Readers will recall that month when Cornerstone Research issued its annual report on securities class action lawsuit filings, the report showed that the number of crypto-related securities suits had soared, with 21 crypto-related suits filed in 2022, compared to only 11 in 2021. In the following guest post, Scott Schechter and Paul Curley take a look at this emerging new trend in securities class action lawsuit filings involving cryptocurrency and other digital asset-related securities suits. Scott and Paul are Partners in Kaufman Borgeest & Ryan’s Coverage Group in New York. I would like to thank Paul and Scott for allowing me to publish their article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Paul and Scott’s guest post.Continue Reading Guest Post: Crypto is the New Frontier in Securities Fraud Litigation
Although there have been literally dozens of SPAC-related securities class action lawsuits filed since January 1, 2021, in recent months the pace of filing of these lawsuits has noticeably slowed. After an extended period when many of these suits were filed each month, during the period since May 31, 2022 only three of these suits have been filed. However, this past week, a SPAC-related securities lawsuits was filed against Core Scientific, a digital mining company that merged with a SPAC in January 2022. As discussed below, this latest filed lawsuit has several interesting features. A copy of the complaint filed against Core Scientific can be found 
Late last month, when Cornerstone Research 
The number of securities class action lawsuit filings in the first half of 2022 remained at the lower levels that prevailed last year and below the more elevated levels that prevailed during the period 2017-2020. Though the number of securities class action lawsuit filings in the year’s first six months is below the recent higher levels, the number of suits filed is still consistent with long-term averages. The difference in the number of filings so far this year and the elevated numbers during the recent period were both largely due to merger objection lawsuit filings patterns.
From the outset of his time in office, SEC Chair 
There have been several investment fads and mass enthusiasms this year that have been agitating the financial markets, but amidst the froth the fizziest speculative investments on the scene are non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This new asset class uses blockchain technology to track tokens that are attached to verify the authenticity of everything from artwork to sports highlights. The boosters of these assets have mined the enthusiasm for collectibles to drive sky-rocketing asset values for NFTs. With this new type of asset attracting so much attention and activity, it arguably should come as no surprise that the backers promoting NFTs have attracted litigation as well.
In recent years, the SEC has established itself as an active cryptocurrency enforcement agency, according to a new report from Cornerstone Research. The report, entitled “SEC Cryptocurrency Enforcement: Q3 2013 – Q4 2020,” details that between July 2013 and year end 2020, the agency initiated a total of 75 enforcement actions and 19 trading suspension orders against respondents involved with digital assets. The report also shows that the agency’s cryptocurrency activity has steadily increased throughout the 2013-2020 period. A copy of the report can be found 
Here at The D&O Diary, we make it our business to watch securities class action lawsuit filings as they come in, to keep an eye on filing trends as they develop. For example, recently we have been looking for