum Blockchain Address 0x722fd3bd3f5156e5fc352 e1f211173e5f7732cef Ethereum Blockchain Address 0x2576ba9bb62e75dcd3eb6ca 880bc126c435fff1f Bitcoin Blockchain Address 1HJiV9emxcJmLXyk47HBqXeP 2BeRZVPEzi Square Account in the name of “Sidepay,” which has “LEGACY ID” # 30174265 Square Account…

Tomaszewski v. Trevena, Inc.

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania | 28 May 2019 | 383 F. Supp. 3d 409 | U.S. Federal

… work together, discuss the issues surrounding the merits of this litigation, and decide on a procedural course of conducting this litigation.”); cf. Takata v. Riot Blockchain, Inc. , Nos. 18-2293, 18-8031, 2018

U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189585 , 2018 WL 5801379 , at * 5 (D.N.J. Nov. 6, 2018) (holding that the lead plaintiff group was not adequate, in part because “[a]lthough they submitted a timely declaration, the declaration lacks any mention of contact prior to filing the motion”);…

CFTC v. Dao

United States District Court for the Northern District of California | 08 Jun 2023 | 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146460 | U.S. Federal

… 1 A DAO is a “decentralized autonomous organization” which is “a way to organize people, a social- coordination technology that relies on blockchain-based smart contracts and incentives” to facilitate collaboration and collective action. Paradigm Operations LP Brief (“Para. Amicus Br.”) [Dkt. No. 31] 2:16-

Put differently, DAOs allow “unrelated parties” to use software code on a blockchain without needing a “centralized coordinating authority,” and permit users “to take …

… with pertinent allegations provided again below. I assume the following well-pleaded facts are true on this motion for default judgment. bZeroX, LLC operated a blockchain-based software called the “bZx Protocol” from 2019 until August 23, 2021. (“Compl.”) [Dkt. No. 1] ¶ 1. The bZx Protocol operated on the Ethereum blockchain through the use of “smart contracts” that permitted anyone with “an Ethereum wallet” to, essentially, make investments and bet on the…

… D) , and so were subject to regulation under the CEA. The underlying commodities were digital assets like cryptocurrency tokens, including those on the Ethereum blockchain. See Compl. ¶¶ 15, 26-28. The relevant transactions were the ones conducted via the Ooki Protocol, which functionally served as a trading platform where anyone “with an Ethereum wallet” could bet on the rise or fall of certain virtual currencies by contributing collateral currency via smart contracts to open…

Kleiman v. Wright

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | 27 Dec 2018 | 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 216417 | U.S. Federal

… someone. Id. at ¶ 23 . The second way one can acquire a bitcoin is by “mining” them. Id. at ¶ 24 . Bitcoin is designed without a centralized authority to curate the blockchain. Id. at ¶ 25 . Therefore, “mining” is a process through which anyone with internet access can update the ledger and “mine bitcoins” by employing computer power to solve a complex computer problem. Id. at ¶ 26 . The first “miner” who solves the problem gets the right to update the ledger by adding a block…

… to the blockchain. Id. The protocol pays the successful miner in newly minted bitcoins, the number of which is determined by a pre-existing algorithm. Id. Since its beginning, Bitcoin has inspired the creation of over one thousand other digital currencies. Id. at ¶ 37 . These new currencies often borrow from the initial Bitcoin program but make …

… , Bitcoin has been modified by individuals in a way they believed would improve the Bitcoin itself, such as by allowing more transactions into a single block of blockchain. Id. at ¶ 38 . In these situations, the supporters of the new Bitcoin, have created a “fork” through which the original Bitcoin blockchain/ledger is

divided into two distinct, but identical, copies, (i) the original Bitcoin, and (ii) the new Bitcoin. Id. at ¶ 39 . The result is that any…

… Craig currently serves as Chief Scientist of a UK company called nChain in London. Id. at ¶ 158 . In 2016, Craig filed dozens of patents related to bitcoin and blockchain technology through nChain . Id. To date, neither the Estate nor W&K has received the assets allegedly belonging to them as a result of Dave’s early involvement in bitcoin and bitcoin mining. Id. at ¶ 159 . The Defendant seeks to dismiss Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint on several grounds, including lack of standing, the failure to…

… sufficiently (and with specificity) alleged a claim for conversion. In regards to the bitcoin’s specificity and identity, Plaintiffs have alleged that the bitcoin blockchain is “a giant ledger that tracks the ownership and transfer of every bitcoin in existence and that every bitcoin wallet and the number of bitcoin inside that particular wallet can be identified on the blockchain by referring to its “public key.” ECF No. [24], at ¶¶ 20-

Further Plaintiffs…

SEC v. Telegram Grp., Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 26 Jun 2020 | 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112329 | U.S. Federal

… , LEAD ATTORNEY, Cooley LLP , New York , NY . For John Hyman, Interested Party: Serafina Concannon , Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP , New York , NY . For Blockchain Association , Amicus: Keith Bradley, LEAD ATTORNEY, Squire Patton Boggs , Denver , CO ; Benjamin J Beaton, Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP , Cincinnati , OH . For TON Community Foundation, Amicus: Dimitry Joffe , LEAD ATTORNEY, Joffe Law P.C. , New York , NY . HON. P. KEVIN CASTEL , UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE….

Williams v. Kucoin

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 09 Feb 2022 | 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25053 | U.S. Federal

… members are “identifiable and ascertainable” either through KuCoin’s transactional records of purchases and sales of the TOMO Tokens or through publicly accessible blockchain ledger information. (R. at 27- 28.)…

B.I.G. LLC v. Yes Snowboards

United States District Court for the Central District of California | 03 Jun 2022 | 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99870 | U.S. Federal

… 3 Plaintiff argues that the NFTs are “not copies” because an NFT is a “non-interchangeable unit of data on a blockchain that cannot be replicated” and that serves as a “digital representation of an underlying asset . . . without transferring any rights in the underlying asset.” Dkt. 190 at 13. NFTs are a relatively new technology. There is little case law that considers them in the context of copyright claims. However, as Plaintiff concedes, an …

SEC v. Manor

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey | 24 Jun 2020 | 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 110513 | U.S. Federal

… UNITED STATES SECURITIES & EXCHANGE COMMISSION, NEW YORK , NY ; SIMONA K. SUH , ANN MARIE PREISSLER , U.S. SECURITIES & EXCHANGE COMMISSION, NEW YORK , NY . For CG

BLOCKCHAIN, INC. , BCT INC. SEZC, formerly known as, BCT INC. , Defendants: JOHN B. MCCUSKER

, LEAD ATTORNEY, MCCUSKER, ANSELMI, ROSEN & CARVELLI, P.C. , Florham Park , NJ . For United States Attorn UNITED STATES , Intervenor: CATHERINE RISDON MURPHY , LEAD ATTORNEY, OFFICE OF THE U.S. ATTORNEY, NEWARK , NJ . STANLEY…

… January 17, 2020 asserting a number of violations of federal securities laws. The Complaint alleges, among other things, that Defendants Boaz Manor, Edith Pardo, CG Blockchain, Inc. , and BCT Inc. SEZC (collectively, “Defendants”) “conducted a fraudulent and unregistered offering of digital asset securities, known during most of the relevant time as BCT Tokens (the ‘Tokens’),” in which Defendants marketed the Tokens to U.S. and foreign investors between August 2017 and…

… about the technology of their products, concealed information about Manor’s involvement, identity and criminal background, and misrepresented Pardo’s role in CG Blockchain and other affiliated entities (collectively “CGB”) (Id. , ¶¶ 2-5). According to the Complaint, both Manor and Pardo had a direct role in the offer and sale of the Tokens to investors (Id. , ¶¶ 39-40). These allegations are significantly similar to those set forth in the Criminal Action, which was initiated on January 16, 2020. …

GBM Global Holding Co. v. 91 Individuals Attached to Schedule A

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 13 Jul 2022 | 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 126084 | U.S. Federal

… decided by an arbitrator and not by a court or judge. Id. § 10.3. After registering their accounts, Respondents carried out a malicious “51% attack” on the BSV blockchain, and by briefly overtaking the mining power, were able to implant a trail of sham transactions that created the appearance of Respondents possessing 91,000 authentic BSV tokens. Petitioner was duped into treating the sham tokens as authentic and credited a total of 91,000 authentic BSV tokens into digital…

Jonna v. Bitcoin Latinum

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division | 26 Jul 2022 | 617 F. Supp. 3d 758 | U.S. Federal

… cryptocurrency is called Token, which unlike, say, the U.S. dollar, “is created, distributed, traded, and stored with the use of a decentralized ledger system known as blockchain.” (ECF No. 11, PageID.233.) Plaintiffs allege that Token’s characteristics make it akin to a security. ( Id. ) Latinum currently offers Tokens for “pre-sale” to the general public on its website. ( Id. at PageID.236.) The website states that Token is the “next generation Bitcoin block-chain based…

… that was backed by an insurance conglomerate and partnered with other “prominent sponsors[.]” ( Id. ) Kevin told Simon about partnerships with Steve Wynn, Monsoon Blockchain, and conference calls with Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase . ( Id. ) Kevin also touted Latinum’s demand, stating Simon “had

very limited time to act to invest in Latinum.” ( Id. at PageID.241.) Kevin also held himself out to be knowledgeable about the cryptocurrency industry and Latinum specifically….

