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Law of Code

Law of Code

By Jacob Robinson

The Law of Code podcast focuses on the legal framework being built around blockchains, crypto, NFTs, and DAOs. We’ll look at crypto regulations, rights surrounding NFTs, as well as the legislation impacting blockchain.

You’ll hear from the top lawyers, lawmakers, and entrepreneurs in the space – we’ll touch on best practices countries are implementing, new regulations, and share ideas on the best path forward.
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#6 - James McCall: The LexDAO Episode

Law of CodeSep 13, 2021

00:00
51:01
#131 - Is UNI a security after Uniswap turns on the fee switch? EU and MiCA insights from Stephane Daniel

#131 - Is UNI a security after Uniswap turns on the fee switch? EU and MiCA insights from Stephane Daniel

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] Legal consequences of turning on UNI's fee switch

[15:02] A different approach: veCRV

[18:59] Examining the differences between the veCRV, CRV and UNI proposal

[32:22] The importance of decentralization under EU law

[36:50] What non-EU projects should know about MiCA

[40:38] Stephane's genesis block

[47:26] Habits and advice

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Mar 15, 202450:23
#130 - Chris Giancarlo, former CFTC Chair on the SEC's approach to crypto

#130 - Chris Giancarlo, former CFTC Chair on the SEC's approach to crypto

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 highlights:

[1:14] Digital based monetary systems

[16:25] Writing guides for entrepreneurs

[26:06] Leading the CFTC

[31:18] Gensler, the SEC and the CFTC

[35:36] Why embrace Blockchain?

[1:05:17] Activity-based regulation

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Mar 04, 202401:20:19
#129 - Why is the same risk, same rules philosophy wrong? Eric Hess explains

#129 - Why is the same risk, same rules philosophy wrong? Eric Hess explains

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 White House executive order

[11:30] The real reason(s) why crypto projects can register with the SEC

[17:00] Why the same risk, same rules philosophy is wrong

[26:30] Solutions to problems posed by blockchain

[36:00] What Eric has changed his mind on

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Feb 27, 202439:03
#128 - Primavera De Filippi of CNRS and Harvard on the future of copyright law, NFTs and DAOs
Feb 22, 202447:55
#127 - Cravath's Jeff Dinwoodie on the SEC and the future of crypto regulation

#127 - Cravath's Jeff Dinwoodie on the SEC and the future of crypto regulation

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Feb 11, 202401:08:35
#126 - Genuine DeFi as Critical Infrastructure: Paper by Rebecca Rettig, Michael Mosier and Katja Gilman

#126 - Genuine DeFi as Critical Infrastructure: Paper by Rebecca Rettig, Michael Mosier and Katja Gilman

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 and points made within it.

[1:40] Overview of the paper

[9:00] Current AML and CTF regime in America

[18:00] Sanctions

[23:00] DeFi and illicit finance

[26:00] Framework for the future of DeFi

Jan 30, 202446:45
#125 - Repost: Coinbase's Motion to Dismiss the SEC's Lawsuit

#125 - Repost: Coinbase's Motion to Dismiss the SEC's Lawsuit

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 that a scheme without a contractual undertaking will suffice

[29:00] Recent cases do not support the SEC's efforts to use scheme as an escape hatch from statutory text

[33:00] The SEC's effort to portray a simple asset sale as a security is an unprecedented stretch

[41:00] Any future value that token purchasers on Coinbase and through Prime may hope to reap is not in the profit, income or assets of the issuers business

[42:00] The Major Questions Doctrine compels rejection of the SEC's construction of investment contract

[49:00] Coinbase is entitled to judgment on the claim that it acts as an unregistered broker through Wallet

[50:00] Coinbase is entitled to judgment on the claim that its staking services constitute unregistered securities

Jan 30, 202452:07
#124 - Former CFTC Director Josh Sterling on choosing regulators (SEC vs CFTC) and the future of Web3

#124 - Former CFTC Director Josh Sterling on choosing regulators (SEC vs CFTC) and the future of Web3

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

[5:00] BitMEX case

[11:00] 2008 financial crisis

[16:00] Finance and Web3

[20:00] Role of CFTC in crypto

[25:00] Role of the SEC

[29:00] How to improve the SEC's results

& much more.

We also discuss the book The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Jan 29, 202439:14
#123 - The SEC vs. Coinbase Hearing: What you should know with Bloomberg's Elliott Stein

#123 - The SEC vs. Coinbase Hearing: What you should know with Bloomberg's Elliott Stein

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

[23:00] What surprised Elliott about the Coinbase strategy

[27:00] Ripple case

[31:00] Elliott's career

& much more.

