This year has already been a busy one in the crypto class action
litigation landscape. It has seen several significant court
decisions that have continued to shape the law in this growing
area, including decisions on dispositive motions and motions for
class certification. There have also been several
multimillion-dollar crypto class action settlements. In addition,
dozens of new crypto class action cases have been filed, auguring a
continued trend of further development in this area.
For example, courts in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit issued key decisions holding that whether the operator of a
crypto exchange may be held liable under federal securities laws
for the sale of unregistered securities turns, as an initial
matter, on whether the exchange is "centralized," meaning
that it intermediates and transacts between the buyer and seller,
or is "decentralized," meaning that the operator merely
develops automated computer codes (aka "smart