… has been overstated (if not completely misstated) by Latinum. Specifically, Plaintiffs allege that Latinum’s website purports to be the “next-generation Bitcoin blockchain-based token, capable of massive transaction volume, digital asset management, cybersecurity, and transaction capacity.” (ECF No. 11, PageID.236.) Latinum published press releases on its website “that are designed, at least in part, to induce investors and potential investors to invest in Tokens[.]” ( Id. at…

Safex Found., Inc. v. Safeth, Ltd.

United States District Court for the District of Columbia | 26 Mar 2021 | 531 F. Supp. 3d 285 | U.S. Federal

… stating, inter alia , “safex will sell crystal meth and homemade guns”; “I just want to buy drugs anonymously and tax free on a decentralized marketplace on its own blockchain, and with its own mineable currency. Maybe Safex one day”; “[on] Safex you will be able to buy all the cocaine and hookers you want.”; and “Safex is going to be like alphabay . . . the only difference is that it cannot be taken down.” Jan. 25, 2021 Emails; see also infra note 11 and accompanying text….

… at least 2017, Dabek has issued a stream of social media posts and press releases promoting Safex’s products, and has also spoken as an expert at conferences on blockchain and cryptocurrency. See Jan. 25, 2021 Emails; Mar. 26, 2021 Emails; see also Kahl , 856 F.3d at 115 (noting that “the plaintiff’s past conduct” is probative of whether plaintiff possesses the requisite role in the public controversy (quoting Lohrenz , 350 F.3d at 1279 )). Indeed, by plaintiffs’ own admission,…

… implement Dascoin’s payment and lending platforms” and “helped Dascoin identify and hire technical talent[,] including programmers, cryptographers, and other technical blockchain professionals.” Id. ¶¶ 9-11. He denies that he was “aware of any government investigations into Dascoin while [he] was an independent consultant,” id. ¶ 13, or that he was personally “engaged in any Ponzi scheme, ‘exit scam,’ or ‘pump and dump’ scheme” while working for Dascoin, id. ¶ 18. In short, he…

Bandyopadhyay v. Obei

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | 28 Feb 2023 | 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33382

| U.S. Federal

… be a medium of exchange, for which generation or ownership records are supported through a distributed ledger technology that relies on cryptography, such as a blockchain.”) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)….

… be a medium of exchange, for which generation or ownership records are supported through a distributed ledger technology that relies on cryptography, such as a blockchain.” Note 1, supra . Cryptocurrency, as a digital asset, is not capable of being touched, and as a medium of exchange, has the utility of fulfilling an economic need. Accordingly, cryptocurrency is an intangible good, qualifying it as chattel for the purposes of Plaintiff’s state law conversion claim. The…

United States SEC v. Qin

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 25 Jul 2022 | 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131902 | U.S. Federal

… institutional cryptocurrency custody account, interviewing witnesses and issuing subpoenas to obtain information regarding potential Receivership Property, analyzing blockchain transactional data to determine whether cryptocurrency may be Receivership Property and issuing subpoenas to third parties to identify the location of assets and foreign-based third parties that are believed to possess significant Receivership Property and to request information and records relating to…

UMG Recordings, Inc. v. OpenDeal Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 05 Jul 2022 | 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117998 | U.S. Federal

… 2 “Non-fungible tokens” are units of data stored on a blockchain that are created to transfer ownership of physical objects or digital media. Because NFTs can be easily sold and re-sold, with their transaction history stored on the blockchain, NFTs can function as investments that can store value and increase over time. See Hermès Int’l v. Rothschild , No. 22 Civ. 384, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS …

… as to the source of these opportunities. For instance, Avery Lipman, UMG’s president, claims that in November 2021, when he met with executives from NiftyLabs, a blockchain company, they congratulated him on the Mona Lisa Offering, thinking Republic Records was behind the venture. Lipman Decl. ¶ 30.

UMG also cites two news articles discussing the Mona Lisa Offering and the Republic Platform as examples of confusion, although both articles clearly note that Republic Records, the…

ZG Top Technology Co. v. Doe

United States District Court for the Western District of Washington | 25 Feb 2019 | 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29616 | U.S. Federal

… For the reasons that follow, ZG TOP ‘s Motion is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART . I. BACKGROUND ZG TOP , a Mongolian company, describes itself as a “global blockchain asset trading platform” that “provides an online digital asset trading platform for products commonly known as cryptographic tokens, digital tokens or cryptographic currency.” Dkt. # 1 at ¶¶ 6, 8. As part its business, ZG TOP uses “computers and computer servers to operate its trading platform and to host…

In re Power Block Coin, LLC

United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Utah, Central Division | 09 Oct 2024 | 2024 Bankr. LEXIS 2484 | U.S. Federal

… 1, the U.S. Trustee objected to the Debtor’s Subchapter V election, followed later the same day by a combined joinder and objection from Zhouyang “Mason” Song; Blockchain Recovery Investment Consortium, LLC, as Representative for the Post-Effective Date Celsius Debtors; and Mohsin Y. Meghji,

Litigation Administrator, as Representative for the Post-Effective Date Celsius Debtors (collectively, the “Objecting Creditors”). The Court conducted a scheduling conference on August 19, which was followed…

SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 07 Aug 2024 | 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140766 | U.S. Federal

… Network, Phillip Goldstein, Amici: Avi Weitzman , Paul Hastings LLP , New York , NY . For SpendTheBits, Inc., Amicus: Joam Alisme, Alisme Law LLC, Brooklyn, NY . For Blockchain Association , Amicus: Jason P. Gottlieb , LEAD ATTORNEY, Morrison Cohen, LLP ( NY ), New York , NY . For Coinbase, Inc. , Amicus: Nola Breglio Heller , Milbank LLP , New York , NY . For Crypto Council for Innovation, Amicus: Robert Lee Boone , Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP , New York , NY ….

… DENIED IN PART. BACKGROUND This case involves Defendants’ offer and sale of XRP, the native digital token of the XRP Ledger, a cryptographically secured ledger or “blockchain.” Order at 2. On December 22, 2020, the SEC commenced this action. See Complaint, ECF No. 1. An amended complaint was filed on February 18, 2021. ECF No. 46. As relevant here, the SEC alleged that Ripple engaged in three categories of unregistered XRP offers and sales: (1) Institutional Sales under written…

Sirer v. Aksoy

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | 22 Oct 2021 | 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 204653 | U.S. Federal

… Ava Labs , is not an indispensable party to this defamation action. Material Facts • Plaintiff Emin Gun Sirer is the founder and CEO of Ava Labs , which built a blockchain platform called Avalanche. • Defendant Emre Aksoy is a “product marketing expert” and “crypto thought leader” with approximately 180,000 YouTube subscribers and 100,000 Telegram subscribers. • Defendant allegedly posted a video on his YouTube channel accusing Plaintiff of being a member of a terrorist…

… Aksoy on social media accusing Plaintiff of being a member of a terrorist organization. Plaintiff is the founder and CEO of Ava Labs , which built and launched a blockchain-based and open-source platform, known as Avalanche, for launching decentralized applications. ECF No. [1] at ¶¶ 13-14. Transactions in Avalanche rely on a crypto-asset called AVAX, which can be bought and sold on various crypto-asset exchanges. Id. ¶¶ 14-15. According to the Complaint, Defendant is a…

AM Gen. LLC v. Activision Blizzard, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 31 Mar 2020 | 450 F. Supp. 3d 467 | U.S. Federal

… defendant’s conduct is consumer-oriented; (2) that the defendant is engaged in a deceptive act or practice; and (3) that the plaintiff was injured by this practice.” Blockchain Lux. S.A. v. Paymium, SAS , No. 18 Civ. 8612 (GBD), 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133897 , 2019 WL 4199902 , at * 11 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 7, 2019)

(quoting Heskiaoff v. Sling Media, Inc. , 719 Fed. Appx. 28 , 31 (2d Cir. 2017)) . Plaintiff has not provided any admissible evidence that (1) Defendants’ actions or…