Show links:

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Jan 24, 202441:25
#122 - History of American Securities Regulation with Eric Hess

#122 - History of American Securities Regulation with Eric Hess

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, Risk, and Regulation.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Nov 15, 202301:07:60
#121 - MEV and OFAC Risk for Infrastructure Providers

#121 - MEV and OFAC Risk for Infrastructure Providers

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-Aware, Functionalist Review of OFAC Risk ‘on the Base Layer’”.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Nov 13, 202350:34
#120 - Paradigm's Policy Lab with Rodrigo Seira and Brandon Malone

#120 - Paradigm's Policy Lab with Rodrigo Seira and Brandon Malone

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, lawyers, and technologists to study how to address the biggest policy challenges in crypto. In this conversation, they share the origin story, goals and projects underway at the Lab.

Rodrigo mentions this book: Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages is an academic book by Carlota Perez.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Nov 06, 202356:14
#119 - Reviewing the EU's MiCA with William O’Rorke

#119 - Reviewing the EU's MiCA with William O’Rorke

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 regulation and much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Oct 30, 202357:09
#118 - Crypto Taxes, NFT Settlements and Decentralization with Zach Rosenberg

#118 - Crypto Taxes, NFT Settlements and Decentralization with Zach Rosenberg

Zach Rosenberg (@MeatEsq) is an attorney and principal at Rosehill Legal, a boutique transactional firm assisting early-stage founders, largely in the crypto space, with structuring, funding, building, and deploying products and networks.

He previously worked as an M&A Tax Director at PWC where he spent eight years advising large private equity firms and public company clients on large acquisitions, divestitures, and restructuring transactions. 

You can connect with Zach via email at zach@rosehill.legal.






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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Oct 10, 202359:10
#117 - Ryne Miller on the CFTC's DeFi Settlements and the history of Gary Gensler

#117 - Ryne Miller on the CFTC's DeFi Settlements and the history of Gary Gensler

Ryne Miller is the founder and managing partner of Miller Strategic Partners LLP, a law firm specializing in:

1. Regulatory advice and investigations counsel for the traditional trading and markets industry;

2. Regulatory and strategic advice for digital asset and blockchain companies; and

3. Crisis and incident response management.

Ryne was previously General Counsel at FTX US, a Partner at Sullivan & Cromwell and Legal Counsel to Chairman Gary Gensler while at the CFTC, during the CFTC’s Dodd Frank rule-writing program. 

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.



Oct 02, 202358:25
#116 - Discussing Coinbase's L2 (Base) and FriendTech with Jolie Yang

#116 - Discussing Coinbase's L2 (Base) and FriendTech with Jolie Yang

Jolie Yang (@JolieYang) is a former legal partner to Coinbase's product, engineering, and design teams on its Web3 initiatives, such as self-custodial wallet, decentralized identity, digital assets, as product counsel. While at Coinbase, Jolie was part of the team that launched Base. Prior to Coinbase, Jolie was an attorney at Davis Polk and Skadden, Arps.

Show highlights:

[4:00] Working on Coinbase's IPO

[7:00] Building Base

[11:30] Potential Token for Base?

[16:00] How Base works

[23:00] Decentralization for a project incubated by a centralized institution

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.








Sep 29, 202359:00
#115 - Challenging Patents Impacting DeFi with Amanda Tuminelli of the DeFi Education Fund

#115 - Challenging Patents Impacting DeFi with Amanda Tuminelli of the DeFi Education Fund

Amanda Tuminelli (@amandatums) is chief legal officer for the Defi Education Fund, where she leads the organization’s impact litigation and policy efforts. She was previously an attorney at Kobre & Kim and Dechert LLP, and served as a Judicial Law Clerk for the Eastern District of New York.

Show highlights:

[1:00] DeFi Education Fund's petition to challenge a patent impacting DeFi

[12:00] Amanda's introduction to crypto

[21:00] Her role as Chief Legal Officer of the DeFi Education Fund

[25:00] SEC’s proposed rulemaking to amend existing rules regarding Alternative Trading Systems

[32:00] Kirschner v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A

[39:00] Thoughts on the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act & the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act

[47:00] Ripple Decision

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Sep 11, 202356:23
#114 - CFTC Regulation of Crypto with Michael Frisch

#114 - CFTC Regulation of Crypto with Michael Frisch

Michael Frisch is a partner at Croke Fairchild Morgan & Beres where he leads the firm’s Government Litigation and Investigations Practice. Mike previously worked at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), where he brought one of the CFTC’s first enforcement actions involving cryptocurrency — CFTC v. Bitfinex — and was part of the team responsible for the CFTC’s action against Tether in 2021.

