Rodrigo Seira (@ RSSH273 ) is Crypto Counsel at Paradigm. Prior to joining Paradigm, he was outside counsel to crypto investors and entrepreneurs at Cooley LLP. Prior to that, Rodrigo was a founding member of DLX Law, a blockchain and crypto focused boutique. Rodrigo earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from Middlebury College. Rodrigo authored a matrix comparing legal entities available for DAOs across a range of criteria, including formation requ...
Mar 21, 2023•43 min
Jason Schwartz (@ CryptoTaxGuyETH ) is a tax partner and co-heads Fried Frank's Digital Assets and Blockchain Practice. He specializes in tax issues relating to financial products, securitizations, funds, treaties, lending, and digital assets. Jason has been recognized as an "Up and Coming" lawyer in Tax by Chambers USA and as a "Next Generation Partner" by Legal 500 US in Tax: Financial Products each year from 2017 to 2022. Jason wrote Reading the Tea Leaves - What Enforcement Actions Mean for ...
Mar 16, 2023•55 min
A panel of judges heard oral arguments in the Grayscale Investments suit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 7. This podcast dives into the history of GBTC, the SEC's reasoning for rejecting the spot-bitcoin ETF, Grayscale's argument against the SEC and an overview of what we heard during the oral arguments on March 7. We also cover what thought leaders in the industry expect the outcome to be, and why this application is so important to Grayscale. Sources: The Uni...
Mar 10, 2023•22 min
Nelson Rosario (@ NelsonMRosario ) is an attorney in Chicago, IL, USA, and the founder of Rosario Tech Law whose interests comprise law, innovation, cryptocurrencies and related blockchain based technologies. Nelson teaches a law school class “Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and the Law,” at Chicago-Kent College of Law, and has been a visiting professor at IE Law School based in Madrid, Spain. Show highlights: [2:00] Crypto and zk proofs [13:00] DAOs [18:00] Liability [31:00] Politics & more. Ar...
Mar 07, 2023•48 min
Justin Daniels is a cybersecurity SME and M&A attorney at Baker Donelson, where he advises corporate clients on the deployment and scaling of technology that ranges from SaaS, Fintech and data centers to autonomous vehicles, drones and cryptocurrency. Justin has co-authored a book ( Data Reimagined: Building Trust One Byte at a Time ) designed to show businesses how to leverage privacy and security practices to transform their relationships with customers and earn their trust. In this episod...
Feb 27, 2023•47 min•Ep. 83
Three of the brightest minds in crypto law discuss LexPunK highlights from 2022, touch on disclosures regimes, sufficient decentralization, compare crypto native remedies to the current legal system, and much more. Gabriel Shapiro (@lex_node) is General Counsel at Delphi Labs. Sarah Brennan (@SH_Brennan) is General Counsel for both Delphi Research and Delphi Ventures. Marc Goldich (@marcgoldich) is General Counsel of Proximity Labs. Show highlights: [2:00] LexPunK highlights from 2022 [10:00] DA...
Feb 22, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 82
Michael Selig (@ MikeSeligEsq ) is counsel in the Asset Management Department of the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher and part of the firm’s crypto practice. Michael’s practice centers on the application of financial regulation to crypto and web3 technology networks and products, including blockchains and crypto assets. Michael previously worked at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the office of former Chair Chris Giancarlo, also known as “CryptoDad,” who he now works with again i...
Feb 16, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Marco Ciarlariello is a member of the Business Law Group and serves as the Chair of the Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Group at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP. Marco is a commercial lawyer with a practice that focuses on intellectual property, information technology and data privacy in the digital asset space. Marco works extensively with a range of clients in the digital asset space, including service providers, NFT issuers, designers and developers. Marco also frequently works with clients...
Feb 13, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Jason Gottlieb (@ ohaiom ) is a Partner at Morrison Cohen LLP, where he chairs the Digital Assets group and the White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement practice group. Jason is the principal author of the MoCo Cryptocurrency Litigation Tracker and was named to the National Law Journal‘s inaugural list of Cryptocurrency, Blockchain and Fintech Trailblazers. Show highlights: [1:50] Refco [6:40] Why crypto [19:00] DAO member liability [26:00] Legal wrappers & much more. If you enjoyed this epis...
Feb 06, 2023•36 min
Greg Xethalis (@ xethalis ) is General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Multicoin Capital. He is on the board at the Association for Digital Asset Markets & Fordham Law Alumni Association. Greg also is a senior lecturing fellow at Duke Law, where he co-taught Blockchain and FinTech Law and Policy. This episode offers a deep dive into the GBTC, Bitcoin-backed ETPs and the Investment Act of 1940. Show highlights: [1:45] Genesis block [9:25] Bitcoin ETP [14:20] GBTC [17:00] Shadow ETP [2...