Symbiont.io, Inc v. Ipreo Holdings, LLC

Court of Chancery of Delaware | 13 Aug 2021 | 2021 Del. Ch. LEXIS 174 | Delaware

… . Salerno believed that LTS would be a more attractive, comprehensive, and valuable solution if delivered using distributed ledger technology, commonly called a blockchain. JX 268 at ‘858; Salerno Tr . 592. Salerno also anticipated using smart contracts to automate additional aspects of the loan settlement and servicing process. At the time, blockchain and smart contracts were hot concepts. Ipreo thought a solution using those technologies would appeal to…

… building a platform that allows financial market participants to create . . . self-executing digital contracts that are stored in a distributed database called a ‘blockchain.'” Id. at ‘643. The presentation claimed that six months earlier, in August 2015, Symbiont had “completed its first Smart Securities issuance” on a blockchain “by putting its [own] cap table and securities on the Bitcoin Blockchain.” Id. at ‘644. Symbiont described the…

… technology startup, to develop a proof-of-concept (“POC”) demonstration for Symbiont’s “Smart Loans” product. JX 19; JX 21 at ‘581-82. Emmanuel Aidoo headed the blockchain effort at Credit Suisse . In a meeting with Salerno, Aidoo said that the Smart Loans product could be a “rocket engine” for Ipreo ‘s LTS product. JX 19. Prompted by Aidoo’s comment, Salerno and Smith discussed whether the Smart Loans product should be part of the Joint Venture. Salerno thought it should be;…

… party. The Technology Agreement contemplated that the Company’s technology solution would combine three principal components: (i) Assembly, Symbiont’s underlying blockchain platform; (ii) smart contracts running on Assembly to execute tasks associated with servicing and settling loans; and (iii) a set of user interfaces to allow loan market participants to access the platform. Krellenstein Tr . 203-05; JX 636 ¶¶ 30-

The Technology Agreement called for Symbiont to develop and…

… demand of the syndicated loan market in North America”; • Consensus, which required that the primary network participants regularly agree on the current state of the blockchain; • Auditability, which prevented historical data from being deleted or revised unintentionally; • Privacy, which allowed only permitted users to access encrypted data; and • Upgradability, which enabled the platform’s code to be updated without disrupting the blockchain. See SOW § 4.1;…

Rensel v. Centra Tech, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | 14 Jun 2018 | 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100720 | U.S. Federal

… Compl. at ¶ 11. Centra Tech advertised itself to consumers as “the world’s first Debit Card that is designed for use with compatibility on 8† major cryptocurrencies blockchain assets.” Compl. at ¶ 30. As such, Centra Tech proposed to be the first company to provide a bridge between the nascent cryptocurrency industry and the general retail world, transforming blockchain currencies, which are currently accepted only in limited settings, into widely usable…

… a smart contract has been created, computer transaction protocols will execute the terms of a contract automatically based on a set of conditions. Tsui S. Ng, “Blockchain and Beyond: Smart Contracts,” Bus. L.

Today, Sept. 2017 (Am. Bar Assoc. ). A party making a purchase via the smart contract, would not have had to agree to any of the terms contained in the Token Sale Agreement in order to complete the purchase and would have automatically received a corresponding amount of…

Rensel v. Centra Tech, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | 25 Jun 2018 | 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106642 | U.S. Federal

… Compl. at ¶ 11. Centra Tech advertised itself to consumers as “the world’s first Debit Card that is designed for use with compatibility on 8+ major cryptocurrencies blockchain assets.” Compl. at ¶ 30. As such, Centra Tech proposed to be the first company to provide a bridge between the nascent cryptocurrency industry and the general retail world, transforming blockchain currencies, which are currently accepted only in limited settings, into widely usable…

In re Sanctuary Belize Litig.

United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Southern Division | 02 Oct 2019 | 408 F. Supp. 3d 650 | U.S. Federal

… The cryptographic hash value, time stamp, transaction data, public addresses or other information sufficient to identify, locate, and track cryptocurrency in any blockchain or distributed ledger technology system that is belonging to for the use or benefit of, or subject to access by any Receivership Entity, Defendant, or Relief Defendant. D. Upon the request of FTC counsel or the Receiver, provide FTC counsel and the Receiver, within seven (7) days of any request, with copies…

Solis v. Latium Network, Inc.

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey | 10 Dec 2018 | 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 207781 | U.S. Federal

… Defendants Johnson and Carden (collectively, the “Individual Defendants”) are the co-founders of Defendant Latium, a privately-held Delaware corporation that operates a “blockchain-based tasking platform[.]” (Compl. ¶¶ 7-9, 25, ECF No. 1.) As advertised, Latium allows users “to create tasks, select the desired applicants, verify that a task has been completed to specified standards, and pay with Latium’s own cryptocurrency[,]” known as Latium X (“LATX”) tokens. ( Id. ¶¶ 1, 25.)…

MacDonald v. Dynamic Ledger Solutions, Inc.

United States District Court for the Northern District of California | 20 Dec 2017 | 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 209509 | U.S. Federal

… independent non-profit foundation in Zug, Switzerland . The Foundation was to serve as the recipient of ICO funds and to help promote the development and use of the Tezos blockchain. DLS , however, retained control of the Tezos source code and other intellectual property. Defendants Gevers, Ponz, and Schmitz-Krummacher were named as the Foundation’s directors. The Tezos ICO itself began in July of 2017 and lasted about two weeks. It was “uncapped” which meant there was no limit…

Rensel v. Centra Tech, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | 31 May 2022 | 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97704 | U.S. Federal

… Offering (“ICO”). ECF No. [1]. Centra Tech claimed to be “the world’s first Debit Card that is designed for use with compatibility on 8+ major cryptocurrencies blockchain assets[,]” id. ¶ 30, and conducted the ICO to raise capital for further development of the Centra Debit Card and Centra Wallet, id. ¶ 2. During its ICO, Centra Tech offered sales of the Centra Token (“CTR”). Id. Plaintiffs claim that “Defendants raised over $30 million in digital cryptocurrencies by offering…

Sleep No. Corp. v. Unknown Party

United States District Court for the District of Arizona | 17 Mar 2023 | 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75363 | U.S. Federal

… , 1211 (D. Nev. 2000) (preliminary injunction granted for Lanham Act and cybersquatting violations requiring “transfer [of] ownership of the Domain Names”); EZ Blockchain LLC v. Blaise Energy Power, Inc.

, 589 F. Supp. 3d 1102 , 1114 (D.N.D. 2022) (same for conversion claim; “To do otherwise would be to sanction the unlawful possession of the [property] when the Defendants have presented no valid justification for maintaining possession over them.”). 17. Thus, the Court finds the Winter factors …

Kleiman v. Wright

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | 18 Sep 2020 | 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 171906 | U.S. Federal

… The Complaint alleges that following David Kleiman’s death, Defendant perpetrated a fraudulent scheme to seize Plaintiffs’ bitcoins and their rights to certain blockchain related intellectual property. This scheme included, among other things, producing fraudulent documents and forging David Kleiman’s signatures on documents to purportedly show that David Kleiman transferred to Defendant bitcoins and intellectual property rights belonging to David Kleiman and W&K before David…

… interest in the intellectual property, source code, algorithms, and patentable materials claimed by DeMorgan which relates to the development of smart contract and Blockchain based technologies and the commercialization of Blockchain and smart contract system research. ECF No. [488-14] at 293-94. II. LEGAL STANDARD The standard of review on cross-motions for summary judgment does not differ from the standard applied when only one party files such a motion. See..
… were time barred. Id. at 5 (citing ECF No. [68] at 33). According to Defendant, the “only purportedly stolen intellectual property [P]laintiffs have identified is ‘blockchain based technologies and smart contracts,’ which is also what they alleged to be their trade secrets.” Id. (internal citation omitted). Thus, he posits that because “the intellectual property at issue in all of [P]laintiffs’ claims is their purported trade secrets, and all underlying facts of their trade…

… secret misappropriation are preempted. Id. (citation omitted). In his view, the “only purportedly stolen intellectual property [P]laintiffs have identified is ‘blockchain based technologies and smart contracts,’ which is also what they alleged to be their trade secrets.” Id. at 5 . See also id. at 21 . He, thus, maintains that because Plaintiffs’ “purported trade secrets are their purported intellectual property, FUTSA pre-empts their remaining claims—except their claim for…

… frauds, period, full stop.” ECF No. [526] at 15. He also argues that there is no evidence that any bitcoin allegedly mined by Satoshi Nakamoto ever moved on the blockchain over the last nine years. Id. at 16 . Because of this, he theorizes that the purported partners “also had to have had an oral agreement to not access the bitcoin for more than a year, which also would require dismissal of this claim for violating the statute of frauds.” Id. In reply, Plaintiffs maintain that there “is still no …

