TheCorporateCounsel.net

Liz’s recent blog about the importance of crypto issues made me feel a little guilty, since when it comes to crypto stuff I usually either avoid blogging about it or just make fun of it. So, to atone for my sins against the Blockchain, I offer up this Foley blog, which reviews various ongoing civil and criminal actions involving NFTs.  This excerpt from the intro explains why these cases are important:

These actions provide a glimpse into how NFTs will be integrated into existing legal frameworks, and may provide clarity over legal questions that loom large over companies and individuals in the business of creating or selling NFTs. For instance, recent actions show that courts and government authorities are beginning to uncover or take jurisdiction over assets on the decentralized blockchain.

Based on recent indictments, individuals are finding out the hard way that digital assets held on the blockchain—while often thought to be anonymous—are not beyond the purview of government enforcement and cannot be used to hide illicit gains. The methods used to uncover the identities of token or NFT holders may have implications not only for criminal enforcement, but also for actions where the identification or recovery of assets is significant such as divorce and bankruptcy. Recent enforcement activity by the United States and foreign governments should serve as a warning to those who think they can use digital assets for unlawful means.

Specific proceedings addressed in the blog the SEC’s Ripple enforcement proceeding, as well as the US Attorney for the SDNY’s criminal prosecution of the guys allegedly behind the “Frosties” rug-pull caper. But to me, the most interesting piece of litigation covered in the blog is Miramax’s lawsuit against Quentin Tarantino, who was apparently planning to auction scenes from Pulp Fiction in the form of NFTs. That suit was ultimately settled, but I’m sure Tarantino would say that it was yet another example of how “the path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. . .”

– John Jenkins