Jan 30, 2023•1 hr 14 min
Aaron Wright (@ awrigh01 ) is the CEO and co-founder of @TributeLabsXYZ , as well as @TheLAOOfficial , @flamingoDAO , & many more. He’s a Professor at Cardozo Law, authored a book relating to the laws surrounding blockchain technology: Blockchain and the Law: The Rule of Code , and wrote many great articles . Before this, Aaron was a successful entrepreneur, having sold his first company to Wikia - the for-profit version of Wikipedia. Today, Aaron is a renowned thought-leader in the blockcha...
Jan 09, 2023•59 min
Securities regulators in the United States have repeatedly asserted that most fungible blockchain-based crypto assets are clearly securities under current law. This assertion is incorrect. An exhaustive review of the relevant appellate case law and the related legal scholarship demonstrates that this position is inconsistent with the Supreme Court’s definition of the term “investment contract” as developed by federal appellate courts for nearly a century. This is a panel discussion on the paper ...
Jan 04, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Andrew "Drew" Hinkes (@ propelforward ) is a partner in K&L Gates Miami office and the Co-Chair of its Global crypto practice. Drew is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the NYU School of Law, where he co-teaches "Digital Currency, Blockchains, and the Future of the Financial Services Industry.” Since 2019, Drew has been an advisor to the Uniform Law Commission’s Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) and Emerging Technologies Digital Assets Working Group, focusing on commercial transactions involving di...
Dec 13, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 75
Bill Hughes (@ BillHughesDC ) is senior counsel and director of global regulatory matters at ConsenSys Software, which is behind MetaMask, Infura, and various other software supporting the programmable blockchain ecosystem. Bill focuses on the diverse and ever evolving crypto global regulatory landscape, and the legal and public policy issues with which ConsenSys and the broader crypto ecosystem is grappling. Bill joined ConsenSys after serving as an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the Depa...
Dec 07, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 74
The DAO Research Collective (@ DAOResearchCo ) is a non-profit accelerating DAO functionality by procuring and open-sourcing research foundational to effective DAO operation. Their DAO Library aggregates and curates DAO research on a single platform. It is a public good that will always be accessible to the community at no cost. Connor Spelliscy (@ c_spelliscy ) is the Founder and Executive Director of the DAO Research Collective. He is a crypto researcher and advocate, primarily focused on DAOs...
Dec 01, 2022•50 min
Dane Lund (@ lund_dane ) is Head DAO Architect at Alliance , the leading Web3 accelerator and founder community. He started his career as an attorney at Wilkie Farr and pivoted into finance as investment banker and investor. Show highlights [3:19] Defining DAOs [4:45] Alliance DAO [10:00] How projects get involved with Alliance [11:30] Dane's DAO Lecture @ Cornell [41:00] Law in the Metaverse [47:30] Finding a web3 lawyer [52:00] How attorney's can better work with clients [55:00] DCCPA & mu...
Nov 21, 2022•1 hr 9 min
Carol Van Cleef (@ Carol_VanCleef ) is an internationally recognized authority and pioneer in legal issues involving cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. As chair of Bradley’s Blockchain and Digital Assets practice, Carol leads the firm’s virtual currencies and blockchain work to help clients navigate the complex, dynamic and rapidly evolving issues in these areas. Carol is also an anti-money laundering specialist and has created compliance training programs for state regulators, bank exe...
Nov 15, 2022•59 min•Ep. 71
Paul Grewal (@iampaulgrewal) is the Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase, where he is responsible for Coinbase’s legal, compliance, global intelligence, risk management and government relations groups. Before joining Coinbase, Paul was Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Facebook. Show highlights : [1:40] Paul's role as Chief Legal Officer @ Coinbase [6:30] Introduction to crypto as a magistrate judge [12:30] Rule-making in crypto law [16:30] Listing assets on Coinbase [22:00] Tornado Cash l...
Nov 08, 2022•1 hr 11 min
Rebecca Rettig (@ RebeccaRettig1 ) is the General Counsel of the Aave Companies (@ AaveAave ). Rebecca began her legal career at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in New York, litigating complex commercial disputes; prior to joining the Aave Companies, Rebecca was a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP in the financial services group, representing blockchain and crypto clients. In this conversation, Rebecca shares her thoughts on DeFi regulation, as well as: [5:30] Bringing clients through...
Nov 01, 2022•46 min•Ep. 69
Have you ever wondered about the history of the CFTC, SEC, or other regulatory agencies? In this episode, Marisa Coppel walks me through each America regulatory agency that impacts crypto - who they are, why they were created and what role they play in the crypto ecosystem. Marisa Tashman Coppel (@ mtcoppel ) is policy counsel at the Blockchain Association, where she helps develop and advocate for policy positions on behalf of the crypto industry as well as manages long-term legal projects and s...