Balestra v. Atbcoin LLC

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 29 Mar 2022 | 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57393 | U.S. Federal

… physical addresses for potential class members,” Lead Plaintiff intends to publish the notice on a national wire service, on Lead Counsel’s firm website, on a leading blockchain news and media outlet called CoinDesk.com, and on a Reddit forum dedicated to ATB Coin. (Pl.’s Prelimin. Approval Mem. 24.) I conclude that the notification plan constitutes the best notice practicable under the circumstances, and meets the requirements of due process. D. Appointment of Claims…

Greenhouse v. Polychain Fund I LP

Court of Chancery of Delaware | 29 May 2019 | 2019 Del. Ch. LEXIS 194 | Delaware

… judgment on the pleadings. A. Parties and Relevant Non-Parties Defendant, Polychain, is a Delaware limited liability company. It is a fund comprising a portfolio of blockchain assets that includes digital currencies and “Simple Agreements for Future Tokens” (“SAFTs”). Defendant, Polychain 2030, LLC, is Polychain’s current general partner. Nonparty, Polychain Capital LP (“Polychain Capital”), was the general partner of the Fund at the time of Plaintiff’s withdrawal from the…

Emin Gün Sirer v. Emre Aksoy

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | 05 Aug 2022 | 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140596 | U.S. Federal

… social media accusing Plaintiff of being a member of a terrorist organization. Plaintiff is the founder and CEO of Ava Labs , which built and launched Avalanche, a blockchain-based and open-source platform for launching decentralized applications. ECF No. [1] at ¶¶ 13-14. Transactions in Avalanche rely on a crypto- asset called AVAX, which can be bought and sold on various crypto-asset exchanges. Id. ¶¶ 14-15.

According to the Complaint, Defendant is a “product marketing expert”…

CFTC v. McDonnell

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York | 28 Aug 2018 | 332 F. Supp. 3d 641 | U.S. Federal

… was good. I thought they were professional and they seemed to know what they were doing, so. . . . COURT: What does it mean when it says we are exiting Ethereum, BLOCKCHAIN in caps, symbol ETH, for the following reasons, and then in black letter it says projected RO1 realized . . . ? WITNESS: .So the initial purchase that they recommended I think was for $12 and something, and they had a goal of getting to

$50. So the stock was — the crypto was — went over — I think at $53…

… . McDonnell ? A That is correct, sir.   Q And the message as reflected here says: You send me one

BTC. I’ll trade W/U personally minute-to-minute all coins, blockchain.info/address/1KIRS and then three periods. Did I read that right? A Yes, sir. Q Can you translate it? A Mr. McDonnell , that was what he offered to provide me more guidance for the lifetime membership. And he sent me his Bitcoin address in order to send the one Bitcoin for the more advanced guidance and…

Eckhardt v. State Farm Bank FSB

United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Peoria Division | 12 Mar 2019 | 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40196 | U.S. Federal

… credit card. The cryptocurrency at issue herein is created with cryptographic functions (essentially mathematical algorithms) performed using a software called “Blockchain.” (Doc. 11 at 6-7). It is described as “virtual money” but is not legal tender for public or private debts; neither its value nor production are regulated by any government at this time. (Doc. 11 at 6). One can obtain cryptocurrency by purchasing it from another; “mining” it, i.e. , creating new units of the cryptocurrency; or …

SEC v. Blockvest, LLC

United States District Court for the Southern District of California | 15 Dec 2020 | 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 235650 | U.S. Federal

… they “partnered” with and was “audited by” Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited , (Dkt. No. 3-3, Barnes Decl. ¶ 7); and created a fictitious regulatory agency, the Blockchain Exchange Commission (“BEC”), creating its own fake government seal, logo, and mission statement that are nearly identical to the SEC’s seal, logo, mission statement as well as using the same address as the SEC’s headquarters. (Dkt. No. 3- 13, Wilner Decl., Exs. 13-19 at 28-51.) In addition, during the litigation, the Court found…

Ripple Labs Inc. v. YouTube LLC

United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division | 20 Nov 2020 | 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 218207 | U.S. Federal

… Act (“CDA”) , 47 U.S.C. § 230(c)(1) , because it is not a content provider. The court grants the motion (with leave to amend). STATEMENT Ripple is an “enterprise blockchain company” that developed and manages the cryptocurrency XRP , which can be used in place of traditional currencies to facilitate cross- border payments. Banks, corporations, and individuals buy XRP . YouTube is a video-sharing platform. Ripple and XRP owners were the target of a fraud — the XRP Giveaway Scam…

19 Tao Vega LLC v. Holo Ltd.

United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Oakland Division | 18 Dec 2019 | 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 229367 | U.S. Federal

… Harris-Braun distributed an operating system called “Ceptr.” Brock Decl. ¶ 3. “Holochain” is a sub-project of the Ceptr operating system and “is an alternative blockchain framework, providing a secure system for exchanging messages and ensuring data integrity.” Id. ¶ 4. ” Holo ” is an app under development by the Holo Defendants that will serve as “a hosting platform to make it easier for others to host applications they build on top of other services provided by Holochain.”…

FTC v. Dluca

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | 22 Mar 2018 | 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49530 | U.S. Federal

… The cryptographic hash value, time stamp, transaction data, public addresses or other information sufficient to identify, locate, and track cryptocurrency in any blockchain or distributed ledger technology system that is belonging to, for the use or benefit of, under the control of, or subject to access by any Defendant; and D. Within five (5) business days of receiving a request from Plaintiff’s counsel, provide Plaintiff’s counsel with all Documents pertaining to such Asset,…

Ox Labs v. Bitpay, Inc.

United States District Court for the Central District of California | 24 Jan 2020 | 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38795 | U.S. Federal

… persuaded that the same logic applies to Bitcoins. Bitcoin is not merely an “idea” that is entirely divorced from any physical form. Rather, it is dependent on blockchain, a public ledger which records all the transactions. While not directly on point, the Court also finds support from Commodity Futures Trading Comm’n v. McDonnell , which concluded that Bitcoins are commodities that can be regulated by the CFTC 287 F. Supp. 3d 213 , 228 (E.D.N.Y. 2018) (“Virtual currencies are ‘goods’ exchanged …

Combs v. Safemoon LLC

United States District Court for the District of Utah | 29 Mar 2024 | 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58417 | U.S. Federal

… and the procedural record before it. In 2021, Mr. Nagy and Mr. Smith created the SafeMoon token—a cryptocurrency asset created via the Binance Smart Chain mainnet blockchain. Mr. Nagy and Mr. Smith partnered with Mr. Karony and Mr. Haines-Davies, with the former operating as developers and the latter operating as the management and marketing team. Other members were later added to the team. The Amended Complaint alleges that Mr. Karony became the company’s Chief Executive…

… acted as the Chief Operating Officer (“COO”), Mr. Wyatt was the Chief Technology Officer (“CTO”), Mr. Smith was the Chief Blockchain Officer, Mr. Church was the Community Manager, and Mr. Witriol was part of the marketing team. The Complaint refers to Mr. Karony, Mr. Nagy, Mr. Smith, Mr. Haines-Davies, and Mr. Wyatt collectively as the “Executive Defendants.” On March 8, 2021, SafeMoon launched the SafeMoon token. According to the Amended Complaint, SafeMoon…

… that Mr. Smith also had ultimate authority over the content of the SafeMoon whitepapers. According to the Amended Complaint, Mr. Smith served as SafeMoon ‘s Chief Blockchain Officer and as a lead developer of the SafeMoon token. But as with Mr. Nagy, there is nothing in the Amended Complaint linking Mr. Smith to the whitepapers. And regardless, Janus suggests Mr. Nagy would have no Rule 10b-5(b) liability for the contents of the whitepapers. Thus, like Mr. Nagy, Mr. Smith is…

CFTC v. Reynolds

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 02 Mar 2021 | 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38896 | U.S. Federal

… Bouleware Decl. ¶¶ 24-26, 28-34; Anthony Decl. ¶¶ 7-8; Stratton Decl. ¶¶ 30-43. 14. Reynolds instead misappropriated customers’ Bitcoin through thousands of circuitous blockchain transactions. Compl. ¶¶ 10, 90. C. Misappropriation of Customers’ Bitcoin 15. During the Relevant Period, Reynolds and Control- Finance ultimately solicited and misappropriated at least 22,190.542 Bitcoin, valued at approximately

$143,000,000, from more than 1,000 customers worldwide, including at least…

Tetragon Fin. Grp. Ltd. v. Ripple Labs Inc.

