Jessi Brooks is the General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer at Ribbit Capital. Prior to Ribbit, Jessi was an attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she worked on high-profile crypto and national security cases. Jessi explains the blockchain tools used in the Bitfinex hack, why crypto > cash, how the DOJ works with stablecoin issuers, and much more. The conversation also covers Jessi’s journey from prosecuting domestic violence cases to crypto, and her perspective on building...
Jul 01, 2025•39 min
What steps should founders and their counsel take when launching a token or product in web3? In this episode, Jacob Robinson is joined by Nima Maleki (@Nimathefish), Counsel at Day One Law. Nima designs legal roadmaps for clients, including product counseling, token launches, and fundraising structures. Nima shares what’s market for launching blockchain products — ranging from regulatory and decentralization strategies to token valuations, whether founders still need a foundation for their proje...
Jun 24, 2025•42 min
In this episode, Jacob Robinson is joined by Justin Wales (@bitcoin_wales), Head of Legal (Americas) at Crypto.com and author of The Crypto Legal Handbook. Sponsor : This episode is brought to you by Day One Law — a boutique law firm helping crypto startups navigate complex legal challenges. Visit https://www.dayonelaw.xyz/ to get in touch. With the release of the book’s second edition, Justin shares what’s new: from stablecoin legislation and state-level licensing regimes to AI’s intersection w...
May 27, 2025•33 min•Ep. 146
If the law were truly “technology-neutral,” what would that look like in practice for a P2P securities transaction via smart contracts? In this episode, Jacob Robinson is joined by Tuongvy Le (@TuongvyLe12), who has served as General Counsel of Anchorage Digital, Partner and Head of Regulatory and Policy at Bain Capital Crypto, and Deputy GC and Compliance Officer at Worldcoin. She also spent almost six years at the SEC as Senior Counsel in the Division of Enforcement and Chief Counsel of the Le...
Apr 30, 2025•38 min•Ep. 141
In this episode, Jacob Robinson is joined by Dr. Chris Brummer (@ChrisBrummerDr), Professor of Financial Technology at Georgetown Law and Founder & CEO of Bluprynt, an AI and blockchain-powered platform for automating regulatory disclosures. Together, they unpack the SEC’s recent statement: Offerings and Registrations of Securities in the Crypto Asset Markets — a document that some say could mark a paradigmatic shift in the agency’s approach to digital asset regulation. We also discuss his a...
Apr 22, 2025•26 min•Ep. 144
In this conversation, Jacob Robinson and Amanda Tuminelli, Executive Director of the DeFi Education Fund, delve into the criminal code provision punishing unlicensed money transmitting businesses, why this is relevant for developers of non-custodial crypto projects, and how a recent memo from the Department of Justice on ending “the regulatory weaponization against digital assets" might not have gone far enough. Timestamps: ➡️ 00:00 Intro ➡️ 0:46 Sponsor: Day One Law ➡️ 01:05 What is Section 196...
Apr 18, 2025•26 min•Ep. 143
Jacob Robinson and Larry Florio delve into the SEC's recent statement on stablecoins and how SEC staff applied the Reves and Howey tests to determine whether stablecoins are considered securities. Show highlights: [2:00] What this statement means for lawyers [3:30] When stablecoins aren't securities [7:00] The platonic ideal of a stablecoin [11:00] Applying the Reves test to Covered Stablecoins [18:00] Applying the Howey test to Covered Stablecoins [25:00] The new-look SEC & much more. Discl...
Apr 11, 2025•33 min•Ep. 142
Josh Lawler is a partner at Zuber Lawler, where he leads the firm’s Emerging Technologies Group with a particular emphasis on blockchain technology. Josh previously practiced as a corporate securities and M&A attorney at Skadden, Arps. Jener Sakiri is an associate at Zuber Lawler and focuses on transactional and regulatory matters. He often works with clients involved in blockchain technology. He was previously the Chief Legal Officer of Niftify, a white label NFT marketplace solution for sm...
Jul 29, 2024•50 min
Nick Pullman (@ NickPullmanEsq ) is Corporate Counsel and founder of Day One Law Corporation, where he provides legal solutions for tech startups and investors. Nick was previously head of legal at an NFT startup and an associate at Cooley and DLA Piper. In this conversation, we cover: [2:53] Nick's introduction to Bitcoin [7:33] What's market: SAFEs, SAFTs [19:39] Other methods of raising capital Nick's seeing [24:21] Token grants [32:47] Entity structuring & much more. Disclaimer: Jacob Ro...
Jul 22, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Bill Hughes (@ BillHughesDC ) is Senior Counsel & Director of Global Regulatory Matters at Consensys Software, which is behind MetaMask, Infura, and various other software supporting the programmable blockchain ecosystem. For more on Bill’s background, I recommend episode 74 of Law of Code . This conversation is focused on the lawsuit Consensys brought in Texas federal court . Show highlights: [2:53] SAB 121, FIT 21 bill [9:51] Accepting crypto in Washington [15:26] The Ethereum ETF [26:38] ...