Show highlights:

[1:30] Mike's introduction to crypto

[3:00] The history of the CFTC's rules around crypto

[6:00] Masterclass on the CFTC

[13:00] Working on CFTC v. Bitfinex

[20:00] Coinbase's FCM registration

[24:00] FTX and the CFTC

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Sep 07, 202341:56
#113 - Decentralized Dispute Resolution with Mark Cianci of Ropes & Gray

#113 - Decentralized Dispute Resolution with Mark Cianci of Ropes & Gray

Mark Cianci is Counsel at Ropes & Gray, where he represents hedge funds, private equity firms and their portfolio companies, and clients in other industries in complex commercial litigation, cryptocurrency litigation, qui tam actions, bankruptcy litigation, and government investigation and enforcement matters. Mark also counsels clients in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space on a variety of regulatory considerations, including compliance with securities laws.

Show highlights:

[1:30] Mark's introduction to crypto

[3:00] How dispute resolution has evolved

[9:00] The future of decentralized justice

[18:00] Benefits of blockchains for decentralized dispute resolution

[31:00] Commercial ADR

[36:00] Interesting crypto projects

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Sep 04, 202344:34
#112 - India's Crypto Law Regime with Ashish Chandra of CoinSwitch

#112 - India's Crypto Law Regime with Ashish Chandra of CoinSwitch

Ashish Chandra is the General Counsel of CoinSwitch, India's largest crypto platform pivoting into a multi-asset wealth-tech superapp. With over 22 years of experience in the tech industry, Ashish also led the legal and regulatory affairs of WhatsApp for India. He helped build the e-commerce and fintech/payments business of Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp in India.

Show highlights:

[1:30] How crypto regulation has evolved in India

[8:00] India's landmark Supreme Court decision

[13:00] Tax on crypto in India

[17:00] Lobbying efforts in India

[24:00] Most active crypto regulators in India

[27:30] His role as GC of CoinSwitch

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Aug 28, 202347:10
#111 - Ross Campbell on ERC 1155 and Legal Engineering at Kali DAO + Nani.

#111 - Ross Campbell on ERC 1155 and Legal Engineering at Kali DAO + Nani.

Ross Campbell (@z0r0zzz) is a legal engineer and co-founder of KaliDAO, in addition to being a corporate attorney. Ross is also working on NANI, a protocol mixing AI and crypto and is a founder of LexDAO.

Previous episodes with Ross:

1. #5 - Ross Campbell: Legal engineering, Bar Association DAOs, use cases for oracles, and much, much more

2. #30 - Ross Campbell: Legal Engineering and Kali DAO

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Aug 14, 202301:04:07
#109 - Stephen Palley on the Evolution of Crypto Law, Insurance, Dumpsters and AI.

#109 - Stephen Palley on the Evolution of Crypto Law, Insurance, Dumpsters and AI.

Stephen Palley (@stephendpalley) is a litigation partner and co-chair of Brown Rudnick’s Digital Commerce group. Stephen is a seasoned litigator with over 20 years of extensive courtroom experience litigating and trying complex commercial matters. Stephen has written extensively and been quoted widely on legal issues arising from the use of Blockchain technology, with appearances in both print and television media. For more on Stephen's background, listen to episode 28 of Law of Code: #28 - Stephen Palley: Crypto regulation, building a team, and defining decentralization.

Show highlights:

[2:30] Analogies in crypto: Smart contracts and dumpsters.

[14:00] Intangible scarcity: Why blockchain's enable scarce, intangible assets.

[18:30] Licensing regimes: Future of front-ends and developers.

[26:30] Evolution of crypto law: Has it aligned with Palley's expectations?

[31:45] Insurance and digital assets: Parametric insurance, oracles and blockchain technology.

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Jul 30, 202352:07
#108 - The Solana Foundation's Amira Valliani on Web 3 Policy

#108 - The Solana Foundation's Amira Valliani on Web 3 Policy

Amira Valliani (@amiravalliani) is Policy Lead at the Solana Foundation. She previously built and sold a creator economy company and served as an advisor at the White House and State Department. Note that this episode was recorded prior to the Ripple Labs decision.