Oct 26, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 68
This episode outlines Pre-DAO and Post-DAO Legal Risk Assessment, an article written by Kevin Chen (@anothrkevinchen) in collaboration with the DAO Research Collective (@DAOResearchCo). Kevin is an attorney at Homiak Law LLC based in Denver, Colorado. He advises cryptoasset and blockchain technology companies on a wide variety of matters such as formation of new startup companies, venture financings, and securities law compliance. You can find the full article on the Law of Code substack, here ....
Oct 17, 2022•35 min
The 'Can’t Be Evil' licenses are a set of six NFT licenses developed by lawyers and operators in web 3 - each license grants “different sets of rights with different degrees of permissiveness”. The licenses have been deployed on Arweave (a decentralized storage, similar to IPFS) and can be directly linked on-chain by smart contracts. The licenses are available on the a16z website ( document containing the six licenses) or a16z's repository on Github . Miles Jennings and Chris Dixon published an ...
Oct 12, 2022•1 hr 17 min
Amber D. Scott (@ OutlierCanada ) specializes in Canadian anti-money laundering (AML), counter terrorist financing (CTF), privacy, and regulatory compliance. In addition to being a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) Amber is also a Certified Privacy Professional (CIPP). In 2013, she founded Outlier Solutions Inc. to provide anti-money laundering (AML) solutions to Canadian reporting entities. Show highlights: [1:55] Apple gift card story [6:50] Why work in AML and compliance [14:2...
Oct 03, 2022•1 hr 15 min
Nabil Manji is the Senior VP, Head of Crypto & Emerging Business at Worldpay from FIS Global. Worldpay is the world’s largest payment processing company (and largest company you've never heard of). The company provides payment and technology services to merchants and financial institutions and processes approximately $2 trillion in volume annually. In June 2019, Worldpay was acquired for $43 billion and merged into Fidelity National Information Services (FIS). Nabil also represents Worldpay ...
Sep 26, 2022•1 hr 12 min
Olta Andoni (@ AndoniOlta ) is the Deputy General Counsel at Ava Labs, a company that helps launch decentralized finance applications on Avalanche. She was previously the Chief Legal Officer at Nifty’s, has lectured for Chicago-Kent, College of Law, and is a writer for Coindesk. In this conversation, Olta and I discussion the new CryptoPunks license, the Yuga Labs v. Ryder Ripps case, and the importance of NFT IP licenses. Show hightlights: [7:00] CryptoPunks license [17:00] Commercial rights &a...
Sep 19, 2022•43 min•Ep. 63
Larry Florio (@LarryFlorio) is General Counsel at Delphia Technologies Inc., one of the most innovative data-drive investment DAO projects in the world. Larry previously held senior counsel roles with several prominent blockchain-focused software developers. In this conversation, we cover business goals vs legal goals, the 80/20 principal, and how crypto law is developing. Show highlights: [1:20] Genesis block [4:00] TradFi [8:30] Privacy [11:00] Business mindset in a legal role [20:00] Get comf...
Sep 12, 2022•59 min
Miller Whitehouse-Levine (@ millercwl ) is the Policy Director at the DeFi Education Fund (@ fund_defi ). With oversight from the DeFi Education Fund’s grants committee, Miller has overall strategic and operational responsibility for the execution of the Education Fund’s mission and goals. Prior to joining the fund, Miller led the Blockchain Association’s policy operation and worked at Goldstein Policy Solutions on a range of public policy issues, including crypto. In this conversation, we cover...
Aug 29, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 59
Patrick Hansen (@ paddi_hansen ) serves as crypto venture advisor at Presight Capital, a global venture fund with +$600m AUM and 50+ startups in its portfolio. Patrick previously worked as head of strategy & business development at crypto-wallet startup Unstoppable Finance and head of blockchain at Bitkom, Europe’s largest tech association, where he led crypto-related regulatory work, research, and partnerships. This conversation covers all things crypto regulation (EU, travel rule, stableco...
Aug 26, 2022•59 min
Marc Boiron (@ boironattorney ) is the Chief Legal Officer of the Polygon companies and a strategic advisor at Variant Fund , an early-stage fund investing in web3. He’s also a board member of the DeFi Education Fund. Marc recently published an excellent article, titled “ Sufficient Decentralization : A playbook for Web3 builders and lawyers.” In this episode, we dive deep into Marc's article to highlight how builders and lawyers should think about sufficient decentralization. We also touch on M...
Aug 23, 2022•1 hr 17 min
Yitzy Hammer and Samuel Goldfaden are co-founders of DLT Law and two crypto-focused lawyers based in Israel. Yitzy has been working with tech companies for the past 6 years on M&A, IP, privacy (CIPP/E certified), and corporate and commercial law-related legal issues. Samuel specializes in AML compliance and financial regulation. Both Yitzy and Samuel worked for many years at Herzog, Fox & Neeman, Israel's largest law firm, including through the 2017 ICO craze. Recognizing a need for tail...
Aug 15, 2022•34 min