Court of Chancery of Delaware | 19 Mar 2021 | 2021 Del. Ch. LEXIS 52 | Delaware

… Labs, Inc. (” Ripple “) has moved for summary judgment (the “Motion”). For the following reasons, I grant Ripple ‘s Motion. I. BACKGROUND Ripple is an enterprise blockchain company. It uses a cryptocurrency called XRP in its payment network, and hosts a platform, RippleNet, to facilitate transactions. Plaintiff Tetragon Financial Group Limited is an investment company. Plaintiff, through its affiliates (collectively, ” Tetragon “), holds a majority of Ripple ‘s Series C…

Hodges v. Monkey Capital, LLC

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | 14 Aug 2018 | 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 229669 | U.S. Federal

… Director Stefan Hickmott) it would be operating a decentralized hedge fund to invest in items such as SpaceX supply contracts and hostile public company takeovers and Blockchain systems while simultaneously speculating on large blocks of cryptocurrency. As represented by Monkey Capital, the management team’s “diverse backgrounds and experience in the funding and acquisition industry bolsters the Company’s ability to select seed and early stage businesses with the greatest…

CFTC v. Dean

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York | 09 Jul 2018 | 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165861 | U.S. Federal

… failure to pay redemptions. (Compl. ¶ 86.) 74. For instance, on December 9, 2017, Dean posted a message on the “Official” Facebook Group, stating: “Withdraws; SLOWWW blockchain…btc was losing it there for a while lol I am waiting on a few large transactions to be moved over into our BTC wallet for the mass payment for everyone’s withdraws.” (Compl. ¶ 87.) 75. When customers asked Defendants for the return of their funds, their requests were ignored. (Compl. ¶ 88.) 76. Dean…

Factset Research Sys. v. Cg Blockchain

Supreme Court of New York, New York County | 17 Jan 2020 | 2020 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 4415 | New York

… Factset Research Sys. v. Cg Blockchain, 2020 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 4415…

… FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS INC. , Plaintiff, against CG BLOCKCHAIN, INC., Defendant. Factset Research Sys. v. Cg Blockchain Index No. 650027/2019 Supreme Court of New York, New York County 2020 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 4415 January 17, 2020 , Filed [EDITOR’S NOTE: THIS ORDER HAS BEEN SIGNED BY THE JUDGE, BUT SIGNATURE TEXT WAS ILLEGIBLE IN THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT AND THEREFORE THE JUDGE’S NAME IS NOT DISPLAYED…

… .] JUDGMENT The summons and complaint in the above-entitled action having been served upon defendant CG Blockchain, Inc. on January 8, 2019 through delivery to the office of the Secretary of State and by via first class mail on July 15, 2019 and the time for defendant to appear, answer, or raise an objection to the complaint in point of law having expired, and defendant not having appeared, answered, or raised an objection to the complaint …

… that plaintiff, FactSet Research Systems Inc. , with a place of business located at 601 Merritt 7, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851, have judgment and do recover from CG Blockchain, Inc. with a last known place of business located at 77 Water Street, Unit 700, New York, New York 10005 in the sum of $2,835,000 plus interest from January 3, 2019 at 9% per annum in the amount of $ 264, 936.58 together with costs and disbursements in the sum of $ 605.00 , amounting in all to the sum of…

… plaintiff have execution. /s/ [Signature]. CLERK. SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK . FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS INC. ,. Plaintiff, against CG BLOCKCHAIN, INC.,. Defendant. Index No.: 650027/2019. BILL OF COSTS . [ILLEGIBLE PARAGRAPH]. SUPREME

State of New York , County of New York . ss. . Attorney’s affirmation. The undersigned, an attorney admitted to practice in the courts of this state, affirms: that I am the attorney(s) of record for the plaintiff in…

Smart Contract Case Law

Yuga Labs, Inc. v. Ripps

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 23 Jul 2025 | 144 F.4th 1137 | U.S. Federal

… parties. The minting, storage, and transfer of NFTs on a blockchain are accomplished through a “smart contract.” Edward Lee, NFTs As Decentralized Intellectual Property , 2023 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1049 , 1076 (2023) ; see also Risley v. Universal Navigation Inc. , 690 F. Supp. 3d 195 , 202 (S.D.N.Y. 2023) (describing smart contracts as “programs that write the terms of the agreement between the buyer and seller of tokens directly into…

… the program’s code”), aff’d in part, vacated in part No. 23-1340-cv, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 4460 , 2025 WL 615185 (2d Cir. Feb. 26, 2025) . A smart contract is not a contract in the legal sense; it is an “automatically executing computer code.” Jean Bacon et. al. , Blockchain Demystified: A Technical and Legal Introduction to Distributed and Centralised Ledgers , 25 Rich. J.L. & Tech. 2 , 93 (2018) . In other words, a smart contract is essentially a computer program “that automatically…

… action, such as carrying out transfers of, or executing other actions relating to, digital assets according to a set of pre-specified rules.” Id. at 86 . As a result, smart contracts can be used to automate agreements between parties according to the instructions written into their code. II. Factual Background A. The Bored Ape Yacht Club Yuga created the BAYC NFT collection, which is one of the most widely recognized NFT collections in the world. Yuga created this collection…

… digital, artist-centric NFT marketplace) to mint the RR / BAYC collection. The collection was ultimately hosted on (or digitally embedded into) an Ethereum blockchain smart contract that contains unique lines of code, including smart contract addresses (digital locations on the blockchain ledger), contract creators, metadata, and creation dates. When Ripps created the RR / BAYC NFT collection by embedding entries in the smart contract, he…

… blockchain-based smart contracts. See id. Customers can use those reports to verify the authenticity and provenance of their NFTs. See id. Yuga claims that “[n]othing in [Defendants’] counterfeit NFTs or the underlying smart contract referred consumers to any disclaimer identifying them as fakes or to any commentary about Yuga or BAYC .” According to Yuga…

In re Bibox Grp. Holdings Ltd. Sec. Litig.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 16 Apr 2021 | 534 F. Supp. 3d 326 | U.S. Federal

… , the continued development of blockchain technology has allowed for several other uses for crypto- assets. One such use for blockchain technology is the so-called “smart contract,” which essentially functions as an automated, secure digital escrow account. A smart contract allows the parties to define the terms of their contract and submit the crypto-assets contemplated in the contract to a secure destination. The smart contract then automatically distributes the crypto-assets to the appropriate …

… party upon the satisfaction of the relevant conditions precedent defined in the smart contract. Crypto- assets based on the Ethereum blockchain, among others, are capable of smart contract functionality.

Crypto-assets may also be used as “utility tokens,” which allow the holder to use or access a certain product or service. Finally, another use for crypto-assets is as speculative “security tokens.” Security tokens,…

Hermès Int’l v. Rothschild

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 02 Feb 2023 | 654 F. Supp. 3d 268 | U.S. Federal

… particular “MetaBirkin,” that is, a unique digital image of a Birkin handbag rendered by Rothschild . Rothschild also commissioned computer engineers to operationalize a “smart contract” for each of the NFTs. A “smart contract” refers to a computer code that is also stored on the blockchain and that, among other things, determines the name of each of the NFTs, constrains how they can be sold or transferred, and controls which digital files are associated with…

… D. Mentzer (“Mentzer Decl.”), Ex. 1 at 9, 10, 16, 21 n.9, 24, 29. Importantly, the “smart contract” is distinct from the NFT withwhich it is associated: the contract and the NFT can therefore be owned by two unrelated people or entities. Id. Indeed, Rothschild held onto the “smart contract” for each of the “MetaBirkin” NFTs even after the NFTs themselves had been sold to other buyers, which means he retains the power …

… shrouded by a white cloth, not a unique “MetaBirkins” bag. Corrigan Decl., Ex. 21 at 227:16-228-3. Once the NFTs were minted on December 3, Rothschild — using the “smart contract” — replaced the “shrouded” object image with a unique “MetaBirkin” bag associated with the NFT , which continued to serve as the digital asset linked to each NFT for the duration of the period covered by this case. Id. Around the same time, Rothschild contemplated “minting” more MetaBirkins NFTs to…

… Before proceeding, some clarity is needed on exactly what works are at issue. “Because the digital images are not permanent and can be easily replaced” through use of a smart contract, the plaintiff believes that the title “MetaBirkins” refers to the NFTs “separate and apart from the digital images” of faux- fur bags with which they are associated. See Plfs. Br. in Support at 9. Indeed, it is undisputed that the image associated with each of the NFTs before they were minted was…

… until Rothschild replaced that image with faux-fur Birkin bags through use of the NFTs’ smart contracts. To this, Rothschild responds that the term “MetaBirkins” includes the digital images themselves because the descriptions that preceded the sales of the NFTs made clear to consumers that they were purchasing a digital handbag image and not just a digital deed divorced from that image. Given the centrality of consumer confusion…

SEC v. Telegram Grp. Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 24 Mar 2020 | 448 F. Supp. 3d 352 | U.S. Federal

… can be used to store and transfer value, provide access to real-world services, offer voting or governance rights within the blockchain, or power applications and smart contracts built into the blockchain. (Doc. 16 ¶¶ 4, 5); (Doody Report ¶ 11). For instance, the native digital asset of the Bitcoin blockchain is Bitcoin and of the Ethereum blockchain is Ether. (Doc. 75 ¶¶ 22-23); (Doody Report ¶ 10)….