Show highlights:

[3:00] Policy work at Solana Foundation

[7:00] Change in policy

[10:30] Challenges and stories of building in Web3

[24:00] Amira's role at the White House

[29:00] Building Glow

& more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Jul 26, 202330:58
#107 - Accredited Investor Rules with Larry Florio

#107 - Accredited Investor Rules with Larry Florio

Offering a masterclass on the Accredited Investor rules, this episode distills months of historic research and detailed reviews of the securities laws, as well as a 3+ hour conversation I had with Larry Florio (@larryflorio), into an evergreen episode providing everything one should know regarding the accredited investor standards in the U.S. and across the globe.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Jul 22, 202301:33:28
#106 - Bitcoin Ordinals and IP Considerations with Cameron Pick

#106 - Bitcoin Ordinals and IP Considerations with Cameron Pick

Cameron B. Pick is a partner at Marshall Gerstein & Borun LLP who advises clients in the blockchain and metaverse space on intellectual property issues. In this episode, Cameron explains Bitcoin Ordinals, the difference between Ordinals and Ethereum NFTs, and the interplay between IP law and web3.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Jul 20, 202342:38
#105 - Blockchain and the Sports Industry with Samir Patel

#105 - Blockchain and the Sports Industry with Samir Patel

Samir Patel (@SamirPatelLaw) is an innovation and technology attorney in Holland & Knight's Miami office and head of the firm's Document Automation Program. Samir represents startups and emerging growth companies navigating legal and regulatory issues. Samir also works with artists, art galleries and athletes looking to enhance their products and brands through the creation of NFTs, and advises on their market entrance strategy into the metaverse. In 2021, Samir was appointed to the first-ever Miami-Dade County Cryptocurrency Task Force.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Jul 18, 202358:08
#104 - Wachtell Lipton's David Adlerstein and Kevin Schwartz on Decentralization, Smart Contracts, Tornado Cash & NFTs

#104 - Wachtell Lipton's David Adlerstein and Kevin Schwartz on Decentralization, Smart Contracts, Tornado Cash & NFTs

David M. Adlerstein is counsel in the Corporate Department at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, capital-raising transactions, corporate governance, and other corporate and securities law matters, with a focus on financial institutions and technology transactions. He is a member of the Firm’s Crypto Team and frequently writes and speaks about blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and smart contracts.

Kevin Schwartz is a partner in the Litigation Department of Wachtell Lipton and serves on the Executive Committee of the New York City Bar Association, where he was previously Chair of the Judiciary Committee, and is also a Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. Mr. Schwartz’s practice includes corporate, commercial, and securities litigation at both the trial and appellate levels, as well as a variety of regulatory and corporate governance matters that include leading the firm’s specialized Crypto Team to address rapidly changing issues generated by the crypto asset industry. 

Show highlights:

[3:00] David and Kevin's introduction to crypto

[14:00] Evolution of the legal side of digital assets

[24:30] The merits of decentralization

[33:00] Tornado Cash

[41:00] Smart contracts

[47:00] NFTs

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Jul 11, 202301:09:43
#103 - Tom Lombardi on Bitcoin ETFs, Institutional Investors and SEC's proposed custody rules

#103 - Tom Lombardi on Bitcoin ETFs, Institutional Investors and SEC's proposed custody rules

Tom Lombardi (@tomlombardi) is an adjunct professor of finance at Pepperdine University, California, teaching Decentralized Finance in the Business School. He was formerly a Managing Director at 3iQ (worked on the first regulated crypto fund), Director at Wave Financial (one of the first crypto RIAs), and Head of Growth for the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.

Show highlights:

[8:00] Importance of institutional investments in digital assets

[16:00] Bitcoin and institutional investors

[24:00] Bitcoin Spot ETF

[39:00] SEC proposed custody rule

[42:00] SEC actions pre-Coinbase and Binance charges

[59:00] Bitcoin is Venice?

[68:00] Regulation and technology

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Jun 29, 202301:17:39
#102 - A Masterclass on Global Crypto Regulations with XReg Consulting

#102 - A Masterclass on Global Crypto Regulations with XReg Consulting

Nicky Gomez (@XRegNicky) is the Senior Partner at XReg Consulting. A former regulator with 15+ years of experience in the crypto and financial services industries, Nicky provides strategic regulatory advice and has successfully secured licenses and authorizations for clients in Europe, Gibraltar, the Caribbean and Asia. As the co-chair of the Global Digital Finance AML working group, he helps shape global cryptoasset regulatory standards that mitigate risk and encourage innovation.

Aaron Unterman is the managing director of XReg Consulting (Cayman) SEZC. Aaron previously worked in the derivatives branch of Canada’s largest market regulator, the Ontario Securities Commission, and recently led the development of CIMA’s regulatory framework for virtual asset service providers, including developing rules and guidance for custodians, trading platforms, issuances and the sandbox regime.

