Baker Marquart [Waymaker] Successfully Resolves the First Securities Class Action over a Digital Token Sale

In 2017, Waymaker was hired to defend the founders of the Tezos blockchain (one of the leading blockchains) and their company in litigation arising out of a token sale that raised more than $230 million (one of the largest token sales in history). This was one the nation’s first class action lawsuits alleging that a digital token sale constitutes an unregistered securities offering in violation of federal law. After several years of hard-fought litigation during which Waymaker won a key discovery dispute and then the named plaintiff withdrew, the firm and its co-counsel negotiated a highly favorable settlement that fully resolved the claims of settlement class members and allows the Tezos project to focus on its mission. In granting final approval to the class action settlement in August 2019, the Honorable Richard Seeborg in the Northern District of California observed that the case involved “cutting edge litigation” and “new terrain.”