Jun 13, 2024•50 min
This conversation with two lawyers — Samir Patel and David Kuhn — and an entrepreneur who goes by OnlyLarping covers all aspects of Karate Combat, a novel form of sports league that is betting heavily on crypto. Show highlights: [2:51] What is Karate Combat? [7:26] Implementing token governance [13:11] Crypto and sports [19:34] Why they believe it is not gambling [32:49] Plans for Consensus 2024 & much more. Disclaimer: Jacob Robinson and his guests are not your lawyer. Nothing herein or men...
May 24, 2024•43 min
Recently, the Blockchain Association (BA) and the Crypto Freedom Alliance of Texas (CFAT) filed a lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking a court order to strike down the SEC’s Dealer Rule due to the SEC’s various Administrative Procedure Act (APA) violations including preventing industry participants from being able to operate under clearly communicated rules and a lack of a fair and transparent rulemaking process. This conversation covers that lawsuit and much more. Mari...
May 21, 2024•39 min
Justin Wales (@bitcoin_wales) is the Head of Legal for the Americas at Crypto.com. Before going in-house, he was a partner at the international law firm K&L Gates, where he represented crypto companies in all aspects of their business. His new book, The Crypto Legal Handbook , is a must-read guide through the laws of crypto, web3 and an ever-decentralizing world. I had an opportunity to read it prior to this conversation — and loved to see the Law of Code podcast mentioned — so this podcast ...
Apr 22, 2024•47 min
Today’s podcast covers the case of Roman Sterlingov, a 33-year-old Swedish-Russian national, was arrested by Internal Revenue Service criminal investigators at the Los Angeles airport and was accused of creating and operating Bitcoin Fog, a bitcoin “mixing” service that the US Justice Department claims Sterlingov used to enable $336 million in money laundering. I’m joined by J.W. Verret, an Associate Professor at George Mason and an expert witness who testified in the case, and Roman’s defense c...
Apr 17, 2024•51 min
The DeFi Education Fund and co-plaintiff Beba, an apparel company based in Texas, recently filed a pre-enforcement suit challenging the SEC’s regulation by enforcement approach to crypto and their policy that free airdrops are securities transactions. Amanda Tuminelli serves as the DeFi Education Fund's chief legal officer where she leads the organization's impact litigation and policy efforts. Jake Chervinsky recently joined Variant as Chief Legal Officer, where he leads the firm's legal team, ...
Apr 15, 2024•29 min
After the DEF submitted an amicus brief in the Roman Storm matter, which involves Tornado Cash, I spoke with the two authors: Amanda Tuminelli serves as the DeFi Education Fund's chief legal officer where she leads the organization's impact litigation and policy efforts. Jake Chervinsky recently joined Variant as Chief Legal Officer, where he leads the firm's legal team, and works closely with portfolio founders to overcome the regulatory hurdles holding them back. He’s a board member for the De...
Apr 14, 2024•28 min
Co-founded by longtime cryptolawyers Gabriel Shapiro and Alex Golubitsky, the mission of MetaLeX (which means beyond law) is to combine legal structures and autonomous tech to create best-in-class solutions serving DAOs, devs, and internet denizens with a suite of interoperable autonomous law solutions, which they refer to as MetaLeX OS. The goal is a bold one: Separate law from nation-states in a manner similar to how Bitcoin separates money and Ethereum finance from nation-states. [1:14] What ...
Mar 29, 2024•55 min
Stéphane Daniel ( @stephdan_law ) is a Partner at d&a partners, an independent law firm dedicated to tech and blockchain entrepreneurs in France and the EU. Stéphane advises high-tech firms with their structuring, fundraising, and M&A transactions. He was notably involved in the first legal structuring (under French law) of DAOs and regularly advises companies on equity, debt, token, or hybrid fundraising and M&A transactions involving blockchain companies. Show highlights: [4:01] Le...
Mar 15, 2024•50 min
Chris Giancarlo (@ giancarloMKTS ) is senior counsel and Co-Chair of the Willkie Digital Works practice in the firm’s New York office. Chris served as the thirteenth Chairman of the U.S. CFTC, where he oversaw regulation of the futures, options and swaps derivatives markets. During his tenure at the CFTC (2014-2019), Chris oversaw the first bitcoin futures products entering the marketplace. He’s also published a book, CryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money , which I highly recommend. Show ...
Mar 04, 2024•1 hr 20 min
Eric Hess (@ hess_legal ) is Founder & Managing Counsel at Hess Legal Counsel, a cybersecurity SaaS platform and consulting company, and hosts The Encrypted Economy podcast. In this episode, we’ll be exploring his recent paper Bridging Policy and Practice: A Pragmatic Approach to Decentralized Finance, Risk, and Regulation . For Part 1, a history of securities regulation in the US, see our prior episode #122 . Show highlights: [1:30] Surprising insight about securities regulation [4:30] 2022...