Show highlights:

[3:00] Introduction to crypto while working as regulators

[12:00] XReg's international approach to consulting

[15:00] Classifying regulatory approaches to crypto in different jurisdictions

[21:00] Jurisdictions introducing comprehensive crypto rules

[29:00] Jurisdictions where crypto assets are illegal

[34:00] Global regulatory harmonization (IOSCO)

[47:00] DeFi regulation

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Jun 26, 202301:00:50
#101 - Legal Wrappers for DAOs: DAO Research Monthly

#101 - Legal Wrappers for DAOs: DAO Research Monthly

The goal of this podcast is to help DAOs and their members understand the potential legal wrappers which arise from bespoke legislation.

This is the second episode of the DAO Research Monthly series, created by Jacob Robinson, Kyle Smith and Kyler Wandler.

This episode reviews the legal wrappers created for DAOs. What do we mean when we say legal wrapper? What benefits do they offer DAOs and their members? What are the risks? We answer these questions and much more.

[4:30] Evolution of the modern company

[8:15] How DAOs build on the company

[12:00] Legal wrappers as a bridge

[20:00] Wyoming DAO law

[25:00] UNA

[29:00] Tennessee DAO law

[31:00] DAOs in Texas

[33:40] DAOs in Utah

[43:00] Vermont blockchain-based LLC

[53:16] Catawba Economic Zone

[54:00] DAOs outside the US

& much more.

Thank you to our sponsors, the DAO Research Collective, Lobby 3 and Tally DAO, for supporting this educational initiative - and thank you to Kyler Wandler for his incredible research.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Jun 23, 202301:14:57
#100 - Why Crypto?

#100 - Why Crypto?

This podcast answers the "why" behind the blockchain space. It is a compilation of answers given from previous guests of Law of Code who explain why they believe in this technology, why they work in this space and what gets them excited about the future.

This podcast was largely inspired by Polygon's Value Prop, a crowd-sourced and entirely open database, created to showcase the diverse and unique use cases for blockchain technology – across all networks – which are making an impact throughout the world. The Value Prop highlights 39 separate use cases for blockchain technology, with a total of 304 applications.

100 episodes, thank you.


Jun 21, 202330:29
#99 - Overview of Crypto Regulation in USA and Canada with DLx Law and McCarthy Tetrault

#99 - Overview of Crypto Regulation in USA and Canada with DLx Law and McCarthy Tetrault

In this episode of Law of Code, partners at McCarthy Tetrault's Fintech practice Ana Badour and Lori Stein, along with DLx Law's Lewis Cohen, Angela Angelovska-Wilson and Greg Strong discuss the differences in crypto regulation between Canada and the US, from securities rules to banking and AML policies.

Show highlights:

[3:00] Binance and Coinbase SEC charges

[11:00] Digital assets and investment contracts

[21:00] Differences in the Canadian approach to secondary sales

[32:00] Banking and AML history, rules and outlook

[48:00] Access to banking in US and Canada

[50:00] Q&A

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Jun 16, 202301:04:37
#98 - Understanding the Coinbase and Binance SEC charges with Collins Belton

#98 - Understanding the Coinbase and Binance SEC charges with Collins Belton

Collins Belton (@collins_belton) is the founder and Managing Partner of Brookwood P.C., a boutique transactional practice focused on serving founders, startups and emerging technology companies working on frontier technology, particularly in the digital asset space. Collins was previously Counsel at Atrium and an Associate at Wilson Sonsini.

Show highlights:

[1:40] Binance charges from SEC

[10:45] Is BUSD a security?

[23:00] Binance complaint alleging tokens are securities

[30:00] Binance asset freeze

[36:45] Coinbase charges from SEC

[44:00] Coinbase's S1 registration & staking

[48:40] Agency overreach

[56:00] Show cause orders in multiple states

[60:00] What the future holds

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Jun 12, 202301:13:32
#97 - Grayscale's Craig Salm on a Bitcoin ETF & the SEC

#97 - Grayscale's Craig Salm on a Bitcoin ETF & the SEC

Craig Salm (@CraigSalm) is the Chief Legal Officer at Grayscale Investments, the world's largest digital currency asset manager, where he oversees the daily legal and regulatory operations of the business and its products. Prior to joining Grayscale, Craig was a corporate associate at Paul Weiss. 

This episode builds on a previous episode covering everything you need to know about the Grayscale lawsuit against the SEC.

Show highlights:

[2:00] Genesis block

[13:00] Learnings from Paul Weiss

[17:00] Grayscale ETF Case

[24:00] What if Grayscale wins?

