Securities lawsuits filed over either cryptocurrencies or bitcoin have tripled so far this year as U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Jay Clayton announced a crackdown on that industry, according to a new report by legal analytics firm Lex Machina.

Released on Tuesday, the report found there were 45 cases filed so far this year that mentioned “blockchain,” “cryptocurrency” or “bitcoin” in the filings, up from 15 in 2017. And the SEC, which has vowed to scrutinize cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs), was responsible for 30 percent of the cases filed in 2018, according to Laura Hopkins, legal data expert at Lex Machina, a unit of LexisNexis. That’s the second-most popular filer of such cases, topped only by the law firm Levi & Korsinsky, she said.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]