… ability to participate in what could be a category defining investment” and “[o]pportunity to invest in a token that could prevail as the leading store of value and smart-contract platform”)). At the time of the 2018 Sales, Telegram’s stated goal of developing Grams into the first mass market cryptocurrency was plausible, to Telegram, the Initial Purchasers, and the wider market, because of Messenger and its enormous user base. If the plans for a technically identical…

Symbiont.io, Inc v. Ipreo Holdings, LLC

Court of Chancery of Delaware | 13 Aug 2021 | 2021 Del. Ch. LEXIS 174 | Delaware

… 9 The following analogy illuminates the relationship between Assembly and the smart contracts: “[I]f Symbiont Assembly is Windows, then the smart contracts are Microsoft Word. And instead of being used for editing Word documents, they’re used for managing interactions among the participants.” Krellenstein Tr

. 205….
… venture. By combining forces, Symbiont and Ipreo planned to revolutionize the secondary market for syndicated loans. Symbiont committed to provide distributed ledger and smart contract technology. Ipreo committed to provide a management team with expertise in the syndicated loan industry, an existing user interface with patented loan trade servicing technology, and procedures and know-how for streamlining the processes involved in servicing and trading syndicated loans….

… valuable solution if delivered using distributed ledger technology, commonly called a blockchain. JX 268 at ‘858; Salerno Tr . 592. Salerno also anticipated using smart contracts to automate additional aspects of the loan settlement and servicing process. At the time, blockchain and smart contracts were hot concepts. Ipreo thought a solution using those technologies would appeal to industry participants. See JX 268 at ‘868; Marcus Tr . 485. B. Ipreo Approaches…

… the status of the smart contracts as “seriously disturbing.” JX 103 at ‘220. On May 5, 2017, Salerno reported to Ipreo that Assembly had “scalability and replay-ability issues.” JX 142 at ‘248. He advised that “[i]t would be wasteful to continue to develop smart contracts until the re-platforming is complete.” Id. J. The Dispute Over Whether Symbiont Had…

… as of March 31, 2018, unless the Company sold equity to a third party at an earlier date. JX 271 at ‘981. Symbiont did not assign two full-time developers for the smart contracts and one part-time developer to the front-end user interface. Symbiont originally dedicated two resources to smart contracts—Slama and Riccardo Abbate, a developer who had never worked as a commercial software developer and had no experience with blockchain technology or smart contracts. Slama left Symbiont in mid-2017, …

Hermès Int’l v. Rothschild

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 18 May 2022 | 603 F. Supp. 3d 98 | U.S. Federal

… things or digital media. Id. ¶ 4. When NFTs are created, or “minted,” they are listed on an NFT marketplace where NFTs can be sold, traded, etc., in accordance with “smart contracts” that govern the transfers. Id. ¶¶ 61, 63. Because NFTs can be easily sold and resold with a transaction history securely stored on the blockchain, NFTs can function as investments that can store value and increase value over time. Id. ¶ 69. When an NFT is linked to digital media, the NFT and…

… linked to digital media files (e.g. , JPEG images, .mp4 video files, or .mp3 music files) to create a uniquely identifiable digital media file. Id. ¶ 60. The NFTs and smart contracts are stored on the blockchain (so that they can be traced), but the digital media files to which the NFTs point are stored separately, usually on either a single central server or a decentralized network. Id. ¶ 62. Fashion brands are beginning to create and offer digital replicas of their real-life…

Hermès Int’l v. Rothschild

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 23 Jun 2023 | 678 F. Supp. 3d 475 | U.S. Federal

… 6 As the Court explained in its summary judgment order, see Dkt. 140 at 5, a “smart contract” refers to a computer code that is also stored on the blockchain and that, among other things, determines the name of each of the NFTs, constrains how they can be sold or transferred, and controls which digital files are associated with each of the NFTs. Since the contract is distinct from the NFT with which it is associated…

… metabirkins.com domain name and related social media accounts featuring the Birkin mark to Hermès. Third , to transfer any MetaBirkins NFTs in his possession, including the smart contracts associated with each NFT, to a “cryptocurrency wallet” designated by Hermès. Fourth , to notify Hermès of any income received from the MetaBirkins NFTs and transfer that income to Hermès. Fifth , to notify anyone who purchased a MetaBirkins NFT of the relief described in the permanent…

… not explicitly mislead as to their source.” Def. Br. at 15. And second, he contends that if the Court were to go further and order Rothschild to transfer the NFTs'”smart contracts” to Hermès, its injunction would “destroy the property rights of bona fide, good faith purchasers of [the NFTs] who are not parties to this case.” Id. On the other end of the ledger, Hermès submits that the Court’s failure to grant it such injunctive relief would sanction the irreparable harms described in the previous …

… an injunction with these terms. The proposed order only asks that the Court order Rothschild and his associates to transfer their remaining NFTs (including related smart contracts) to Hermès and to refrain from misleading the public about an association between Hermès and the MetaBirkins NFT project.

Perhaps realizing this, Rothschild also argues that the third parties’ First Amendment rights would be “eviscerate[d]” by a Court order directing Rothschild to transfer the…

… to the company. This is because Hermès, if it were to receive a “smart contract” from Rothschild, would presumably alter the NFTs’ smart contract so that the NFTs are not linked to digital images of Birkin bags. But Rothschild’s concern is obviated by the fact that, for different reasons later discussed, the Court declines to order Rothschild to transfer the MetaBirkins NFTs and their smart contracts…

CFTC v. Dao

United States District Court for the Northern District of California | 08 Jun 2023 | 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146460 | U.S. Federal

… 1 A DAO is a “decentralized autonomous organization” which is “a way to organize people, a social- coordination technology that relies on blockchain-based smart contracts and incentives” to facilitate collaboration and collective action. Paradigm Operations LP Brief (“Para. Amicus Br.”) [Dkt. No. 31] 2:16-18. Put differently, DAOs allow “unrelated parties” to use software code on a blockchain without needing a “centralized coordinating authority,” and permit users “to take actions to edit…

… 2 I assume as true that smart contracts are, as alleged by the CFTC and contextualized by the amici, pieces of computer or software code, not necessarily contracts as understood in the legal sense. See Compl. ¶ 25; Order at 2 n.1….

… software called the “bZx Protocol” from 2019 until August 23, 2021. (“Compl.”) [Dkt. No. 1] ¶ 1. The bZx Protocol operated on the Ethereum blockchain through the use of “smart contracts” that permitted anyone with “an Ethereum wallet” to, essentially, make investments and bet on the relative rise and fall of particular virtual currencies. See id. ¶¶ 25-28, 31. As the CFTC explains it, these investments and bets allowed users to “contribute margin (collateral) to open leveraged…

… questions related to governance of the Protocol. Id. Finally, bZeroX LLC had “Administrator Keys” which allowed bZeroX to “access and control” the operation of the smart contracts (pieces of software code) and the funds held in those smart contracts, including by updating code, pausing or suspending trading, and directing deposits of funds to users. Id. ¶ 34. In August 2021, bZeroX LLC “transferred control” of the software Protocol to “the bZx DAO,” which was subsequently renamed “Ooki DAO.” Id. …

… served as a trading platform where anyone “with an Ethereum wallet” could bet on the rise or fall of certain virtual currencies by contributing collateral currency via smart contracts to open leveraged positions, borrowing virtual currency from the Protocol’s liquidity pool, and exchanging with other currencies. Id. ¶¶ 25-28, 31. The Protocol user then earned profits or lost their collateral currency based on the actual rise or fall of the other currencies. See id. ¶¶ 28-31….