[33:00] Fraud and surveillance ETF mechanisms

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

May 23, 202347:57
#96 - Investment Contracts & Crypto: Takeaways from 300+ Cases with DLx Law's Freeman Lewin

#96 - Investment Contracts & Crypto: Takeaways from 300+ Cases with DLx Law's Freeman Lewin

Freeman Lewin (@Freeman_Lewin) is an Attorney at DLx Law, where he advises clients in all matters related to blockchain, smart contracts, and tokenization. In late 2022, the DLx Law team published a comprehensive analysis of every "investment contract" decision by U.S. appellate courts since 1946: The Ineluctable Modality of Securities Law: Why Fungible Crypto Assets are Not Securities. Their publication has since been cited in Coinbase's response to the an SEC Wells Notice, the Dissent of Commissioner Hester M. Peirce and other important matters.

This conversation offers a masterclass on investment contracts - what they are, why they matter and how they relate to digital assets.

Show highlights:

[2:08] Consequences of being deemed an investment contract

[8:49] The investment contract vs the object of the investment

[16:02] The Howey case

[21:59] Core traits of an investment contract

[24:46] Changes to the Howey test since 1946

[31:20] Biggest myths and misunderstandings surrounding investment contracts

[34:10] Future of crypto & investment contracts

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

May 17, 202339:13
#95 - Caitlin Long on Custodia Bank, Crypto & the Federal Reserve

#95 - Caitlin Long on Custodia Bank, Crypto & the Federal Reserve

Caitlin Long (@CaitlinLong_) is a 22-year Wall Street veteran active in bitcoin since 2012, and whose passion is a fair and stable financial system. She is also the founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, a chartered US bank specializing in digital assets.

Show highlights:

[1:40] Operation Chokepoint 2.0?

[4:40] Importance of Access to the Federal Reserve System

[9:25] Origins of Operation Chokepoint

[17:20] Custodia Bank

[24:00] Checks & Balances

[29:23] What's Next for Custodia Bank

[31:00] Habits & Advice

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

May 04, 202335:07
#94 - The Blockchain Association on Crypto De-Banking

#94 - The Blockchain Association on Crypto De-Banking

This conversation with two prominent members of the Blockchain Association covers de-banking in crypto, hostility from regulators and the state of crypto in America.

Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) is the Chief Policy Officer at Blockchain Association, the largest advocacy group for the crypto industry in Washington DC. Jake is also one of Variant Fund’s strategic advisors and a board member at the DeFi Education Fund.

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 strategic litigation.

Show highlights:

[2:00] De-banking and Freedom of Information Act request

[8:20] Operation Chokepoint 1.0

[13:50] Banking crypto

[21:00] What's next for the Blockchain Association

[29:00] Hostility from regulators

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Apr 25, 202359:40
#93 - Canadian Crypto Consolidation with Coinsquare's Eric Richmond

#93 - Canadian Crypto Consolidation with Coinsquare's Eric Richmond

Eric Richmond (@ericrichy) is the Chief Operating Officer at Coinsquare and a Co-Founder and Director at Tetra Trust Company. In this episode, we discuss consolidation in the Canadian crypto space (Coinsquare, WonderFi and CoinSmart), Coinsquare's IIROC Membership, Tetra Trust custody solution & much more.

[1:33] Consolidating three crypto asset exchanges

[9:30] IIROC membership

[18:00] Tetra Trust & cold storage

[27:00] Bear markets

[30:00] Bailment

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Apr 17, 202340:13
#92 - Explaining the 2022 UCC Amendments, with Professor Carla Reyes

#92 - Explaining the 2022 UCC Amendments, with Professor Carla Reyes

Carla L. Reyes (@Prof_CarlaReyes) is an Assistant Professor of Law at SMU Dedman School of Law. Professor Reyes is a nationally recognized leader on issues raised by the intersection of business law and technology. Professor Reyes was appointed the Chair of the Texas Work Group on Blockchain Matters in September 2021. The work group is charged with considering policy priorities related to blockchain technology in Texas.

Professor Reyes was also named an American Bar Foundation Fellow in June 2021 and named one of the Women of Legal Tech 2020, an honor bestowed by the American Bar Association Legal Technology Resource Center. Professor Reyes currently serves as the Research Director for the Uniform Law Commission’s Technology Committee, an Associate Research Director of the Permanent Editorial Board of the Uniform Commercial Code, an Expert Member of the UNIDROIT Work Group on Private Law and Digital Assets, and an Expert Member of the UNIDROIT Work Group on Best Practices for Effective Enforcement. Professor Reyes also contributed to the Uniform Law Commission and American Law Institute 2022 Amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code.

