(This page includes excerpts from an interview that was originally published in its entirety in The National Law Journal on May 3.)
The National Law Journal has named partner Oscar Shine a "Plaintiffs' Lawyer Trailblazer" in recognition of his successful history of representing plaintiffs in cryptocurrency disputes.
According to Shine, Selendy Gay recognized early on that “cryptocurrencies were, and are, emerging as a new asset class … We saw a market opportunity, in that very few firms were looking to protect individual crypto investors from bad actors in the market.”
Shine is currently representing investors in 12 separate class actions filed in the Southern District of New York against major crypto-asset exchanges and digital token issuers. The actions are based on claims of alleged violations of federal and state securities laws through the offering or sale of billions of dollars of unregistered securities.
Shine also represents a putative class of cryptocurrency investors. They are alleging that defendants falsely represented that tether, a purported “stablecoin,” was fully backed by U.S. dollars as part of a market-manipulation scheme that inflated the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, costing investors hundreds of billions of dollars.
Reflecting on the cryptocurrency sector, Shine says: “We are supporters of reasonable crypto regulation … We think blockchain is a promising technology, and, as it matures individual investors will benefit from a more orderly and regulated market.”