Kleiman v. Wright

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | 18 Sep 2020 | 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 171906 | U.S. Federal

… no way Dave will be left out. We need at least a year more.” Id. at ¶ 125 (citing ECF No. [83-8] at 12). Defendant credited Mr. Kleiman with their shared work on “smart contracts.” Id. at ¶ 126 (citing ECF No. [534-12]). In February 2014, Defendant wrote an email to Mr. Conrad and Mr. Paige stating “Dave and I had a project in the US. He ran it there. We kept what we did a secret.” Id. at ¶ 127 (citing ECF No. [534-24] at 3). In April 2014, Defendant wrote to Ira Kleiman that he had “convinced […

… believe they hold an interest in the intellectual property, source code, algorithms, and patentable materials claimed by DeMorgan which relates to the development of smart contract and Blockchain based technologies and the commercialization of Blockchain and smart contract system research. ECF No. [488- 14] at 293-94. II. LEGAL STANDARD The standard of review on cross-motions for summary judgment does not differ from the standard applied when only one party…

… ECF No. [68] at 33). According to Defendant, the “only purportedly stolen intellectual property [P]laintiffs have identified is ‘blockchain based technologies and smart contracts,’ which is also what they alleged to be their trade secrets.” Id. (internal citation omitted). Thus, he posits that because “the intellectual property at issue in all of [P]laintiffs’ claims is their purported trade secrets, and all underlying facts of their trade secret claims are the same as those…

… preempted. Id. (citation omitted). In his view, the “only purportedly stolen intellectual property [P]laintiffs have identified is ‘blockchain based technologies and smart contracts,’ which is also what they alleged to be their trade secrets.” Id. at 5 . See also id. at 21 . He, thus, maintains that because Plaintiffs’ “purported trade secrets are their purported intellectual property, FUTSA pre-empts their remaining claims—except their claim for civil theft—because they are…

United States SEC v. Balina

United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division | 22 May 2024 | 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91557 | U.S. Federal

… discussed the sale, and Balina periodically chimed in. ( Id. ) The PrimaBlock pool address was located on the Ethereum blockchain. (App. 280). The address contains a smart contract that provides the ability for Balina to direct administrative and operational activities of the pool. ( Id. ) On May 26, 2018, Balina posted on Telegram : “Sending funds soon. Those that want to pull please do so asap. We won’t wait long.” (App. 237-39.) He testified that he then initiated a…

… members that he was sending their contributions to Sparkster , notifying them when the funds were sent. (App. 149, 239.) Balina sent the pool funds to Sparkster with the smart contract at PrimaBlock. (App. 142.) Sparkster ‘s CEO thanked Balina when he received the funds. (App. 149.) Then, the smart contract for the pool distributed the tokens to investors after they were received from Sparkster . (App. 256, 285.) Balina possessed title to the tokens under the…

Rensel v. Centra Tech, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | 25 Jun 2018 | 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106642 | U.S. Federal

… Tech Token Sale Home Page (providing visitors to the page with information on how to purchase Centra Tokens through the Token Sale Home Page or via the Centra Tech Smart Contract). 4. Plaintiffs Have Suffered Recoverable Damages Under Section 12(a)(1) Between September 21, 2017 and October 1, 2017, Plaintiff He purchased 702,269.4 CTR in exchange for Ether and Bitcoin valued at approximately

$768,299.00, ECF No. [64] at 10. On December 17, 2017, Plaintiff He sold all of his CTR…

Yuga Labs, Inc. v. Hickman

United States District Court for the District of Nevada | 16 Aug 2023 | 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143209 | U.S. Federal

… asserted facts as true, incorporates those allegations, and provides a factual summary of the complaint below. Plaintiff is a company responsible for developing the “smart contract” underlying a series of non- fungible tokens (“NFTs”) called the ” Bored Ape Yacht Club ” (” BAYC “). (ECF No. 1 at 4). As the court understands the technology, NFTs are digital identifiers that provide the purchasing user with a unique piece of content—here, digital art. Plaintiff sold 10,000 unique…

… consumers associate the marks with plaintiff. ( Id. at 10-11). Defendant is a Nevada resident. ( Id. at 3). Alongside three non-parties to this suit, he created a separate smart contract (“RRBAYC RSVP”) that underlies a series of NFTs called “RRBAYC.” ( Id. at 11). These “copycat” NFTs use different digital identifiers than plaintiff’s (and come from a different source), but purport to provide the purchasing user with the same product as plaintiff’s BAYC NFTs. ( Id. ) That is,…

Friel v. Dapper Labs, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 22 Feb 2023 | 657 F. Supp. 3d 422 | U.S. Federal

… Dapper Labs released CryptoKitties, which was built on the Ethereum blockchain, a public blockchain using a “Proof of Work” protocol. CryptoKitties used Ethereum’s “smart contract functionality . . . to allow users to breed and collect digital cats with a variety of characteristics.” (AC ¶ 28.) CryptoKitties were a hit. So much so that the volume of activity, combined with Ethereum’s burdensome “Proof of Work” validation, overwhelmed Ethereum’s network, causing a slowdown of…

CFTC v. McDonnell

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York | 06 Mar 2018 | 287 F. Supp. 3d 213 | U.S. Federal

… General Records Management — Title & Ownership Records Management (e.g., real property deeds and title transfer) — Regulatory Reporting and Oversight ■ Cross-Industry — Smart Contracts (i.e., self executing agreements) — Resource / Asset Sharing Agreements (e.g., allowing rental of a personal car left behind during a vacation or allowing rental of excess computer or data storage) — Digital Identity (e.g., proof of identity when entering into a contract) THE ROLE OF THE CFTC The…

… ranging implications for capital formation and risk transfer. They include machine learning and artificial intelligence, algorithm-based trading, data analytics, “smart” contracts valuing themselves and calculating payments in real-time, and distributed ledger technologies, which over time may come to challenge traditional market infrastructure. They are transforming the world around us, and it is no surprise that these technologies are having an equally…

… a new store of value, facilitate secure payments, enable asset transfers, and power new applications. Additionally, DLT will likely develop hand-in-hand with new “smart” contracts that can value themselves in real-time, report themselves to data repositories, automatically calculate and perform margin payments and even terminate themselves in the event of counterparty default. DLT may enable financial market participants to manage the significant operational,…

SEC v. Binance Holdings Ltd.

United States District Court for the District of Columbia | 28 Jun 2024 | 738 F. Supp. 3d 20 | U.S. Federal

… experience with BNB in an interview in 2021, he said: [W]e have learned a lot from the BNB coin (the Binance token) about the power of coupling incentives inside of a smart contract with fungibility. Think about what the Binance token is — it represents the right to receive discounts on our trading fees, which people use it for, a lot. But increasingly, people are choosing to hold the token, rather than spend it for the discount because they found that the increased value of…

Audio Visual Artistry v. Tanzer

Court of Appeals of Tennessee, At Jackson | 26 Dec 2012 | 403 S.W.3d 789 | Tennessee

… Contract for a “smart home” was predominately for the sale of goods under Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-2- 105 . The contract contemplated the sale of various, moveable components; the service was incidental to the company’s overarching purpose of its business; and the costs of labor and services were insignificant compared to the cost of the equipment…

… Tanzer to play music in the seven, independently-controlled music “zones.” Remote control “touch- panels” would control and integrate DVD, television, music, and other smart home functions. The contract further included a Lutron automated lighting system, which would be integrated into the Crestron system, along with an intercom/phone/whole house networking system. At the time the parties entered their contract, construction had just commenced on Mr. Tanzer’s…

Energy Smart Indus., LLC v. Morning Views Hotels-Beverly Hills, LLC

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 08 Sep 2016 | 660 Fed. Appx. 859 | U.S. Federal

… 1 For the reasons stated in the district court ‘s opinion, we conclude Florida law governs this contract. See Energy Smart Indus. , 112 F. Supp. 3d at 1334 ….

… 2 Because the parties agree that the LED Lighting Retrofit Agreement is a valid and enforceable express contract, Energy Smart is foreclosed from bringing claims of quantum meruit and unjust enrichment. See Ocean Communs., Inc. v. Bubeck , 956 So. 2d 1222 , 1225 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007) ; Energy Smart Indus.

, 112 F. Supp. 3d. at 1337 ….

… controls. Here, a plain reading of the LED Lighting Retrofit Agreement leads us to the same construction of the contract as the district court reached. The parties contracted for Energy Smart to retrofit, in some manner, those areas of Morning View’s hotel that are listed in Exhibit A. The contract clearly states: “ESI’s Work shall consist of the tasks enumerated in the Contract Documents together with such ancillary tasks and services which are reasonably…

Combs v. Safemoon LLC

United States District Court for the District of Utah | 29 Mar 2024 | 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58417 | U.S. Federal

… Complaint alleges that Mr. Nagy was a founder of SafeMoon and a lead developer on the token. It then alleges that Mr. Nagy and Mr. Smith “wrote the code for the SafeMoon smart contract.” But while the Amended Complaint discusses the SafeMoon whitepapers in great detail, nowhere does it suggest that Mr. Nagy was an author of those whitepapers. And even if Mr. Nagy were an author of the whitepapers, Janus held that involvement in the preparation of similar documents was…

In re Celsius Network LLC

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York | 09 Nov 2023 | 655 B.R. 301 | U.S. Federal

… utility token native to the Celsius Network. A utility token is a “form of cryptographic token[] whose primary purpose is to allow users to consume the platform’s (smart contract) services.” (CEL Token Brief ¶ 25, citing Samuel Häfner, Blockchain Platform Design under Market Frictions: Decentralization, Service Provision, and Block Rewards (September 4, 2023).) The CEL Token provided its owners with various benefits on the Celsius network, most notably discounts on loan…

SEC v. Coinbase, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | 27 Mar 2024 | 726 F. Supp. 3d 260 | U.S. Federal

… ” due to cybersecurity attacks, loss of customers’ private keys, or other security issues, or if Coinbase ‘s node “validator, any third-party service providers, or smart contracts fail to behave as expected.” ( Id. ¶ 345). Contrary to Coinbase ‘s assertions, the risk of loss matters even if it applies broadly to all Coinbase customers (not just staking participants), and even if the risk applies equally to solo-staking and non-solo- staking customers. (Def. Br. 27-28). In each…

Parmenter v. Prudential Ins. Co. of Am.

