Robert A Schwinger

July 22, 2024 | New York Law Journal

Even under the 2023 amendment to Rule 702 that attempts to curtail some courts' overly permissive approaches to 'Daubert', recent rulings show that expert blockchain analysis can indeed satisfy the gatekeeping threshold for admissibility in litigation.

By Robert A. Schwinger

17 minute read

May 24, 2024 | New York Law Journal

Legal developments concerning blockchain and digital assets are not limited to the English-speaking world or to common-law jurisdictions. Earlier this year brought some thought-provoking developments on digital assets and related technologies from Spanish-speaking civil law jurisdictions.

By Robert A. Schwinger

19 minute read

March 25, 2024 | New York Law Journal

Recent court decisions arising from the purchase and sale of digital assets have grappled with liability claims posing such questions about information that had been stated or omitted.

By Robert A. Schwinger

18 minute read

January 22, 2024 | New York Law Journal

Recent court rulings show the venerable common-law tort of conversion providing an effective vehicle for relief in a number of cryptocurrency and NFT disputes.

By Robert A. Schwinger

19 minute read

November 27, 2023 | New York Law Journal

A number of recent cases involving blockchain platforms illustrate the difficulties that sometimes emerge in understanding what roles software coders do and don't play when it comes to such systems, and thus whether they may potentially be faced with liability.

By Robert A. Schwinger

17 minute read

September 25, 2023 | New York Law Journal

What if you had been waiting years to get judicial clarity on a legal issue, only to receive contradictory rulings from two different judges in the same court just weeks apart? This ironic outcome is what befell the crypto industry in two high-profile challenges to SEC enforcement actions regarding sales of crypto tokens.

By Robert A. Schwinger

22 minute read

July 24, 2023 | New York Law Journal

A discussion of the "flexible approach" English courts have taken to enable victims of digital asset frauds and thefts to obtain effective relief.

By Robert A. Schwinger

17 minute read

May 22, 2023 | New York Law Journal

Utah recently passed novel legislation granting "decentralized autonomous organizations"—often referred to as "DAOs"—their own recognized form of legal existence and providing for limited liability. This new kind of legal entity has several distinctive attributes, including some intended to help DAO members remain anonymous. But questions loom about how Utah's hopes for DAO member anonymity will fare when they come up against recently adopted provisions under U.S. federal law that seek to promote transparency by forcing disclosure of the individuals who stand behind legal entities. Can this seeming conflict be resolved? Can the autonomous ultimately remain anonymous?

By Robert A. Schwinger

19 minute read

March 27, 2023 | New York Law Journal

A number of recent decisions in crypto bankruptcies and lawsuits illustrate the point that the plain text of the contracts between platforms and users often matters far more to defining their rights than any of the policy debates or philosophizing that sometimes can occupy the FinTech community and press.

By Robert A. Schwinger

17 minute read

January 23, 2023 | New York Law Journal

In his Blockchain Law column, Robert Schwinger takes a deep dive into the issue of legal responsibility when dealing with "smart contracts." He concludes: "Smart contracts are not simply a feature of nature that one might encounter as one might a volcano or a raging river. Humans create them, and humans make choices about interacting with them."

By Robert A. Schwinger

20 minute read