Feb 27, 2024•39 min
Primavera De Filippi is a Director of Research at the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris, Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and Visiting Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute. Her research focuses on the legal challenges and opportunities of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence, with specific focus on governance and trust. Primavera is the author ...
Feb 22, 2024•48 min
Jeffrey T. Dinwoodie is a partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and a member of the firm’s Financial Institutions Group. He has served in senior roles at the SEC and the U.S. Treasury Department, including as Chief Counsel to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and, earlier, as Chairman Clayton’s Trading and Markets Counsel. Disclaimer: Jacob Robinson and his guests are not your lawyer. Nothing herein or mentioned on the Law of Code podcast should be construed as legal advice. The material published is i...
Feb 11, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Rebecca Rettig, Michael Mosier and Katja Gilman published their paper, Genuine DeFi as Critical Infrastructure: A Conceptual Framework for Combating Illicit Finance Activity in Decentralized Finance and a summary two-pager. This paper proposes a framework (see Section III) to effectively detect, deter and prevent illicit financial activity in DeFi, while preserving the technology as permissionless, neutral infrastructure. This podcast is an audio version of the paper, along with key takeaways an...
Jan 30, 2024•47 min
On August 4, 2023, Coinbase filed a brief in support of its motion to dismiss the SEC's lawsuit. This podcast provides an audio version of the brief, along with key takeaways and points made within it. Show highlights: [1:00] Preliminary Statement [6:30] Background on the SEC's charges [11:30] Coinbase's argument for dismissal [13:00] Because the complaint alleges no contractual undertaking beyond the point of sale, no investment contract is pleaded [22:00] The SEC misreads Howey in asserting th...
Jan 30, 2024•52 min
Joshua B. Sterling is a Partner at Jones Day where he represents financial services, energy, fintech, agriculture and other companies in matters before the CFTC, the SEC, and other financial regulators. A former senior regulator, Josh was previously the Director of the CFTC’s Market Participants Division. In that role, he oversaw the 3,300 financial firms worldwide registered with the CFTC to participate in the global derivatives markets. Show highlights: [1:00] Josh's introduction to Bitcoin [5...
Jan 29, 2024•39 min
Elliott Z. Stein (@ NYCStein ) is a Senior Litigation Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. He previously worked in private practice on structured finance/capital markets litigation, white-collar crime and related capital markets matters. Show highlights: [1:30] Attending Coinbase hearing on Jan 17 [6:00] Why Elliott expects Coinbase to win [12:00] Judge Failla's concern with the SEC's position [16:00] SEC's strongest arguments [18:00] When to expect a decision [20:00] Supreme Court narrowing Howey...
Jan 24, 2024•41 min
Eric Hess (@ hess_legal ) is Founder & Managing Counsel at Hess Legal Counsel, a cybersecurity SaaS platform and consulting company, and hosts The Encrypted Economy podcast. Eric has over twenty years of experience acting as senior in-house counsel, general counsel or senior management for exchanges, broker dealers, and financial services technology providers. In this episode, we’ll be exploring his recent paper Bridging Policy and Practice: A Pragmatic Approach to Decentralized Finance, Ris...
Nov 15, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Evan Zinaman (@ zin_esq ) is the Founder & Principal at Trailbreak, a boutique transactional firm providing tech-fluent corporate, regulatory, product and IP counsel and strategic advice to startups, builders and investors throughout the crypto space. Evan also serves as special crypto counsel to clients of Reed Smith, advising as part of an industry-spanning, global blockchain group that he helped found. In this episode, we discuss Evan’s paper, “ Where the Rubber Meets the Road: A MEV-Awar...
Nov 13, 2023•51 min
Rodrigo Seira (@ RSSH273 ) is Special Counsel at Paradigm. Prior to joining Paradigm, he was outside counsel to crypto investors and entrepreneurs at Cooley LLP. Brendan Malone (@ brendanpmalone ) is a Policy Manager at Paradigm. Prior to joining Paradigm, Brendan worked at the Federal Reserve where he focused on policy issues for financial market infrastructures. Rodrigo and Brendan launched the Paradigm Policy Lab . The goal of the Lab is to be a gathering place for academics, policy experts, ...
Nov 06, 2023•56 min
William O’Rorke (@williamororke) is the Founding Partner of ORWL, a leading law firm assisting clients with businesses in the crypto space, VASPs and general Web3 services. He leads the regulatory practice at ORWL and is the head of the legal committee at ADAN, a French crypto association. In this conversation, we discuss the most significant impacts MiCA will have on projects in the crypto space, the information White Papers must include under MiCA, what is not covered by the EU's landmark regu...
Oct 30, 2023•57 min