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit | 14 Feb 2024 | 93 F.4th 13 | U.S. Federal

… is [a question] of law for the judge,” Allen v. Adage, Inc. , 967 F.2d 695 , 698 (1st Cir. 1992) ; the determination of which includes consideration of the entire contract, Smart v. Gillette Co. Long-Term Disability Plan , 70 F.3d 173 , 179 (1st Cir. 1995) . See also Amyndas Pharms., S.A. v. Zealand Pharma A/S , 48 F.4th 18 , 31 (1st Cir. 2022) (“[A]n inquiring court must avoid tunnel vision: instead of focusing myopically on individual words, it must consider contractual…

Smart v. Tower Land %26 Inv. Co.

the Supreme Court of Texas | 12 Mar 1980 | 597 S.W.2d 333 | Texas

… –Waco 1932, writ ref’d); Wood v. Scott , 48 S.W.2d 1024 , 1025 ( Tex. Civ. App.–Waco 1932, writ ref’d). Four documents represent the mortgage transaction between Smart and Tower; a contract of sale, an installment note, a deed of trust, and an extension agreement. Smart and Tower had agreed that these documents comprise their entire agreement. The installment note, containing Smart ‘s promise to pay the purchase price and interest, also contains the…

… amount paid for taxes. Stone v. Tilley, supra at 202 ; Wood v. Scott, 48 S.W.2d 1024 , 1025 ( Tex. Civ. App.–Waco 1932, writ ref’d). As discussed above, the mortgage contract between Smart and Tower comports with this right to equitable subrogation to the taxing authority’s lien and expressly precludes personal liability. The parties having fixed their rights by contract, additional rights, such as are incidental to the sovereign’s taxing power, will not be…

… rehearing). According to Smart, the interest in advance terms, in conjunction with the acceleration clause and no refund provision, results in a potentially usurious contract. Smart argues that if he had defaulted during the first twenty-two months of the loan, Tower could have accelerated maturity of the entire principal and would not have been required to refund the three years’ prepaid interest. If Tower did not credit part of this prepaid interest to…

Founder Starcoin, Inc. v. Launch Labs, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of California | 09 Jul 2018 | 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113737 | U.S. Federal

… noteworthy. It discusses how artists can raise money through token launches and states: “Tokens are the native crypto-assets of a blockchain app. They are powered by smart contracts (code-based financial agreements) that are programmed into Ethereum . When an artist tokenizes, they’re turning their intellectual property (IP) into a financial asset, so an artist’s token reflects the value of their creative output.” (Ex. 14, at 2.) It is difficult to imagine a more on-point…

Ajaxo, Inc. v. E*Trade Financial Corp.

Court of Appeal of California, Sixth Appellate District | 23 Apr 2020 | 48 Cal. App. 5th 129 | California

… statements. Koo acknowledged there was no mention of the subscription model in his expert report and broadly outlined a methodology based on Ajaxo’s charges on its Smart Agent contract with Fidelity at a rate of 50 percent of “$30 per month per user.” He explained that he had calculated a royalty in his head based on the subscription model but did not write it down and could not provide an estimate. Koo also clarified that he had not calculated a royalty based on the “enterprise model” disclosed …

Morgan St. Partners, LLC v. Chi. Climbing Gym Co., LLC

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division | 01 Mar 2022 | 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35633 | U.S. Federal

… prove the following four elements: (1) a contract existed; (2) Plaintiff performed the conditions precedent required by the contract; (3) Defendants breached the contract; and (4) damages. Smart Oil, LLC v. DW Mazel, LLC , 970 F.3d 856 , 861 (7th Cir. 2020) , reh’g denied (Sept. 4, 2020). The parties agree that valid contracts exist in the Lease and Amended Lease. There is no evidence that Plaintiff failed to perform the conditions precedent. Defendants also…

Smart Call, L.L.C. v. Mobile

Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourteenth District, Houston | 25 Aug 2011 | 349 S.W.3d 755 | Texas

… 8 Although Hinojosa complained of “significant performance delays” prior to the Texas meeting, Genio does not contend Smart Call breached its contract with Genio until Soshan came to Texas ….

… minimum contacts support personal jurisdiction over Smart Call : (1) the three invoices sent to Genio’s Sugar Land office, each of which Genio contends was a separate contract Smart Call breached; (2) Soshan’s June 2009 meeting with Flores and Hinojosa in Texas , at which he informed them that Smart Call would not be able to perform as agreed; (3) Smart Call ‘s knowledge that the SIM cards provided under the agreement would be used by Texas customers and therefore must be…

… minimum contacts with Texas because (1) Genio contacted Smart Call in Ohio ; (2) Smart Call had not done any business in Texas before contracting with Genio; (3) the contract between Genio and Smart Call was to be performed in Ohio and Montana ; and (4) Smart Call has no physical presence or employees in Texas and has never marketed its products and services in Texas . Smart Call argues that merely contracting with a Texas company does not constitute purposeful…

… make the contract enforceable. See Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 2.201(b) (providing an unsigned contract for goods may be enforceable upon written confirmation of the contract‘s terms). Smart Call further argues the forum-selection clause is evidence of Smart Call ‘s intent to avoid availing itself of the benefits and protections of Texas law. See Michiana , 168 S.W.3d at 792 (citing Burger King , 471 U.S. at 482 ) (holding choice-of-law provisions should be…

… meeting bears a substantial connection to the operative facts of this litigation. Genio’s action against Smart Call is a simple breach-of-contract claim, and it alleges Smart Call breached the contract at the Texas meeting. See Glencoe Capital Partners II, L.P. v. Gernsbacher , 269 S.W.3d 157 , 167 (Tex. App.— Fort Worth 2008, no pet.) (“Unlike the misrepresentations in Moki Mac , which were tangential to the plaintiffs’ core negligence claim, Appellants’…

Siwka v. Smart Recovery Serv., LLC

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division | 25 Aug 2010 | 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97981 | U.S. Federal

… conversion. There is no allegation or claim that Defendant GMAC was not within its rights or law to contract this service out to another, namely Semperian, who contracted with Defendant Smart Recovery. Similarly, because the property was not converted, stolen or embezzled, Plaintiffs’ statutory conversion claim must also fail For these reasons, the Court should grant Defendants Benavides and Smart Recovery’s Motion for Summary Judgment as to Plaintiffs’ Counts…

Smart World Techs., LLC v. Juno Online Servs. (In re Smart World Techs., LLC)

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit | 12 Sep 2005 | 423 F.3d 166 | U.S. Federal

… 21 Juno and WorldCom were parties to service contracts unrelated to the Smart World bankruptcy litigation. The settlement was in part Juno ‘s payment on those other obligations….

Coastal Cement Sand v. First Interstate Credit Alliance

Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourteenth District, Houston | 10 Apr 1997 | 956 S.W.2d 562 | Texas

… strictly construed. Steves Sash & Door Co. v. Ceco Corp. , 751 S.W.2d 473 , 476 (Tex. 1988) . Courts will presume the parties intended to enter into a non-usurious contract. Smart v. Tower Land & Inv. Co. , 597 S.W.2d 333 , 341 (Tex. 1980) . When a party is claiming damages against one who “contracts for” usurious interest, they must show the contract, as construed, is usurious on its face. “The contract under construction will not be found usurious on its face…

McRae v. Smart

Supreme Court of Tennessee, Nashville | 01 Dec 1907 | 120 Tenn. 413 | Tennessee

… first, to supply necessary tools with which to supply a model, including the Barnes foot power lathe and chuck, the full ownership of which was to pass to defendant Smart when the contract should be completed; second, to furnish all necessary money to obtain a patent and all expenses incident thereto. It will thus be perceived that there were mutual and reciprocal obligations imposed upon the respective parties by the terms of this contract. The court of…