Show topics:

2022 UCC Amendments

Emerging Technology's Unfamiliarity with Commercial Law

Moving Beyond Bitcoin to an Endogenous Theory of Decentralized Technology Regulation: An Initial Proposal

Distributed Governance

If Rockefeller Were a Coder

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Apr 13, 202301:08:12
#91 - Liquid Staking Tokens as Non-Securities with POSA

#91 - Liquid Staking Tokens as Non-Securities with POSA

The Proof of Stake Alliance (POSA) is an action-oriented, nonprofit industry alliance advocating for forward-thinking public policies that foster innovation in rapidly growing, sustainable, multi-billion dollar proof-of-stake ecosystems. POSA brings together industry leaders and legal experts to fight for fair regulation that allows the industry to flourish. Guests include:

Alison Mangiero (@AMangiero) is the Executive Director of the Proof of Stake Alliance. 

Alexander Grieve (@AlexanderGrieve) is Vice President in Tiger Hill Partners’ government relations practice.  

Justin Browder (@jlb410) is a partner in Willkie's Asset Management Department and Co-Chair of the Willkie Digital Works practice. 

Michael Selig (@MikeSeligEsq) is counsel in the Asset Management Department and a member of the Willkie Digital Works practice.

The Proof of Stake Alliance recently published legal/regulatory white papers on liquid staking. Liquid staking is a technological solution that provides liquidity and increased capital efficiency for participants in proof of stake blockchain networks; users who stake their cryptoassets receive transferable Receipt Tokens that evidence ownership of (i) the staked cryptoassets, and (ii) Network Rewards that accrue in respect of such staked cryptoasset. 

The papers represent the first public legal research and analysis of liquid staking tokens under U.S. federal securities, commodities, and tax law, with the aim to resolve key legal questions around the regulation & taxation of liquid staking in the U.S.

Papers:

U.S. Federal Securities and Commodity Law Analysis of Liquid Staking Receipt Tokens

U.S. Federal Income Tax Analysis of Liquid Staking

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Apr 10, 202301:13:01
#90 - Offshore & Crypto in the BVI, Caymans and Guernsey with Chris Duncan

#90 - Offshore & Crypto in the BVI, Caymans and Guernsey with Chris Duncan

Chris Duncan (@chrisrossduncan) is counsel in Carey Olsen’s Cayman Islands office. Chris leads their Fintech and Crypto group across both the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands, working with some of the largest projects in the crypto space on structuring and regulatory matters (including licensing applications and regulatory investigations).  He has been recognized in the Chambers and Partners Fintech guide as a leading individual. In addition, Chris advises high net worth and ultra high net worth clients on wealth structuring, with a particular focus on crypto and tech founders.

Show highlights:

[4:40] 2020 Cayman VASP Act

[11:30] 2023 BVI VASP Act

[13:00] Offshore structuring

[27:00] Offshore DAOs

[33:00] Guernsey Trusts

& more.
Chris also mentions Mauve (@mauve_org), the first DEX with the compliance of traditional finance.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Apr 05, 202343:09
#89 - Legal liability for DAO members: DAO Research Monthly

#89 - Legal liability for DAO members: DAO Research Monthly

The goal of this podcast is to help DAOs and their members understand the potential legal risks that accompany their membership.

This is the inaugural episode of the DAO Research Monthly series, created by Jacob Robinson, Kyle Smith and Kyler Wandler.

This episode reviews the legal liability of members associated with DAOs. What do we mean when we say liability? What could a token holder or vote be liable for? We answer these questions and much more.

Thank you to our sponsors, the DAO Research Collective, Lobby 3 and Tally DAO, for supporting this educational initiative - and thank you to the research team: Kyler Wandler, Evan Santos, Surya Dawar.

This episode references the following works:

Law Insider, Member Liability definition

Frank H. Easterbrook, Daniel Fischel, Contract and Fiduciary Duty

Nick Oberheiden, 5 Things to Consider When Creating a DAO

Owen Thomas, The CFTC throws DAO liability into question

United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Pat Toomey, SEC’s Regulation by Enforcement Approach Harmed Consumers

The Company - A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea, John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge

Stephen D. Palley, How to Sue a Decentralized Autonomous Organization, CoinDesk (Op-Ed), March 20, 2016.

Carla Reyes, If Rockefeller Were a Coder, 87 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 373 (2019)

Aaron Wright, The Rise of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations: Opportunities and Challenges, Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law & Policy (2021).

Brummer, Christopher J. and Seira, Rodrigo, Legal Wrappers and DAOs (May 30, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4123737

Østbye, Peder, Exploring DAO Members' Individual Liability (February 28, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4045799.

Metjahic, Laila, Deconstructing The Dao: The Need For Legal Recognition And The Application Of Securities Laws To Decentralized Organizations, Cardozo Law Review, May 2018.

CFTC v Ooki DAO, N.D. Cal. 3:22-cv-5416 (2022)

& many others.


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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Apr 01, 202352:19
#88 - Tax attorney Andrew Gordon answers the most common crypto tax questions.

#88 - Tax attorney Andrew Gordon answers the most common crypto tax questions.

Andrew Gordon (@accounting) is a crypto tax attorney and CPA based in Chicago. He and his firm, Gordon Law Group (@gordonlawltd), have focused on crypto tax since 2014; They've since prepared hundreds of crypto tax returns for retail investors, whales, celebrity clients, and NFT startups. Andrew also practices corporate law with a focus on blockchain, affiliate marketing, esports, and tech and teaches a course on Emerging Technologies at Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Andrew explains his entry into the space, how he built Gordon Law Group, and answers the most common crypto tax questions, including:

  • Buying crypto from crypto
  • Selling crypto for crypto
  • Selling crypto for fiat
  • Selling NFTs for crypto
  • Buying NFTs with crypto
  • Staking crypto with delegate
  • Receiving staking rewards
  • Airdropped NFTs
  • Airdropped crypto
  • Donating crypto 
  • Stolen crypto
  • Lending crypto
  • Gas Fees

Resources:

Contact the Gordon Law Group for help and/or sign up for their monthly newsletter. Visit their website to review their crypto, nft and defi tax guides.


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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Mar 27, 202355:21
#87 - Paradigm's Rodrigo Seira on DAOs, legal wrappers & CC0.

#87 - Paradigm's Rodrigo Seira on DAOs, legal wrappers & CC0.

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 requirements and considerations about liability of members, securities laws and tax. It’s available on a public Notion page. He also co-authored a paper on Legal Wrappers and DAOs.

Show highlights:

[1:30] Genesis block

[4:30] Crypto use cases

[6:30] Paradigm

[9:00] Ooki DAO

[15:00] DAO member liability

[25:00] Offshore wrappers

[31:00] Matrix

[33:00] CC0 and NFTs

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Mar 21, 202343:14
#86 - Jason Schwartz on Taxes for DAOs, Foundations & Bearer Debt

#86 - Jason Schwartz on Taxes for DAOs, Foundations & Bearer Debt

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 the U.S. Taxation of Crypto, which we also discuss.

Show highlights:

[2:04] Genesis Block

[10:00] 501 Foundry

[13:00] Foundations & Taxes

[16:00] Tokens & Charities

[27:00] DAOs

[36:00] Jarrett Case

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Mar 16, 202354:53
#85 - An Update on Grayscale vs the SEC

#85 - An Update on Grayscale vs the SEC

Mar 10, 202321:33
#84 - Nelson Rosario on zk proofs, DAOs, liability and regulation

#84 - Nelson Rosario on zk proofs, DAOs, liability and regulation

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.

Around the Blockchain's weekly newsletter is my go-to source to stay updated on crypto law - you can subscribe here.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Mar 07, 202348:26
#83 - Cybersecurity & Crypto with Justin Daniels

#83 - Cybersecurity & Crypto with Justin Daniels

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 episode, we discuss cybersecurity and crypto, with a deep dive into the Axie Infinity hack.

Show highlights:

[5:00] Hosting servers and security

[19:00] Cybersecurity and digital assets

[22:00] Axie Infinity Hack

[34:00] Digital trust

& much more.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Feb 27, 202347:13
#82 - Gabriel Shapiro, Sarah Brennan and Marc Goldich on staking, social slashing, disclosure, LexPunK and crypto law in 2023.
Feb 22, 202301:19:14
#81 - Regulators and Crypto with Michael Selig

#81 - Regulators and Crypto with Michael Selig

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 in private practice at Willkie.

In this conversation, Michael shares his experience at the CFTC and provides best practices for dealing with regulators. We also discuss his CoinDesk article What If Regulators Wrote Rules for Crypto?, LBRY, Telegram and the application of securities laws to crypto.

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review. You can subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on the latest episodes.

Around the Blockchain's weekly newsletter is my go-to source to stay updated on crypto law - you can subscribe here.

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 intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the advice of counsel, and do not apply any of the generalized material to your individual facts or circumstances without speaking to an attorney.

Feb 16, 202301:05:43